<strong><em>Elijah and Maddi - having used up all the fishing analogies</em></strong><br/><br/>Elijah heard the pain in her answer and wanted to know more, but now wasn't the time to delve.  So he tried to do what he always did, fall back on humor when the subject got too serious.  "I'm sorry to hear that you don't have a girlfriend...I could have lived with that."  He gave it his best light-hearted air, but still it fell kinda flat.  "Sorry, just being me, I suppose.  I think all the guys must be idiots back in civilization if they have let you go this long.  Maybe, you're a bit of a loner?  I was, back then.  I tended to hide when things got bad.  Not literally, of course, but I always seemed to find an opportunity to do some site research when Rachael and I were fighting."  He saw Maddi's sudden look.  "Oh! Don't get the wrong idea, I'm divorced ten years now, and the love was gone long before that."  Elijah's voice tightened up, the subject being hard for him to discuss.  "We wanted different things from life.  Things turned ugly and then she broke my heart.  Until now I thought it was for good."<br/><br/>Elijah trailed off, and watched his string for a while.  His energy had drained somewhat.  He kept hoping a fish would bite so that he could change the subject, but his line was untouched so far.  He wasn't sure if he had said too much.