He had finally made it to the human's house, but his shell was still too soft from his last molt to try an attack. "Tomorrow will be soon enough!" he said and released a guttural sound that was the closest thing to a laugh that he could manage. Bob maneuvered his way out from under the bush and crept toward Tess's back porch. He scanned the steps leading up to the door, struggling to come up with a solution to get the screen door open.

He moved quickly over the green grass and clicked his way from the sidewalk to the bottom of the steps. He would have to force the door. His spiked legs quickly took him up the half dozen stair and he launched his small left claw through the screen. Making quick little cuts, Bob removed the screen from the door and tossed it over his dark brown carapace. Struggling with the inside lock, Bob pulled the door open and pulled his heavy body onto the porch, letting the door slam behind him. He scanned the back porch in search for a hiding place and was rewarded with a door set in the floor at the far end of the porch. "The basement...." he hissed as he clicked across the gray, wooden floor, disappearing into the darkness.

Herbie sat at the half-bar and watched Tess as she worked at the sink. "Are you afraid of death?" she said, not looking up from her work.

"I don't know," he said, glancing idly at his entwined hands, "I guess...kinda."

"What do you mean, 'I guess'?" she said, glancing over her shoulder to smile at him.

"Well. I am not afraid to die, but I don't want to die ugly."

"What do ya mean by ugly?" she asked, turning from the sink with a glass in each hand.

"I mean like, in a car accident or in a fire or something,"

he said, watching her walk across the kitchen floor to stand across from him at the bar.

"What if you died while saving someone from a burning building?" she asked, setting the glass of dark green liquid in front of him.

"I guess that would be okay," Herbie started, "But only if I got the people out first. Who am I saving?"

"It doesn't matter who you're saving," Tess said, smiling, "just as long as you save someone."

Herbie glanced at the glass in front of him and couldn't help the worried look that escaped him.

"What is wrong?" Tess asked, coming around the bar to sit on the stool beside him.

"What is that?" he said, pointing to the glass.

"Kool-Aid," Tess said, "Why, don't you like it?"

"Sorry," Herbie said, "I am kinda picky about what I eat," he said with a smile.

"I thought all kids liked....Oh," Tess said, realizing what Herbie meant, "You mean that you would prefer blood."

"Well, not exactly...," Herbie started.

"How old are you?" Tess said, turning on the stool to face Herbie.

"You mean...," he started.

"I mean 'how old are you'," she said, "don't bullshit me, Herbie, I want to know."

"Well...," Herbie started, "I will be 148 next May."

"148! Really?" Tess said, a look of surprise flashing across her face.

"Yeah," Herbie said, blushing and staring at his glass.

"This stuff looks like toxic waste, Tess," he said, trying to change the subject.

"It is," she said, "Now explain how you look so young!"

"Aw, Tess...," he said.

"Come on," she said, leaning close to him, "Tell me, Herbie."

"I just grow really slow," he said.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I just grow really slow. I don't know why."

"Oh," Tess said. "That's pretty cool...I guess," she said,

glancing down at her glass. Tess sat up on her stool and took a

drink from her glass.

"That is sick," Herbie said in mock disgust.

"What?" Tess said, placing her glass back on the bar and turning to face Herbie.

"I can't believe that you drank that junk," he said with a smile.

"Come on, Herbie," Tess said standing, "Let's wrestle." Tess grabbed Herbie's hand and pulled him from the bar, into the large living room.

"I can't wrestle," Herbie said as he was pulled into the middle of the floor.

"That's okay," Tess said with a mischievous look on her face, "I will teach ya."

"But...," Herbie said as Tess shot in on him and dropped him to the floor with a quick single leg take-down.

"Now," Tess said as she pinned him in an Olympic headlock, "are you gonna fight back or not?"