He was tall, that was for sure. Of course, it didn't help that she was only four foot seven inches. He had dark hair, large hands and feet, and couldn't weigh more than 135. His eyes though were unusual. They were blue-grey, and seemed to show uninterest, but she knew that something went on behind them, as she had seen him deep in thought. She had seen him looking at her, not so much as he wanted to date her, but so much as simply observing her and the way she acted. With a mental sigh, she dismissed him, the same as she had every time they were in the same place since they met.

It was hard work, but He didn't really mind. The tools bit into the earth, and his back hurt, but he was still enjoying himself. After all, that's what mission trips were for. As he decided a water break was needed if he wanted his spine intact that evening, He took a long gulp from his bottle, and refilled it with the ice water in the cooler, then drank again. He stopped and, after refilling again, sat down at the picnic table the cooler was on. As he waited for the water to work through his system so he could drink more, he surveyed his friends. Cameron, Sam, Tori, and Jack seemed to be doing great. His eyes however hovered on Nikki. He liked her, she was very nice, and he knew she was intelligent and clever. She was a grade above him, and was also tiny. He often poked fun with her height, but they both knew he wasn't serious. With a sigh, he got up and got back to work.

Dinner was excellent. The "Stone Soup" contest had been a lot of fun. It was centered around the idea of giving the kids a certain amount of money, and dividing them in teams. Each team had to make dinner, and appetizer, desert, and decorate the room. Both teams had done well, and everyone was full of wonderful spaghetti. As he flopped into his bunk bed, he thought about how much fun the mission trip had been, but fell asleep before another thought could form.

He snapped awake. As he looked at the ceiling he already knew where he was. He was on a church mission trip in Mississippi, on the top bunk, in his sleeping bag, trying to get enough rest to keep going the next day. He was about to dismiss his sudden alertness as not being used to sleeping in the same room as three other people when a jolt traveled up his spine. He quickly took inventory of his senses. No serious wounds, as expected, nothing he had seen, it smelled like it always did, and he had heard nothing but the air conditioning unit. As he pondered why he was so alert, he stopped to check that all his belongings we still in his pockets. He slept in his cloths, and he had no place to keep his watch, money, and the lock-blade survival knife he kept from when he got the First class rank in the Boy Scouts. He put his glasses on, and the world became clearer. He didn't need to double check, as his astigmatism didn't really affect him at night for some reason; something the doctor had no explanation before. As he started to fall back asleep as the adrenaline burst ebbed, something came towards him like a silent bullet. He didn't react, and kept going back to sleep.