White Dwarf, originally uploaded by akarikki.

Who says you need Photoshop to make really cool pictures!? This a Scifi scene I did entirely in Macromedia Fireworks. Hey, I'm working on the cheap here! Some us can't afford luxuries such as Photoshop and CS2 expired on my PC already. Besides it's not the program you use, it's how you apply it that counts. Using a lot of ellipses with gradients and textures and blur effects, I came up with this bad boy.

The characters in this story are fictional but the story is very real. It has happened before and is probably happening somewhere in the world as you are reading this. Hopefully it never happens to you or anyone you love.

It’s early on a Friday night as a young couple prepare for another quiet evening together. Riley is in the kitchen, experimenting with a new recipe of her own invention. Her husband, Gaige, walks up behind her gives her a quick peck on the cheek. His arms start to slither around her small waist, pulling her close to him as he breathe in deep the smell of shampoo in her hair mixed with spices emanating from the pot on the stove. She clicks her tongue, half out of annoyance and half out of play. It had became a ritual of theirs every Friday night.

"Go away Gaige!" she snaps at him, though inside she was tingling with anticipation as she felt the warmth of his body through their clothes. "You’re breaking my concentration."

"What for," he says teasingly as his pursed lips began to curl at the ends into a mischievous little smirk, "It’s gonna suck anyways. Speaking of sucking--"

She elbows him hard in the stomach. But not too hard. "You’re such pig," she laughs. He finally leaves her be but not before giving her arm a reassuring squeeze.

That’s when a knock comes at the front door. A familiar, rhythmic knock that Gaige immediately identified.

"That must be Noah," Gaige says to his wife as he heads for the door.

"He’s early," her voice calls out from the kitchen.

Caige opens the door to see Noah standing outside hunched forward, his hands deep in his pockets. "It’s bit chilly outside," Noah says with a nervous chuckle. It had to be at least in the eighties but Gaige didn’t say anything. Instead he spreads his arms wide open.

"Hey buddy! Nice to see you again!" he says to Noah warmly as he leans in to embrace him. But Noah intercepts their usual bear hug by extending his hand forward. Gaige gives Noah a hurt but understanding glance and accepts Noah’s hand in a more formal, less intimate handshake.

"It’s nice to see you too," Noah replies. He's still standing outside the door, shifting back and forth on his feet.

"Oh!" Gaige says with realization and stands aside to let Noah in. Inside, Riley greets Noah just as cheerfully but she makes no motion to come near Noah and neither does Noah. Being a woman she more intuitively picks up something was wrong but she remains silent and smiles. She figured Noah would tell her on his own accord. She knew Noah long enough that you could never force him to open up.

"Please, sit down," Gaige instructs Noah, proffering him a place on the couch.

"We were just about to eat dinner," Riley says, bringing out a plate, "You’re welcome to join us."

"That’d be nice," Noah says gratefully.

"You can have my plate. I’ll fix myself another one."

And so the meaningless dance of words began.

"So what have you been up to?"
"Oh nothing much? How’s married life."
"Heh, challenging but rewarding."
"Very rewarding. I’m so lucky to have wife like Riley."
"Ha, I’m the lucky one!"
"This chicken is really good."
"Thanks it’s my own recipe."

Noah holds his fork tentatively over his plate. He’s barely eaten any of it.

"Are you okay," Gaige asks, his eyebrow raising with concern.

Noah shakes his head and forces a smile. "I’m fine."

"Are you sure?"

"No, actually I’m not fine. I didn’t want to tell you Gaige because I didn’t want to be a burden but… well, the thing is… what I mean is… Ugh, there’s no easy way to put this but I’m… I’m HIV positive. I’ve been for a while now. Remember when I showed up at your house early in the morning with no shoes and totally hung over. Well I was at a party and I hooked up with some random guy. He said he was straight but we were both wasted and after he told me some sob story about how how the only person he every truly love was another guy… well one thing led to another and next thing I know we’re all over each other. I didn’t even bother to use protection. I should’ve. Sure, I could blame the booze but I should’ve known better. I just didn’t care anymore and now I find out he has HIV and for now on I’m gonna pay the price for my stupidity. I’m sorry to burden you guys with this knowledge. I had no right ruining your evening with my problems. That was selfish of me. It’s just that I’m scared right now and I really need to know who my real friend’s are. I can understand if you never want to talk to me ever again. But we were like brothers once, it’d be nice if we can still be brothers. I’ll need all the support I can get."

That’s what Noah wanted to say at least. But in reality he just keeps silent as he continues staring idly at his plate.

"Oh guess what!?" Gaige’s voice chimes, breaking Noah out of his trance. "I almost forgot to tell you. Riley and I are pregnant. We’re going to be parents soon."

Noah forces another bite of Chicken breast down his throat and takes a long sip of water from a bottle Riley had offered him earlier. Finally he smiles and says "That’s really great to hear. Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl."

"We want it to be a surprise," Riley tells him. The couple turn to each other and stare lovingly into each other’s eyes. They seemed so happy. So innocent. Somehow untouched by the evils of the world. And after all they’ve gone through--after some of the crap he put them through--they deserved to be happy. There was no way he could tell them now. But there never is a good time to tell something as big as this.

"Gaige…Riley…" Noah begins to say, biting his lower lip in frustration. His eyes shifted left and right as he struggles to find those words again that had formed so perfectly in his mind. "I should go."

"Please stay," Gaige insists, getting up from his chair.

Noah gets up from the couch and tries to give Gaige his most convincing smile. "No, that’s okay. I’m just going to spend the night at my sister’s before heading back out of town."

"You can stay here," Riley tells him, "You could always stay on the couch. It’s no trouble at all."

Noah hesitates for a moment. They were right. He should just stay and think things over. He’d tell them first thing in the morning when his mind wasn’t such a maelstrom of emotions.

"I should go," Noah says again, his hand on the front doorknob.

"Okay…" Gaige says longingly, "You do know we love you right?"

"Yes… I know."

And with that, Noah walks out the door without so much as an explanation or even a proper goodbye. They didn’t hear from him much after that. They just figure Noah was just in another one of his moods and don’t give it much thought. Also, with the baby on it’s way, they’ll busier than ever.