leave no stone unturned to make it a reality

Cindy was pretty sure that this was the most excited she'd ever been in the city of Darrow. And that included the first time she managed to get laid. (Ten years and change later, she was still totally a nerd at heart, no matter how much she tried to tell herself otherwise.)

The excursion up to Kagura hadn't magically answered all of the questions that Cindy had about the city. If anything, the results of the search were frustratingly vague — some indications that perhaps the yeti hadn't just appeared and disappeared for the night of the party, and an eerie quietness to the place that Cindy couldn't imagine was normal for a regular business. Ski lodges closed off-season all the time, but generally some amount of security detail would remain to make sure nothing was damaged or vandalized in those several months.

But at Kagura, two young women could traverse across the grounds openly without setting off any alarms.

It was enough information to encourage intrigue, Cindy thought, especially when combined with the other topics that were covered between herself, Karen, and Lois. People sustained blogs on less. And if not a single person picked up the physical copies that Cindy insisted on printing, well, that was a cost she was willing to sink.

When the doorbell rang, Cindy rushed to let Karen in with a huge grin on her face.

"Karen," she said, briefly shaking her head with a grin. "I know that no one our age reads print anymore, but you just have to see them. The cover we commissioned looks so $#@&ing good."

it occurs to me that our survival may depend upon our talking to one another

Now that Cindy and Karen had wrapped up most of the work required to pull together the first issue of their publication, it was starting to dawn on Cindy how much work was still ahead of them to keep the whole project alive. As nice as it was to aspire to being fully independent, to be entirely the work of three smart women willing to ask the hard questions, the truth was that Cindy would have to work harder than ever to maintain a network. A group of people who could support the project in some way — whether with op-eds, finances, or even just the emotional support.

Arthur Stuart was one of the first people who came to Cindy's mind for building up that network. They shared the commonality of being writers, but in most other respects, their interests and passions were complementary. He socialized with circles that Cindy had no idea how to approach. And his writing style reflected that difference — more art and fluidity than Cindy could manage with her own words.

If nothing else, he was a person she could learn from, which was why she made sure to include him in the soft announcement of her periodical. And why she asked him if he'd be up for grabbing lunch.

"Thanks so much for meeting with me," Cindy grinned when she spotted him coming down the street, having waited outside the entrance of the best pho spot in town. With the days getting colder by the week, Cindy figured no one would say no to a warm bowl of noodles. "Pho still okay with you?"