A/N: Still stuck on "Trina, Interrupted," so you know what that means: in the words of the Monty Python troupe, "And now for something completely different." Note that I'm not really a Jandre shipper- as regular readers of my stories will know, I prefer Tandre and Bade- but I thought I'd take the opportunity to explore two characters who don't get to interact very much (outside "Jade Gets Crushed", that is).

Disclaimer: does it really need to be said at this point?

Ye ice-falls! Ye that from the mountain's brow

Adown enormous ravines slope amain-

Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice,

And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge!

Motionless torrents! Silent cataracts!

Who made you glorious as the gates of Heaven

Beneath the keen full moon? Who bade the sun

Clothe you with rainbows? Who, with living flowers

Of loveliest blue, spread garlands at your feet?

-Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Hymn Before Sunrise, in the Vale of Chamouni"

We are weak, writing is difficult, but for my own sake I do not regret this journey, which has shown that Englishmen can endure hardships, help one another, and meet death with as great a fortitude as ever in the past. We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of Providence, determined still to do our best to the last.

-Final diary entry of Robert Falcon Scott, polar explorer

"Gas bill…catalog full of crap I don't need…electric bill…'Save the Lemurs' fund…sigh…cable bill…"

Jade West was beginning to understand just why the U.S. Postal Service was on the verge of extinction.

With a methodical ruthlessness, she went on sorting through the pile of mail. The broccoli-laden smell of the casserole currently heating in the oven tickled her nostrils, but she wasn't really hungry. After all, it would be just another dinner alone. Her father, to Jade's complete lack of surprise, was working late, and their great house, utterly silent, the lights turned off in every room but this one, felt like a cavernous tomb.

As she tossed aside two mailings asking for campaign donations, a slim postcard, which she had not seen, slid out from between them and floated slowly to the floor. Having nothing better to do, she picked it up.

"Scan this code with your PearPhone, and you and a guest could win an ADVENTURE CRUISE to the SOUTH POLE! Get a first-hand look at the exotic wildlife and stunning natural beauty you can only find at the bottom of the world! Don't delay! Brought to you by Nözu Sushi Restaurant of Hollywood!"

Jade blinked. Nözu? Mrs. Lee's restaurant? You have got to be kidding me…

She was about to drop it into the garbage can when the oven timer began to beep. The noise was excruciatingly annoying, and Jade hurried into the kitchen to turn it off, the card still in her hand.

In her haste, she forgot to put on an oven mitt before pulling out the dish, and…

"GAAH!"

A mess of broccoli, cheese, noodles and bits of steak splattered onto the linoleum. Jade sucked her stinging fingers, tears welling up in her ears. Oh, God, this is worse than that time at Sikowitz's house. At least then there were people around, and somebody to offer me a ride to the hospital. Even if I was too proud to take it…

Shit, I hate always being alone.

Debating whether to bandage her hand or mop up the mess, she suddenly felt too weary to do either, and slumped into a chair at the kitchen table.

There's no getting around it, is there? My life sucks. No friends, no Beck, no parents worthy of the name…no hope…

Whoa. Don't go there, Jadelyn.

She took another look at the card, thought for a moment, chuckled to herself.

Ah, what the heck. There's no chance I'll win, but I'd do anything to get away.

When she returned from the emergency room two hours later, the floor-casserole had dried, and her father still hadn't returned. Her resolve hardened, and she flicked on her PearPhone, then swept it over the bar code on the postcard.

A frantic beeping filled the room once again. The hell? I thought I turned the oven timer off…

That's not the oven timer.

Words in huge, red letters were flashing on the screen. Jade stared at them, not able to believe their import. The beeping was replaced by a synthesized trumpet fanfare.

Jade set the phone down on the table and rose, then walked, with the mechanical gait of one in a trance, to the hall closet. She rifled through the clothes hanging there, once, twice; pulled the door shut.

And then she began to run.

/

Geoffrey West cast a sidelong glance at the clock. 9:00 P.M., and a mound of paperwork still to get through before he could afford to leave. He sighed heavily and ran his fingers over his face. A few more days of this, and Jade's going to forget what I look like.

The phone rang. He would have ignored it had the caller I.D. not caught his attention. His jaw dropped; he genuinely could not remember the last time his daughter had called him at work.

"Jade? What is it?"

Silence at the other end of the line, except for rapid breathing.

He clutched the phone tighter. "Jade, sweetheart, talk to me. Is something wrong?"

A grunt of effort, as if his daughter were willing herself to keep from hyperventilating. Then words he would not, in a million years, have expected to hear:

"Dad, do you know where I can get a parka?"