6:05 pm...twenty-five minutes until sunset...

"Grr...sometimes I just have to do things on me own if I want them done! For Christ's sake, I'd just wish they'd leave the whole thing alone!" John mumbled to himself once he ditched the other two because of their quarreling.

"They just have to find Paul on their own. I'm doing it, hell, if they ever get done arguing first, they could help me! Oh well, let's see," John said as he stopped walking. He slowly did a 360 degree rotation of himself, like a slow kaleidoscope, to examine his surroundings.

"I was there, I went there, I took that path already, I sat down there, I went there and there and there...sheesh, I've been here, there and everywhere! Still no sign of Paulie! Now where do I go?" John wondered.

"Can't I just have a single hint? An inkling telling me where I should go next? Only one, that's all I ask, it's not too much, please please me and my lit'le request? C'mon, c'mon!" He asked for no one in particular.

The wind, silent and still this entire day...picked up and kidnapped John's scarf.

"Hey, that's me scarf!" he said as he tried to grab for his beloved piece of candy-caned cloth. "I only have one scarf left with my initials stitched in it cos I gave the other one to Paulie!"

The wind was deaf...it carried the scarf away...John started to run after it, not letting it out of his sight. He tried to grab it many times; it always seemed out of reach by just a few mere inches. Then John stopped and pondered. Is this the sign I wanted? The clue I asked for? It has to be. When I promised to find

Paul no matter what the cost, the visions and dreams stopped. I asked for a sign. The wind stole me scarf. What was going on? Hmm...

While he was finished thinking, he realized that he almost lost sight of his airborne scarf. He pursued it until he came closer...closer...

All of a sudden, the wind stopped...shot dead just like time was before. However, now, time was alive and now ticking away...

John picked up his scarf from the ground. He replaced it back on his neck and looked around. How come I haven't seen this place before? I thought I checked everywhere! Oh well...*Sigh*...the wind stopped and my scarf is with me...better find the guy who borrowed my other one!! Paulie!!!"

~~~***~~~

"Just what do you think you're doing!!" he shouted to her from her doorway. His voice echoed throughout the palace.

"Um...I am merely twirling the wind around to make it blow, that is all," the spirit whispered. She sat at her window, looking down upon the earth.

"Yeah right, little sister, you were trying to lead him to his friend who's supposed to be dead! No thanks to you! He is supposed to be dead by now!" he exclaimed as he stepped in the violet velvet room.

"Look, that is my decision, not yours. You cannot just walk in here and order me about. Who is the one with the power of eternal sleep? Me, not you."

"Yeah, who cares, my power can put them to sleep too you know, and not ever wake up, taxing the nerves and emotions of everyone else!"

"Syncope*, you are so cruel..."

"That's right. I'm not going to let you spoil my fun of watching him, the one I chose, to die! I told you to kill him, and no, you just had to go along your way and not obey me!! You're not going to help them anymore, and that is my word!"

He seized both of her arms and forced her into small room of deep amethyst and locked the door. He went back to his chamber to await the death of the one he chose.

The younger female spirit tried to open the locked door, but failed. Although strong-minded and poetic, she did not have enough physical strength to resist her imprisonment. Fear and concern filled her heart; she knew that in that chamber, her powers were useless...she couldn't help out the innocent one's

friends any longer...she prayed that they could do it on their own...

*[pronounced Sin-ko-pea, definition: a coma, comatose state]

~~~***~~~

6:20 pm...ten minutes and slowly diminishing...

John continued on his newly found path, shown to him by the wind and its "director," who was now locked up. His surroundings became even more foreign and novel to his eyes...why hadn't he seen this area before, although he was positive that he and his mates searched everywhere? That was the question that

gripped his mind.

But he didn't care. This was the way he was shown, so he followed it. He became tired from searching all day, dealing with the stress of horrible visions and the pain of not finding his mate. He sat down to take a break. He was so tired he could take a kip right then and there, but he knew he couldn't.

Taking a look at the setting sun, he sighed. It would be dark soon...perhaps tomorrow he could still have some luck at finding Paul.

But by tomorrow it would be too late...little did he know that he only had ten minutes before Paul was dead...and John just sat there, pondering to himself.

6:21 pm...sacred number nine...exactly nine minutes left...

"It's all your fault!!"

"I thought we settled this long before!!"

"No! It's not settled till we find John!"

"George! It's almost dark, look, the sun is halfway down below the horizon. Can't we just work it out and work together on finding Paul? Isn't that what this whole thing is about??"

"All right, all right...grr...I'm going to give you a piece of my mind once we do find the both of them...did you see where John walked off to then?"

"No, how could I, I was busy fighting with you!!"

"Oh, yer just a big 'elp, aren'tcha??"

"Well, we could just follow his footprints..." Ringo said. George looked down to see them for himself.

"Yeah, you're right for once, John is the only one who has JL on the bottom of his rubber soles."

"Ok then, follow them! Let's go before it gets dark!"

6:23 pm...two perfectly good minutes blown by an settlement of an arguement between the two quarreling Beatles...now they had only seven minutes to go...

"Ok, that's a long enough break, I'm wasting precious time anyway...Paul, wherever you are, you better be alive after all the trouble I'm going through!" John said aloud as he got up on his feet. "Yeah, you'd better be alive..." he said slowly...the thought of Paul being dead just rattled in his mind. It scared him. He

shivered. He started to think about all the times he spent with Paul...from the first day they met...all the way 'til Paul was pushed off the side of the ski slope by George...he hated how his imagination took him to places he didn't want to go at that time.

"*Sigh*...Paul, I'm going to find you...I swear I will! Even if it takes all night!" John quickly and boldly started to search with a new found strength. "Jeez, now I wonder if George and Ringo are ok...I feel so bad about leaving them behind like that. Oh well, who cares, they deserved it anyway! I--ohmigod!" John

cried out. His eyes were transfixed upon the snow...

...ski tracks in the snow to be specific...

...and since he or the others had not seen this area before, the only one that could made those tracks and have been here was...

...Paul McCartney.

6:24 pm...six minutes left...

John's eyes remained transfixed on the ski tracks as he sprinted after them. As he was following them, he could almost feel the same emotions Paul was going through as Paul was carving the tracks in the hill for the first time.

"Man, when is the end of these tracks! John wondered, running alongside of the only sign that could lead him to Paul...

"Oh yeh, he was on skis, of course he could go faster than just by running... that's why it's taking a bit long..."

He just followed the tracks...praying that this was the way...the right way...it just had to be...

...then, it began to snow. Little by little, the snowflakes gathered in the tracks, slowly filling them...

6:25 pm...five minutes remaining...

"Any sign of him?" Ringo asked.

"No, the tracks just totally disappear cos of the snowing!"

"Then we have lost him!! John!!"

"No no, don't get your hopes down just that fast Ringo...he could have been here...

"...yeh? He could have, but he also couldn't have been here!"

"Backtrack then...where do the footprints end?"

"Just a little bit, I think...um...over here," Ringo said, pointing to where he saw John's JL footprints last.

"All right, then...think...would John go right or left or straight now?"

"Well, he is right handed..."

"Yeah, but Paul's left handed! Are we finding John or Paul now??"

"I don't know, it's getting hard and confusing! I don't think it matters who we find first, as long as we do at all!"

"Then...split up?"

"George, don't start that with me!!! It hasn't work yet, you and me separating!"

"Then decide which way you want to go!!"

The two Beatles stood in silence.

6:26 pm...four minutes for four Beatles...

The motionless Beatle named Paul was slowly losing all signs of life. Although his condition was serious, it became worse...all his features, even parts covered by clothing were indescribably pale, his heart beat was so faint and his breathing became even more shallow. The blood that would have normally flowed

freely through his body decelerated. His body couldn't stand the cold, as usual. Snow gathered around him like he was an inescapbable cynosure. His mind's canvas was splashed with black. Memory abandoned him and thought disappeared. Imagination became useless and hid itself away. His senses were almost paralyzed.

Whatever was keeping him going was beginning to struggle...hanging on desperately to the last few minutes...one mistake made could prove fatal...

6:27 pm...three minutes...three could be the number of living Beatles...

John was infuriated when the snow filled the tracks, wiping them out of their existance. He began to wonder if his luck was for or against him. The tracks ended, and that was as far as he could go.

I'm in the middle of nowhere! John thought. Just my luck. I'll have to rely on my luck for now! I hope it's with me on this...he closed his eyes, blazed through a quick prayer in his mind, spun himself around and around and whatever direction he was looking at when he stopped, he'd take that path.

He opened his eyes. The direction he was looking at was to go down the slope.

Meanwhile...

"Well, where do we go, Ringo? Decide!"

"Augh, I hate this! Um...here, this will tell us what way to go!" Ringo said as he threw one of his drumsticks up in the air. It landed pointing right.

"See, all we do now is go right, ok? So let's go!"

"Are you sure that's very reliable? It's one of those not-yet-tested-in-the-labratory theories."

"Do you know where John or Paul are?"

"No..."

"Exactly, and we don't know where to look first, so the trusty drumstick here is deciding for us. I don't want to waste anymore time with silly stuff like this!!" Ringo dashed off after picking up his drumstick. George instinctively followed, not knowing what else to do.

6:28...one hundred twenty seconds equates to two minutes...

After that bit of complaining, he recalled the words he told Ringo earlier:

Whatever it takes.

"Well, here goes, and here I come Paul! I hope luck shines on me now!" John said. He started down the hill as quickly as he could, still in control. It wasn't fast enough he thought. What to do what to do...aiie!

John lost control and tripped...he started to roll down the slope, not knowing that in his second movie, he'd have to do the same thing during the Ticket To Ride segment...

The fallen Beatle managed to stop himself and got up on his boots. The world was still spinning, making him very dizzy. He staggered and swayed here and there, trying to regain his balance that was out of his reach at the moment. John had to get a hold on something to help him stay on his feet. He spotted a tree

and extended his arm out to reach it. It seemed as though the tree purposefully dodged his grip. John was enraged, and decided that the best way to teach it was to kick it.

He swiftly maneuvered his leg into position, aimed as best he could while the world was still gyrating at a unstable rate, and kicked with all his might.

Just like in his dream...the thing he kicked was soft...John became surprised.

After successfully bringing the dizzying spinning world to a halt, John looked down at what he kicked...was he that lucky?

That 'thing' truly was what he had been looking for the entire time...John felt that a burden had been lifted from his heart and mind. He gratefully, sincerely and quickly thanked his lucky stars and luck.

That 'thing' turned out to be Paul McCartney.

6:29 pm...although Paul is found, he's still not awake...sixty seconds until the end...the end is near...