Rewrite

* * *

Derick stayed up for hours that night, even though exhaustion had set in. Maria had decided to stay the night with him, and was asleep in the bedroom as he worked on the computer in the living room. He changed every red mark, line and word. When he was finished, it looked like an entirely different story. It was 3:30 a.m.

Despite the time, Derick decided to call Devon. He retrieved the phone from its cradle and scrolled thought the list of callers until he got to 'Devon, Craig'. Derick pushed 'talk'.

"Hello, Derick." The cheerful voice said when Devon answered.

"Hi. I'm surprised you're still awake." Derick said.

"I'm always awake during the night. I like to conduct my business then. I'm very happy to hear that you're still awake."

"Yeah, well, not for long. Look, Devon, I've changed everything you wanted me to, and every suggestion you made…"

"Marvelous!" Devon interrupted.

"It's a totally different piece! You rewrote the whole damned thing! And, you don't give equal space to all the religions. This is not what I had in mind!"

Devon cleared his throat. "Yes, well, that's because the Christians and Ancient Greeks are so different. All the rest are pretty much the same. Boring." He explained. "Trust me, people want to read this. Tell me, Derick, are you an artist?"