The reforms in House Bill 541 will rebuild K-12 education in Kentucky, starting with a foundation based on an old-fashioned philosophy of instructional practices. They will also enable the governor-elect to keep his campaign promise to raise the quality of K-12 education from rank mediocrity to world-class. Standing between the new governor and his promise are sycophantic bureaucrats, special interest groups, money-yielding lobbyists, and corrupt politicians who intend to continue their self-serving ways by watering down the reforms in House Bill 541 to the status quo. Only a good-size miracle can stop them. James Ed Hoskins is in his late thirties. His square-chinned face has high cheek bones, a broad, proportional nose, fully developed lips, dark gray eyes, and it is topped off with neatly groomed, curly black hair. His trim, six-foot body evidences his belief in the immediate and long-term benefits of regular exercise. One of his bedrooms is a well-equipped gym, and a one-hour workout before breakfast every day is as much a part of his morning routine as shaving and brushing his teeth. He does not date single women. He has learned through trial and error that he can not satisfy their emotional needs or meet any of the other reasonable expectations that make up a proper relationship. His heart is closed to wedding bells, and he won't lure a woman to bed with pretense or any other form of dishonesty. His sexual relationships are limited to aggressive, married women who have only one thing on their mind, uninhibited sex. He has learned that their many pleasures are not free of charge. They come with a set of problems that are different from those of single women. Without exception, they produce an aftermath of worry, sharply felt guilt, and a yearning emptiness that underlines his own unmet emotional needs. Additionally, he is punished by an invasive six-year-old memory that adds a painful layer of remorse on top of everything else. His manner is polite and gentle about everything but K-12 education in Kentucky, which is 47 states from the top. He wants it to be better than the best of the other 49 states. He considers anything less a crime, and the victims are innocent children. He was born in Leslie County, Kentucky. After high school, he attended Arizona State University on a baseball scholarship. Four years later, he had earned a degree in English and All-American honors in baseball. The bed squeaked rhythmically. "Faster!" she demanded. The bed squeaked faster. "Harder!" The bed squeaked louder. She screamed. He felt her fingers change to claws. The bed went silent. They cuddled, feeling contented, safe, at peace. Their personal problems, daily burdens, and the bellicose world outside their bedroom were sailing around the Sun on that other planet a million miles away. About 20 minutes later, he kissed the back of her head and whispered, "Drink?" "I'd love one." James Ed Hoskins swung his feet to the floor and stood up. He slipped his arms into the baggy sleeves of a brown robe and wrapped it around his trim, muscular body. "Hurry back," she said. Vicki Flynn-Dalton sat up and placed a pillow between her back and the headboard, and she pulled a white bed sheet up over her naked breasts. She was a petite woman in her mid thirties. Bright blue eyes adorned her pretty face, which appeared to have stopped aging when she was sweet sixteen. She took a mirror out of her purse and used it to guide her fingers as she reshaped her short, blonde hair. In the kitchen, James Ed dropped four ice cubes into each glass and uncorked a bottle of Knob Creek, a 100-proof, 9-year-old Kentucky straight bourbon whisky. Using his souvenir Elvis Presley jigger, he poured a precise amount of whisky into each glass and added a precise amount of Coca-Cola Classic. He returned to the bedroom. After his fi