a figure shrouded in red sateen fringed toreador shorts and shod in
bejeweled riding boots, swathed in a long mantle of hair the consistantecy
of much-chewed Turkish taffy.  Throught the oily snaggle of hair stared two
eyeballs bulging from their sockets, so bloodshot that they appeared more
like two baseballs of very lean bacon.
 
"Ooooooh,wow!", said Bob with one "o", and half rolling, half loping,
entered my living room.  I smiled diplomatically.  Glancing down, my eyes
came to rest on the reason for this visit.  The ferret previously know as
"Tex" now referred to only as "~".
 
Bob had driven all night pausing in his relentles trip only for food, drink,
sleep, a few hands of pinochle, and a couple of sight-seeing detours.
Before collapsing with apathy, he handed over the prize, "~".
 
"How comes it", I asked as I gently pryed "~" from Bob's long clever fingers
(the kind you generally find in other peoles pockets and are very skilled at
producing intricate and useful things like loaded dice)
"How comes it that we meet in this strange land?"
"It's a tale long in telling," says Bob.
"Then save it," I replied.
 
Bob then rose tiredly to his feet, looked beyond me with ominously crossed
eyes, and with a little smile speaking very slowly, made a vague inquiry
concerning my socks.  But before I could reply, he quicky changed the
subject to something about an arms deal in Tanzania or picking up blood
sucking umpires in Guam or something.
 
Waving a stained handkerchief back and forth, and grasping my hand, he began
to sob softly, "Goodby, parting is such a brief candle." I quickly bade
farewell and banged the door shut, bolted, barred and locked it, and
swallowed the key for good measure.
 
I then walked over to my cosy chair and slumped down.  Looking down into
those two liquid pools of chocolate eyes, I exhanged kisses with Smudge,
formerly known as "~", formerly known as "Tex", and began to muse about the
reoccurrence of an old inner ear problem and how I had now met that drooling
old gossip, BOB; had witnessed with my very own eye his scars and had even
been left with my already mis-matched pairs of socks intact.  Yes, my new
bottle of Ferretone was missing and enough Fritos to choke a small horse,
but all in all, I thought the meeting could have gone a lot worse.
 
Look out Canada, he's on his way!!
 
A great big THANKS, BOBO with one "o" (or is that Boob with one "o"?)
 
Remember, the early bird gets hepatitis.
 
Love, Amanda and Smudge
[Posted in FML issue 1619]