I don't *think* I remember anybody posting this one before-- "The End of a Dynasty, or a Natural History of Ferrets." It's an excerpt from a collection of fantasy stories by Angulica Gorodischer, translated from Spanish by Ursula K. Le Guin. Although this is a story about a child, it is not a children's story (no very graphic stuff, but certainly mature themes). http://www.lcrw.net/kalpa/end.htm Regina Regina Harrison [log in to unmask] everything moved: http://users.rcn.com/badriya/ blog: http://badriya-z.blogspot.com/ "Is that my business? Well, what is my business? Do I know? Did I ever know? Let s not go into that. You re not human tonight, Marlowe. Maybe I never was or ever will be... Maybe we all get like this in the cold half-lit world where always the wrong thing happens and never the right." --Raymond Chandler, The Little Sister [Posted in FML issue 4421]