Eek! eek I've read this vignette so many times by now, laughing, sniffing, making notes, and yet I forgot to paste the comments and then I moved away for a while... Bad, bad, very bad bird!! thumbsup

As I've thought about so many of your stories, Wendy: absolutely perfect! hyper

Pelican smile

oh, and this:
Quote
Like most of my short stories, this one is all Kaethel's fault.
Do you, Kaethel, swear undying love to the Folcdom, to hold and cherish, bla bla bla, and to never, ever leave us..? You're obvisouly *VERY* much needed, both for your own writing (!!) and making Wendy write such terrific stories like this one! smile

Such a little thing really, a kiss...most people don't give it a moment's consideration. They kiss on meeting, they kiss on parting, that simple touching of flesh is taken entirely for granted as a basic human right.

Susan Kay