hey there, well, this is the last of my recent fables, so unless i think of some more pretty soon, this could well be it for a little while, sorry! One spring or other it rained so heavily that thjeriver burst its banks and flooded the town. Jubilee and the black fox, curious and bored, decided to visit the river. Jubilee was ina spirit ditch over something or other, and the black fox thought a walk would brighten her up. They wandered through busy streets and silent parks down to the bridge that crossed the swollen river. Halfway across they stopped to watch the water pass by. Jubilee picked up the fox and set her on one of the flat topped concrete pillars that spanned the bridge. The fox curled her tail around herself like a scarf ans looked at her friend. ~jubilee, what's the matter with you? Jubilee sighed and stared glumly into the water -I'm lonely, fox. She glanced up at the fox. -I know we spend a lot of time together, but I feel.. Isolated. It's not through lack of people, in fact if I wsa in a drowded room I'd still feel alone. The fox thought about what jubilee had just said, and looked down at the river, where the swans and ducks were struggling against the flood. ~Well, she said carefull, ~some of us are meant to be alone. Jubilee looked a little bothered by the idea, so the fox tried to illustrate her point. ~You see the seagulls up there? Jubilee looked up above them, there were several gulls gliding through the air above them, squealing loudly to each other and fighting over scraps of bread. She nodded silently. ~Do you see the swans? the fox continued. Jubilee looked down into the waters, where swans floated gracefully, their beauty marred when they occasionally hissed at passers by. Jubilee nodded silently. ~And the moorhens? The moorhens were creeping along the riverbank, heads bobbing nervously. ~and the ducks. The ducks were swimming in a close group, chattering like children on a day out. ~And those white geese on the grass. The geese were marching around like soldiers, snapping angrily at anything in their path. -Is this an object lesson, fox? The fox ignored the question. ~Do you see that brown goose down there? Jubilee looked down. There was a goose in the middle of the river. It wasn't struggling against the current like the ducks and swans, but was allowing itself to be carried along by the flow of the water, moving in lazy circles as it was caught up in the eddys. The goose floated underneath the bridge, looking remarkably placid considering it was going backwards. Jubilee smiled to herself. ~you see how it doesnt fight the current? the fox said softly, ~Wherever it's goiung, it'll get there eventually, so why struggle? -Like zen, jubilee said to herself. ~What's zen? ~A bhuddism thing, I think. The fox grimaced. ~Religion? No thank you! Jubilee smiled and picked up the fox. -Come on, I'm hungry. Let's get some lunch. What d'you want? The fox watched the river, and the zen goose. ~Noodles, she said finally +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+