Hey folks, This is a rough draft, okay, and not brilliant, but comments/support/indifference would be appreciated... The black fox was sprawled on the sofa. Karma was curled up in a tight yellow ball beside her, fast asleep. She was just starting to doze off when there was a crash from the kitchen. Karma sat up with a yelp. -Wha? He gasped, his fur paling to cream. The black fox slid off the sofa and edged towards the kitchen. The cupboard doors were wide open. and the floor was carpeted with cornflakes and pasta twists. Something was scrabbling around inside the cupboard, knocking over jars and bottles. There was a strange smell of syrup and earth. Karma sidled up beside the fox and looked at the damage. A bag of rice flew out of the open cupboard, smacked against the opposite wall and burst open, spraying basmati all over the sink. -I hope that isn't a rat, Karma said nervously. ~I know who it is, the fox said, scowling. She stormed into the kitchen and jumped up onto the table and barked at the cupboard. The scrabbling stopped, and a small twisted face appeared from behind the chickpeas. It was about the size of a cat, with matted brown fur and a long, spiney tail. ~Spriggin, the fox sighed. The spriggin leaped out of the cupboard, sailed over the fox's head and landed clumsily on the cooker. The fox and the spriggin turned to face each other. -Hey Fooka, it cackled. ~You've trashed the place! If Jubilee finds you, she'll tear you a new.. -Fox, Karma interrupted. The fox glanced at him. -What is that? The fox looked back at the spriggin. ~An absolute pain in the arse. The spriggin sniggered. -What? A fairy> The spriggin snarled at karma and threw a pasta twist at him. It bounced off his nose and he jumped back, keeping as much doorframe between himself and the creature as he could. The black fox snapped her jaws sharply, the click of her teeth catching the spriggins attention. ~What do you want? The spriggin waved its scrawny arms at her. -Fooka, wanna cho-pah. The fox frowned at the spriggin. It bounded onto the floor and snatched up a length of dried spaghetti. It waved the pasta around it's head, stabbing at imaginary foes until it snapped. the spriggin threw it down in disgust. The fox watched the display curiously. Karma peeked into the kitchen again and the spriggin threw another peice of pasta at him, he ducked out of sight again. The fox growled at the spriggin, who glared sulkily back at her. She glanced back at karma. ~You okay? -No. There's a darth maul rat hitting me! ~darth maul? The fox laughed suddenly. She remembered the last time she saw the spriggin, weilding a chopstick like a lightsaber. ~A chopstick, she said. The spriggin bounced up and down enthusiastically. The fox gestured to a pot of wooden spoons and spatulas on the sideboard. The spriggin sidled over to the pot, glanced at the fox, then knocked it over, sending cutlery flying. The fox jumped at the spriggin, but he snatched up a chopstick and scrambled up the wall. The fox barked at thje creature, who turned back to her and grinned lecherously at her, before dissapearing through an impossibly small crack in the wall. The fox glared at the crack in the wall. -I'll get the vacuum cleaner, karma said quietly. The fox nodded her head absently. -Fox? ~Mmm? -What's a 'Fooka'? ~A Phooka? It's like a fairy. It disguises itself as a horse or bird or something, and persuades people to ride its back, whereupon it throws them about the place, giving them the fright of their life, and unceremoniously dumps them in a puddle, and runs of laughing. Why d'you ask? Karma swallowed nervously. -It's kinda appropriate... But nicer, he said hastily. The fox licked karmas ear affectionatly. ~I'll take that as a compliment. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the 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 +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+