JAN
Must you
sit next to me?
CLIFF
I always
sit next to you.
JAN
Under the
circumstances, I don't want you to anymore.
CLIFF
Circumstances?
What?...just because of what I said In the hall?
JAN
Just?
Why, it's ridiculous.
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A
very long time ago, the Controller of Holidays from high in the sky,
summoned the mayor of Hareburg, a peaceful haven for rabbits that had
retired from life on earth.
The
mayor, a prize white rabbit in his term on earth, was annoyed that he
was called upon in the middle of a city-wide race where the fastest
rabbits competed in their chase of a mechanical dog.
The
Controller )on
earth he had been a coordinator of Roman holidays during the decline of
the empire)
The
mayor flapped an ear, "So? It's not my problem; see Mother Hen
about it," he said annoyed, bucking a tooth at the controller. I've
got to get back to the race in time to award the prize."
"Oh,
that can wait. I've lengthened the race and sped up the dog."
"That's
a dirty trick," the mayor clattered.
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Lance's
protests again the next morning fell on Lucia's deaf ears. She had
alerted her band of men the night before to prepare for the journey to
Quandron. The two knights cantered out of the cave to the assemblage of
five hundred horsemen strong, mostly longbowmen. "Are you not glad
that I insisted you wait till morning?" asked Lucia smiling.
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With
the sun perched upon the leafless tree tops framing the great city and
casting the gnomon in descent on the massive dial of the palace grounds,
situated between the shadows of the bailey and the high structure of the
building, a slight, richly clad, figure radiated in the slanting rays.
From the palace balcony adjoining her room, a lovely princess fixed a look
down at the stretching city of Anselm. With random melancholy she had for
years been viewing the children of the kingdom, frolicking in the distant
edge of the street not blocked by the palace wall below, which confidently
lay low in defiance of the high bailey walls of long ago.
Her hair
spread across her little shoulders and bounced glitter with every gait and
lighted the dark side of the slope. Each man rolled their startled eyes to
the other as they glided up the sapphire path.
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