The Prince Bride - Chapters 17 & 18
By Missy Crystal

Prince Charles was heir to the throne. At his christening, three of the four fairy protectors of the Kingdom (the kind with wings and wands) appeared to give him the customary blessings for a future king. The fourth fairy sister, arriving late from partying all night with the elves, mistakenly believes the baby is a girl and gives her the blessing of being a happy bride. Can the fairy magic be undone? Will the prince grow up to be a queen of one kind or another? Read the story and find out.

I have sometimes found myself wondering if vampires have problems with the hems of their cloaks fraying, as they glide along with the fancy, satin, floor-length item trailing behind. It seems to me that some type of ball-bearing system, offering both weight, to assist in the dramatic drape of the cloak, and protection, from the ground upon which they are dragged, may be a good idea (ignoring the noise that would make the whole appearing from nowhere more difficult). So it was not surprising that last night this thought crystallized into a Far Side like vision of some salesmen, knocking on the door of a vampire’s castle, with the caption, ‘Rex Simpson, door-to-door salesman of the Heminator-5000.’ And though this story has nothing to do with that vision, it did lead my mind to wander in this direction, rather than letting me go to sleep.