She finally got the numbers right, after what seemed to be days of number crunching. "And probably were," she thought ruefully. But it was done - the budget was finally finished. The grant was ready to go - all ten copies were made, the attachments collected, the slides, photos, and video, and the oh-so-important 501c(3). The package was boxed up and sent on its way ... certified, justified, signified, and ready for Express Mail. She had sent her assistant to deliver the package to the post office, with instgructions to go straight home after that. "And come in tomorrow a little later - you deserve it," she'd said. With an exhausted "see you tomorrow," her assistant left.

She sighed with relief - "now that that's finally done, it's time for some fun," she thought to herself. She took a quick look around the office to see who was around. But of course - not a soul - everyone had gone home long ago. She was safe....and it was time to dive in the LFN Round Robin Story Boards! "Just a little before I go home," she promised herself, vowing not to spend all night at her computer at work. "And this time I'm going to put an alarm on my organizer, so I don't stay here forever."

She swiftly clicked onto the net and wiggled down into her chair. Up came the bookmarks; she selected the page and popped a Depech Mode cd into the drive to get in the mood. "Let's see what juicy stuff is awaiting me this week from zzoomama, 'chelle, enjoue, nikita507, lorraine, and all the others." As the page appears on the screen, she scrolls down to get to the last story she read. Since she's desperately trying to catch up with Nikita507's stuff, she decides to start on that first. Savoring every word, she quickly gets engrossed in one of Nikita's stories. As she tries to figure out where she is in the story timeline, the stairs outside her office creak ominously. She glances around, but hears nothing further. "Oh it's just my imagination," she thinks, "back to the story." Then out of the corner of her eye she catches a shadow move. Perturbed, she looks around further. She knows she's the only one in the building, but, just to be on the safe side, she checks out the office. "hmmmmm, nothing...thought so...god these stories really have my imagination running wild." She turns back to the computer, and dives into Nikita's story once again. Soon, she's swept up into the plot and the characters, and the real world slowly disappears, when a soft, French accented voice whispers into her ear..."so you want to be sweptaway, mon chere? Let me help you."

fini

(hope you liked it...you know who.)

Send suggestions and comments to ranma.