From: li@Data-IO.COM (Phyllis Rostykus)
Subject: Re: Song of Sixpence - Part Ten
Organization: Data I/O Corporation
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 06:30:53 GMT

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>  Finally, Sundog lunges deep into the pack, then staggers back, a
>silvery keg of beer cradled in his arms.  "Dark, of course!" he gasps,
>red in the face, before setting it down with a thump.  "I've brought
>apple cider for those who don't like beer," Sundog says, sitting down
>next to the keg, "but you'll have to dig that out yourself!  It's good
>stuff, made by an orchard right near my home."

   Liralen smiles, and uses her ex-cider stein to pour herself a little bit
of the dark brew.  She's always loved dark beers, and her favorite drink
when she was in the UK was guiness; but she never could drink *much* of it,
she just liked the taste.

   And then she helps another patron dig out the cider...

>     "Well, that's Cincinnati Oktoberfest stuff, hope everybody enjoys
>themselves.  Happy Birthday Liralen!  I'm Sundog, in case we haven't
>met, by the way."

   She chuckles and bows her head, "Glad to meet you, Sundog."

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><<Surreptitious rummage around in a large bag that appeared out of nowhere>>
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>Aha! Maybe this will work. <<Pulling out a large gun-like object,
>Thunderchild points to the meadow, and fires>>
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>- - - K A B O O M - - -

Liralen hits the floor at the explosion; but at the laughter around her and
ooooohhs and ahhhhs she gets up to see the Thunderchild's workings.

>Um, what next? I suppose some food would be in order. How about a few
>casseroles that my mum makes really well, like a beaut tuna one, and some of
>her *absolutely taste-bud ticklikng* jelly slice for desert. If I can find
>anything else, I'll certainly bring it along.

Chuckle... cool.

>And, Happy Birthday Liralen!

Thank you, for the weather and the wishes...

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>As Splash reaches her, he drops the Esky on the ground and 
>gently places the satchell next to it.
>
>"Happy Birthday Liralen!" he exclaims, envelops her in a hug
>and gives her a kiss.  

She happily hugs back.

>"Recovered from the traumas of house-
>additions yet?"  Splash grins.  "Just in time for the change
>in season I hope.  Well, I have just the thing to keep you
>warm during the impending boreal winter ..."  

"Neat!" she says and looks over his shoulder.

>So saying, he digs into his nondescript satchell and comes out
>with a little package, sort of round in shape.  Liralen unraps
>the small parcel and extracts a paper-weight ... the sort that
>has a snow-man and snow flakes in it.  But this one is
>different ... as she takes a closer look, Liralen notices that
>the flakes are golden in colour, and instead of a snowman in a
>snow-covered meadow there's a sun-bronzed figure lying on
>sand.  A quick shake sees what looks like a shower of golden
>sunlight glistening about the reclining figure on the sand.  

"Yes!" she says and shakes it again just to watch stuff fall.

>There are bursts of laughter all round, and Splash grins
>slightly.  "Just a token of the Australian summer.  Now
>sonething a little neater ..." and he digs into the satchell
>again.  This time he comes out with a larger parcel, about the
>size of a basketball, wrapped tightly in dark paper.  It too
>is roundish in shape, and there are giggled comments about
>larger paper-weights.  Liralen opens this one a little more
>cautiously, because it's a bit weightier.  As she undoes the
>tape holding the paper together, cracks of intense light
>appear from the parcel, becoming a bright warm glow as all the
>paper is removed.  Liralen is left holding a glass semi-sphere
>of bright light.  Splash explains:  "This is a sample of
>Australian summer sunshine, encased in a special containment
>field.  It's operated by need ... when you need a little
>sunshine the sphere will light up.  It's glowing brightly now
>because of the events of the last few days, and will whenever
>you need some extra light in your life.  When you no longer
>need the sunshine it will reduce in intensity and grow
>smaller; this means you can take it with you wherever you go."

Liralen smooths the semi-sphere with her hands, and it warms her 
hands and face with it's heat.  Eventually, with the advent of the 
Thunderchild's weather insurance, the semi-sphere shrinks to be small
enough to hold in one hand.  Carefully, she puts it away, near the silver
and black and blue case...

>He turns and digs around in the satchell once more and this
>time pulls out a small bottle.  With a big grin he says "This
>is another small amusement gift, which seems appropriate." 
>The label on the bottle reads "Genuine Fremantle Doctor". 

She shakes the bottle a little and, instead of liquid splashing
about, there is the sound of wind and ocean.  Well pleased, she
listens to Splash tell her what is within the bottle.

>"It's a sample of our local seabreeze, which is called the
>Fremantle Doctor.  Our summer days get quite hot - up to 43
>degrees C (almost 110 degrees F, if my calculations are
>right).  The thing that nature provided to help ease the
>situation is the Fremantle Doctor, which usually comes in
>about mid-afternoon, cooling things down, and allowing us to
>survive for the next day.  I can't imagine the sun-sphere will
>ever actually get _that_ hot, but it might get quite warm
>depending on your need.  If you overheat, open the bottle! 
>Happy Birthday Liralen ... may all your days be sunny."

She chuckles.  "Quite a useful duo, there.  I shall have to remember
them for the future..." she looks down and then smiles up at Splash.  "And
thank you for the well wish, but..." she grins, "I already admonished Rowen
a little, about that sun stuff.  I moved here to get away from the eternal
sunshine of Southern Cal.  But I *do* appreciate the sentiment and the good
will behind both wishes.  Thanks and apologies for my being a poor 
gift accepter..."

>Didi points him in the right direction, and Splash staggers
>off with the heavy Esky to prepare some salads.

Liralen studies her amazing gifts one more time and then smiles and puts
them away.  They'll be very useful when the darkness of winter has her and
other patrons wishing for sunlight of any kind.  And, carefully, she puts
away Splash! and Rowen's wishes for her sunny days away as well.  Never
know when they might be useful to the Place as well...

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Liralen Li
li@inigo.Data-IO.com
Newsgroups: alt.callahans