On 3/22 [email protected] (James Kew) wrote:

>Just to throw a spanner into the works, I'll nominate Liz -- I've always
>really enjoyed her posts... although she too is posting less at the
>moment.

<blush> Thanks James! I have to answer this one, don't I? <grin>

There was a definite worried look.

"Excuse me," the eyes said in a little mouse-like voice. "Can you please tell me if they've stopped shooting messages at each other yet?"

The three men looked at each other and scratched their heads. "I think she means missiles," Friday ventured.

"No, no, no. I mean messages. I've been hiding until they stop talking about, well...you know," the worried eyes whispered.

"No, we _don't_ know," CMA prompted.

"Excuse me, but are those beavers?" the eyes asked.

"MUSKRATS! THEY ARE SMEGGING MUSKRATS!" CMA yelled, prompting one of the furry animals to squeak.

"Soooorrreeeee! Don't have to shout. Can hear you just fine, you know. I may be American, but I'm not deaf," the eyes complained.

"It's Raz's fault anyway. _He_ said muskrat," CMA muttered.

"_Musket_! I said musket!" Raz interrupted.

"I distinctly heard you say muskrat," CMA sniffed. "Maybe you have lisp."

"Maybe your ears are on backwards," Raz shot back.

"Maybe you forgot how to spell," the eyes ventured.

"Maybe we better get back to these missile thingies," Friday prompted.

"I said _messages_. Not missiles. The missiles usually come _after_ the messages," the eyes corrected.

Raz rubbed his head. He was getting a headache. A big one. The kind that made you get down on your knees and pray for lots and lots of aspirin followed by a promise that whatever you did to deserve this, you never, ever, _ever_ would do it again, provided the Being in question saw fit to inform you about what you actually did wrong in the first place.

Raz was beginning to wisely suspect that it _might_ have something to do with accepting his nomination to be Newsgroup Person of the Year.

We never said he was necessarily fast on the uptake...

Be that as it may, he was just beginning to wonder if perhaps he should let CMA and Friday battle it out for the title when the eyes interrupted his train of thought.

"Weeeeellll, I've been in hiding, you see. Didn't want to get caught in the middle of THE court case," the eyes said quickly.

"Ahhhhhh," the Three Wise Men nodded in unison. "Carry on then." "Ummmm, gents? Before I make tracks, may I make a suggestion?" the eyes asked.

"Just so long as it doesn't involve muskrats," Friday muttered.

"Or tiny furry diapers," Raz complained.

"What's wrong with muskrats?" CMA asked.

"N-n-n-nothing," the eyes stuttered. "But instead of trying to beat each other senseless with furry things, have you considered Trial by Wit?"

"Sounds painful," Friday muttered.

The eyes crinkled with demonic glee. "Only if you forget your flame-proof asbestos underwear when posting binary files to the newsgroup."

Liz