This is one of my favourites, of the kinden stories I've posted up here, although it is something of a change of pace. However this story is not a Gene Wolfe story. Instead its style owes more to another favourite author, Peter S. Beagle. Shockingly few people seem to know Beagle, whose best known work is The Last Unicorn (5). Mr Beagle, like Wolfe, is a short story teller, as well as a novellist, and he has a particular penchant for first person narratives, where his skill shines in giving the teller a very individual voice (6). Beagle is one of those writers who taught me a lot when I was slowly piecing together my own writing style, and this story is something of a homage to his writing. So, enjoy!