The morning was cool but beautiful. The bird songs were almost a din. The samller animals scampered frantically to find food before the heat of the day and the hawks find them. A heavy dew had fallen on the yet unmowen grass. Even the untrained eye could see the trail that lead to the woods. But, could the untrained eye see deep into the forest beyond the tree line. The shadows are so dark contrasted by the neon bright sun. Natural camouflage for anything wanting to hide, needing to hide.

-- Susan in Mn (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), June 01, 2002

Answers

(Dang - the pig snout sandwich mighta been easier to follow!)

And there were those, who indeed, needed the camoflage of the forested grove to hide. To provide a cover for them from prying eyes as they slipped quietly, one by one, to the clearing in the center of the glen. As the last woman stepped to the edge of the clearing, they glanced to their leader, awaiting her signal.

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), June 01, 2002.

....awaiting her signal as they furtively glanced at the covered table. Some that were in the front of the group, edged closer ever so slightly. Finally one woman, who could stand the wait no longer especially after being deprived so long, rushed forward and grabbed the drape that was covering the table. There was no stopping the mob after the cover was removed and the chocolate was exposed! The leader stepped forward and...

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), June 01, 2002.

The leader steped forward and threw herself upon the chocolate. "It's mine, all mine! Back off and no one gets hurt." The mob quietly backed off as the leader devoured her fill of chocolate. After she was sasiated and she layed down on the cool grass to light a cigerate. The mob moved into....

-- Sherry (veggiemamma@msn.com), June 02, 2002.

... the temple of the goddess Diana to complete the observance of the pre-combat Luna Festival triggered by the Aries Patrol recon mission of the planet Amazonia. The galactic commando retreated further into the shadows, wishing he had more in his ordnance satchel than just a positioning beacon, dna disruptor and the pig snout with wild onion sandwich, pilfered from the hut of a terrestrial. The sweat beaded on the back of Hermes' neck as he realized...

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), June 04, 2002.

. . . he wasn't alone in his observations of the Luna Festival. As he slowly turned he saw hovering before him a flock of wood fairies, flower fairies, and nymphs. They too had been watching the glutenous events. Giggling they circled around him like misquitos and flew off. As he tried to follow he realized this was a trap.

-- Susan in MN (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), June 04, 2002.

Embarrassinlgly, the galactic commando's positioning unit pointed straight ahead (if you catch my drift). He followed, no chased, the forest nymphs and wood fairies deeper and deeper into the jungle. Six months of space travel with a bunch of guys had done strange things to the man's mind. He had no self-control, the poor soul.

Moments later a second man appeared on the scene. As he rode down the winding trail toward the Amazon encampment, the ears of his big chestnut Morgan stood erect and started twitching back and forth. The horse's signal prompted the cowboy to palm his .44 hawg-leg that was strapped to his leg.

Whal sheeeeeet," the cowboy muttered in mock disgust, "whut kinda dern estrogen fest do we got ourselves hyer?" The rowels of the cowboy's spurs jingled as he dismounted and sauntered over to the group of half-crazed Amazons. The dust flew as he slapped his hat against his trail worn chaps.

"Pardon me ladies, but this ol' cowpoke appears to be lost," he said rather sheepishly, "ya see, I was on the trail of the meanest hombre this side of the Pecos. His name is Grizz." He spit his chaw as he said the man's name. "I lost the gunslinger's trail somewheres in Kansas. Dern near had 'em, too. But the no-account tinhorn forked horseflesh and lit a shuck, hell bent for leather, and ah ain't seen 'em since."

-- Cabin Fever (cabinfever_MN@yahoo.com), June 06, 2002.

Hermes fired on the last of the small winged creatures, reducing it to an undistinguishable puddle on the forest floor as he slid to shelter behind a deadfall. He hated to destoy them, but could not risk discovery before the rescue team arrived. He would have to notify the ships engineer of the further widened fissure in the space/time continueum as evident by the arrival of these cowboys from 1880s Kansas on Old Earth.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), June 08, 2002.

As ol grizz waited un the banks of the Il river waiting to ambush that tin star lawman from the north country!! ol Grizz's thoughts raced back in time to the woman he met over in indiana knowin that was no life for her and her boy the life of a outlaw just one step ahead of that ol lawman!! But grizz waited ready with his old rifle fer him !! grizz figured hed come this way crossin the river headin back north!! Out of the corner of olGrizz's eye He say movment he sholdered up that ol long gun got a good bead on the person and than!!

-- Grizz in western maryland (southerneagle@yahoo.co), June 08, 2002.

The sun was setting in a purple western sky when the aged and gray Texas Ranger decided to call it a day. He was tired and hungry and cold. Every joint ached in the man’s body as he dismounted and removed the saddle from his trusted cayuse. At one time, the Ranger was made of rawhide and iron, but tonight he was feeling his age and was sore. For what seemed like an eternity, he’d been working the trail of the notorious gunslinger, Grizz. The trail was long and winding, full of false leads and dead-ends. But the Ranger would never gave up, he had a job to do. But when this job was over, he had decided that it would be time to hang up his spurs.

The weary lawman hunkered himself down close to the flames of his small campfire. A tin cup of steaming coffee warmed his cold arthritic fingers. Under the star-spangled sky his mind drifted back to a better time, a time in his life when he was young and not lonely. Long ago, he shared a happy West Tejas homestead with his beloved wife and their little son. In his mind’s eye he could see her long-flowing auburn hair and smiling hazel eyes. Rocking in her chair, she sweetly sang lullabies to their baby son. It was tradition to name the first born son with the mother’s maiden name, so they named boy Grisham. With these merry thoughts of his bygone life, the Ranger wrapped himself in his soogan and feel into a deep sleep.

His blissful thoughts soon turned into a restless nightmare. His tortured mind dreamt of the day when a rattlesnake took the life of his young wife as she hung close out to dry. The devastated, empty man could not live without her. Days after her death he found himself on the verge of going mad. His future was bleak and in no way could he raise a baby boy. With a terribly aching heart, the desperate man brought little Grisham to the orphanage at the Spanish mission. As he handed over the baby boy, he also gave the priest two things to save for him as he grew older: a picture of his mother and his grandfather’s Hawkins rifle.

Early the next morning, the tired Ranger was immediately awakened from his restless sleep by a too familiar sound. When he heard the metallic “Click,” he froze still in his blanket. Cautiously he slowly opened one eye just a fraction of an inch. He could see the barrel of an old long rifle sticking out beyond the sagebrush just a few feet from where he lay. He could also see that the man holding the rifle was his quarry, the notorious “Grizz!”

The outlaw’s careful aim had the Texas Ranger dead for rights. The Ranger knew that soon his life would be ended. So rather then reaching for his .44, the lawman slowly reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the old tattered photograph that he loved so dearly. He wanted one last look at his beloved wife before his life was taken by the desperado’s bullet.

Out of the corner of his eye, the outlaw saw that the Ranger held a piece of paper in his hand. A shock of utter astonishment overwhelmed the outlaw when he recognized the figure silhouetted on the paper.

“That’s my ma!”

-- Cabin Fever (cabinfever_MN@yahoo.com), June 10, 2002.

The Galactic Commando trained his disrupter on the two cowboys, knowing the regulations of non-interferance and non disclosure, but chose to ignore the directive since these two, as the woman he pursued , had traversed the continuem fissure and were not native Amazonians. He turned to the cowboys and said "We all three seek the same woman. Help me to seperate her from her minions in the Temple of Diana and all four of us can survive. As the cowboys were surveying this futuristic newcomer, Grizz queried "Do I smell sousemeat an' whil' onion?".

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), June 11, 2002.