Aside from that, I kept things strictly up and up. I went to parent conferences, took the girl shopping, found a summer camp for her; and as the month... went by, she adored me more and more. I confess, I felt good being wanted, needed, loved, and yes, I loved her too. Like a daughter only, I assured myself, a daughter only, honest! Then one morning when Betsy was near 11 years old, I woke up to find the bed empty beside me, my wallet stripped, my Visa card gone, and a scribbled note: “Bored. The amber hung like the label on a dog collar, marking her as his. She could feel the power of it, surrounding her, threatening her, yet protecting her. A savage blow from the rod shattered the other amber that surrounded her, freeing her. She staggered free, inadvertently flashing him glimpses of white thighs, the skin healed, the dress did not. ‘By the way, an unfortunate side effect of the amulet is that you won’t be able to assume your gaseous form.’ His eyes were keen on her face,. It was in this state that he was wheeled into a darkened room and placed in front of an enormous flickering CRT upon which played hours of dancing images that he never quite grasped the meaning of. The headset on his head similarly seemed to report long strings of gibbering sound that despite its nonsensical nature left him in a state of complete and utter contentment. When he was wheeled back to his room the only phrase he could wrap his mind around was, "I love my breasts." He was relieved. You pervert!"Ignoring the insult, I said, "Well, let's get back to the topic." What topic?" Why, your butt. That's the topic. Remember?" Oh yeah. You were saying it's my best feature. Really think so?"Diplomatically, I responded, "I like all of you, but... , " and then I paused, waiting for her recognition of my pun, "but".With a teasing frown she asked, "What do you mean, but'? Or is that butt'?" accenting the tt' of butt."In your case, Sis, it's butt' or, if you will, ass, '" as I gave her my.