…. I awoke for a second time, slung across an armchair. I was still naked, and immediately felt watched, I sat up, which I was relieved to be able t... do, and quickly found that a group of man-like beings were huddled not far from me. They, again, made me want to scream. They looked almost completely human, except that they had skin as red as fire and tails that curled and twitched behind them, with an end like an arrow that looks as sharp as a brand new knife. Their heads, which had hair that. Close up, the paddock looked worse than from adistance. The wooden rail mostly stayed attached toposts through belligerence and little else. The horseshe had seen from a distance hadn’t moved and stoodlike a palace guard over the water trough, whichseconded as a breading ground for mosquitoes. The horseeyed her suspiciously, but made no effort to recogniseher appearance in any other way.Alanna stepped over a low rail and entered the paddock.Even the flies seemed lazy as they circled the. “Yeah, I’m ok. Break-ups are hard,” she said. “Thanks for listening.”I took that as my signal to get up and leave. I walked to the door and down to my apartment. My thoughts were on when to ask Jessie on a date without her still being on the rebound.Saturday finally came. I had to take some diphenhydramine for my summer allergies. I still hadn't decided what the best timing would be to ask her for a date. But I had decided I was going to start with an activity for both Emily and Jessie in case. "Oh, uh, Thom's gay," I said.Therese did this thing she did, which drove me crazy- I guess I probably do too, though- which is to suppress any response of surprise, no matter how much it's there, when she deemed surprise inappropriate."So?" she said."Well uh, I don't know," I said. "I thought you should know, is all." The burritos were gone, so I brought our plates to the sink and got scrubbing."You should have him over some time," she said."And his boyfriend?" I asked."Of course."***The next.