Resisting Temptation

Our Story begins as do all such good stories:

Once upon a time, not too long ago, in a place not too far away ( just three blocks down and one block over to be exact). There lived a beautiful young lady who spent the first thirty years of her life getting a PHD from Harvard ( she was no dummy). In fact she did her dissertation on the impact of Gawpo on the twentieth century . Which I’m sure you know was the basis for the great PBS film special on the same which is now available on an enhanced HDTV DVD. None of that is really important except that when she finished her degree and turned thirty she decided to fly to Las Vegas and celebrate. This of course did not make her parents who were FANATIC Lutherans happy . For a short time it even affected her mother’s health turning her into a raving insomniac and cough medicine junkie. But that , of course, is a different story.

So off she flew to Las Vegas and got totally smashed, falling down drunk, or if you prefer really, really happy. That would have been ok but when she awoke in the morning our Princess ( I know she is not the daughter of a King and Queen but every tale needs a Princess) found herself in one of those big heart shaped beds that are so popular in Vegas. In one hand she clutched a marriage license and next to her she found her brand new hubby and next to him was this little guy in a green suit with funny curly pointed shoes. My regular readers, jumping ahead, know that’s an elf.

Getting dressed our Princess called room service and had a huge pot of coffee delivered to her room. Then she took three Tylenol for her hangover ( poor therapy at best) and tried to think things out. She was a woman of action and not one to sit and fretter. First of all she was sure she had not tossed and turned sleeplessly all night but she was almost afraid to discover what she had done. Waking up with a man you never met before, naked as a J bird , alongside an elf can really set one to thinking.

At this point our elf awoke and offered the required one wish

because of what she had done for him. It came with the usual restrictions. She could not wish that China would cease to be communist or that George Bush would turn into an Arab and be non-tortured by the CIA or any big thing like that. Our Princess , however, at this point was more concerned about what she had done for him than getting one wish. Be