ALWAYS BEST AT FULL-SCREEN ------------------------------------------- PRODUCTION CREDITS: Genesis base - DAZ 3D PD Sayo skin texture - P3Design Philly Hair for Genesis - goldtassel Elvin Warrior clothing - Ravenhair Photo - my own (The Byodo-In Temple grounds, Oahu, Hawai'i, USA) PW - Corel's Photo-Paint X6 ------------------------------------------- **Another river to cross!** Sum'ya grumbled in his head. **You're breaking my back,Cael!** She stared across the river, not wishing to face the swan and have him see the grin trying to break out on her face. She knew he was tired, as was she. But her spirit tended more to optimism, whereas Sum'ya's sank easily into cynicism and self-pity. His mood had deteriorated steadily at each of the prior eleven river crossings over as many days. In truth, more than half of those were not much more than wide streams, and one she could have swam across without his assistance, but she had sense enough not to point out any of this to him. Not when he was in a mood. And he definitely was in a mood. Otherwise, he would have at least called her Cael'ali, which he often deigned to do, but which was still far from polite speech. It was of no concern to her, for she and the softhearted swan were longtime friends and infinitely comfortable with each other's quirks. **Perhaps I could swim it myself,** she offered, still trying to hide her recalcitrant grin. Sum'ya honked derisively. **You sound like a goose,** she teased. **And you would sound like a drowning rat if I let you swim this river by yourself!** he retorted. She resisted asking him what a drowning rat sounded like, but instead muttered, as if to herself, **Whatever will we do?** Now Sum'ya managed a passable snort through his bill. **Oh, for pity sake! Crawl onto my back and let's get this over with!** He lowered his belly to the ground and waited for her to mount. When she was astride his broad back, she poked him playfully and cast, **I love you, dear friend.** He honked again. **Goose,** she chided. **Rat,** he countered. They made their way across the river in companionable silence. ------------------------------------------- Thank you for your comments on previous posts. And thank you for taking time to visit my gallery. Very kind regards. ~Robert