I met a man a cold afternoon in elfin country. Bald-headed, perky-eared, with steel pierced eyebrow; a carefully trimmed goatee the colour of fire. He looked up with bright blue eyes a warm smile. "I'm odd" he said, hand extended. "...my friend is sure." In the blink of an eye his hospitality I accepted. And for the first time I was on the inside. [5/22/98]