..:~%$£###                                          ###£$%~:..
.:~%$£####                                          ####£$%~:.
..:~%$£###                                          ###£$%~:..
...:~%$£##                                          ##£$%~:...
....:~%$£#                                          #£$%~:....
.....:~%$£ ~~£                                  £~~ £$%~:.....
......:~%$                                          $%~:......
.......:~%           the road is blocked.           %~:.......
........:~ two  creatures,  alive,  and  a  burning ~:........
.........:    car. the windshield is shattered,     :.........
..........              from outside.               ..........
..........                                          ..........
.......... ~~£                                  £~~ ..........
..........       £~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~£      ..........
.......... ~~£                                  £~~ ..........
.........:                                          :.........
........:~   the womans name is ~lynne~, she heads  ~:........
.......:~%    from the peninsula of kola - called   %~:.......
......:~%$    there long ago by the depth of the    $%~:......
.....:~%$£   boring hole, now again returning to    £$%~:.....
....:~%$£#   denser civilization. but she is not    #£$%~:....
...:~%$£##   human. she has long claws with which   ##£$%~:...
..:~%$£### she picks out the flesh of her prey and  ###£$%~:..
.:~%$£####     tears at it with her teeth, blood    ####£$%~:.
..:~%$£###   dripping onto the dirt road. she does  ###£$%~:..
...:~%$£##       not look up from her killing.      ##£$%~:...
....:~%$£#                                          #£$%~:....
.....:~%$£     her steed is ~hornblende~, a dark    £$%~:.....
......:~%$    horse, a glowing panther. she's an    $%~:......
.......:~%    extremely digitgrade thing, with a    %~:.......
........:~ polite face. while her regular (and now  ~:........
.........:  disinterested) mouth is responsible for :.........
..........     eating plant matter (mostly fatty    ..........
..........     fruits like avocado) her tail is     ..........
.......... carnivorous and has a mouth (and will?)  ..........
..........  of its own. the entire tail is hollow   ..........
..........  and juicy, and feels wonderful inside.  ..........
.........:                                          :.........
........:~ ~~£                                  £~~ ~:........
.......:~%                                          %~:.......
......:~%$                                          $%~:......
.....:~%$£                                          £$%~:.....
....:~%$£#                                          #£$%~:....
...:~%$£##                                          ##£$%~:...