One Saturday afternoon, Anna went to a birthday party for Trisha, who was a friend from school. Trisha's father dressed up as a clown. He wore a clown suit and humongous squeaky shoes, and Anna particularly liked his nose, which Anna thought similar to a red ping pong ball. But the best part, of course, was the vanilla ice cream and the chocolate fudge cake. Anna had two large pieces -- large, not humongous like the shoes.

Anna gave Trisha a present of a box of four minature truffles, with raspberry filling. Trisha was quite pleased because chocolate truffles were a favorite and she rarely had a chance to eat them since usually if there were any truffles the adults ate all of them. Also, she had a passion for all things raspberry. So as soon as she opened the box, she popped one in her mouth and devoured it whole. Later, Trisha took Anna aside and told her it was the best present of all.

Anyway, it was a very fine afternoon, and that night Anna and her parents eat out and she got to have an adult size dinner of macaroni and cheese which was way yummy. By the end of the day she was quite contented and had no trouble at all going to sleep.

In a dream, Anna found herself sitting at a table eating ice cream and cake with a large group of animals. She couldn't identify what kinds of animals. Some of them were cat-like, but they weren't lions or tigers or leopards or anything she recognized. Very odd.

At first, Anna was so enchanted with the animals that she didn't notice she was in a very large room. But then everyone became quiet and all eyes were focused on a small stage on the other side of the room. Suddenly, Luv appeared on the stage. She wondered what he was doing there. For that matter, she wondered what she was doing there.

A cat-like creature jumped onto the stage and handed Luv what Anna thought was a microphone. Luv then said, "My dear colleagues, we are here to welcome and celebrate a traveler who has come from afar, indeed, from another planet, an explorer with exceptional communication skills, someone who will charm and delight you.

Anna was eager to see who this distinguished traveler was. Perhaps she would tell them of her world and her adventures. Anna was eager to listen and very ready to be charmed and delighted.

But then Luv shocked her by looking at her and requesting, "Anna, please stand up so everyone can see you and welcome you."

At first, Anna was unable to move. But then the animals on either side of her helped her to stand up. As she stood up the animals burst into applause and also made all sorts of animal noises which she assumed were encouragement.

Once Anna stood up she felt surprisingly at ease. A cat-like creature thrust a microphone type thingy toward her and Anna realized she was expected to say something. She felt comfortable enough before this friendly audience, but she didn't know why she was speaking and couldn't think of anything to say. And then she remembered some words her father once said as part of a joke, and she decided it would be better to say them than to say nothing. And so she began "Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, ..." When she paused to think of what she would say next, the whole room applauded wildly.

Anna was about to continue, but then she noticed that Luv was fading. Soon all that was left was his smiling face. Anna realized she had very little time left so instead of speaking she waved to the crowd and threw them kisses. By the time Luv had disappeared completely all the animals were standing and cheering and applauding even more wildly than before.

Anna opened her eyes and awoke. She wondered what she would have said. But the more she thought about it the more she felt she had communicated just what she felt.

THE END