I'm grand thanks... and same old, same old.... nothing exciting, sadly

So how are you? And what are your plans for the day?

moi?

*innocently fluttering lashes*

why, skateboards, of course...

I can guess what you are talking about

I prefer a different type of riding

*grins*

not bad... most of my friends that buy/own bikes are into the £1000s with them... never really interested me to that extent...

Yes I got them to add lock, lights and mudguards. Whole thing came to a little under £250

did you not buy a lock?

Probably. I bought a new mountain bike recently. I will use it to collect my meds. Only worry is it is crying out to be stolen.

they bloody well better be!!

I'm in very safe hands. The health care team are looking after me.

but after that, free like a bird?

It looks lovely and I'm glad you're enjoying it. Autumn is on its way here ...

I'm really glad to hear that, I do worry about you...

I have to collect my meds in a short while.

I truely think the treatment has rescued me. I was in such a bad way.

got any plans for today?

that's wonderful to hear

*my smile broadens at the news*

Super charged! After ECT. Feeling great.

Inside the Great Hall
The guest room allotted to the Ubar was vast, and the girl looked about it in wonder as she smoothed down the silken sheets on the huge bed. Lavish silken drapes framed the arched windows, and the floor was a beautiful mosaic of thousands of brightly coloured tiles.

She paused in her work to wipe her brow, looking over her shoulder to ensure she was not being observed by a passing guard. To pause in one’s work could be cause for discipline. She was not a freewoman. She caught sight of herself in the huge golden framed mirror on the wall opposite. She saw a pretty olive-skinned girl in a tiny white sleeveless tunic, its hem coming high on her thighs and split at each side.

She smiled at her reflection and turned, lifting the hem to show the tiny mark high on her left thigh. It was a beautiful, delicate mark. It had been put there by a white-hot iron, marking her forever as what she was. She smiled again and then touched the band of steel that was fastened on her slender neck. It was a collar, it too marking her as what she was. The girl could not remove it as it was locked upon her.

From the distance she could make out the tiny cursive writing that was etched upon it. She could not read, but knew what it said. ‘Slave of Tor’. It was a common collar, worn by state slaves.

She smiled again and turned, never losing sight of her reflection, looking admiringly at herself with the vanity of a slavegirl. She lifted her left leg, bending it back and adjusted the tiny silver bell that hung from the anklet she wore. That too was locked upon her, the bell too marking her as what she was.

She brushed some dust off the sole of her small foot. She was barefoot of course. This fact too marking her out from freewomen, marking her as what she was. “La kajira!” she said proudly to her reflection in the mirror.

She gave a twirl, giggling. Hearing a sound of heavy footsteps in the corridor outside, she let out a tiny squeak of panic and quickly resumed her work, preparing the room for the arrival of the ruler of Schendi himself.