"Yikes!" Oshua grinned as he reminisced. The squawk had been most undignified but excusable
as he had unexpectedly fallen backwards. He had actually squawked as he scrambled, crab-like,
on all fours to keep all of his body parts intact. Those small, pesky inhabitants on that hot,
parched planet where he conducted his research had intended him for their dinner! His wings,
which had been flopping around out of control, had been especially enticing to the flightless,
bird-like beasts with the razor-sharp teeth. To make matters worse, Om--his companion and
sometimes best friend--had rolled around on the dry ground, stirring up dust and making them
sneeze uncontrollably as the little man laughed uproariously at Oshua's antics.
     A mischievous grin tipped the corners of Oshua's sensuous lips, giving his angelic countenance
a decidedly less than angelic expression. The voracious creatures had scrambled frantically to
escape the blood-dripping jaws of the dar'n dragon whose image he had projected into
their tiny brains. They had fallen all over one another--tangling their beaks, legs, and feet--as
they tumbled through the scraggly brush that dotted the land about them. Survival had proved to
be a powerful instinct for the mindless little animals. This experience was one he had decided
to definitely not share with his mother. She was such a worry wart, but then there were those
clock-stopping premonitions of hers.
     Now Oshua pondered his dilemma as he stood by the intricately carved, white-stone railing of
theGreat Room. A breeze, sweet-scented from the tubelike, burgundy flowers of the giant orcana
vines now in full bloom, wafted gently through the room. Although the giant flowers grew wild in
all the mountainous regions of the planet, his father had planted these to shade the glass ceiling
of the Great Room when he had first brought his wife to this aerie as a bride.
     Oshua's three pairs of wings were neatly folded within the skin flaps on his back, and his long,
barrel-chested form was covered by the gersh, a favored garment of the Se'phrim when at leisure
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