In which Tim and the others settle in.....

"What's that?" One of the nice things about a bookcase is that some of our taller friends fit.

"It's an archway for my roof garden," I said. According to Maddy, my bookcase is in a perfect winter spot for houseplants - so we're planning on converting the top into a roof garden. We found the arch and a couple of small outdoor tables in a bin of fairy garden supplies today. The benches they had were a bit too small, but I already have a nice bench.

"You Hittys have it made," Tim said. "You get houses and everything."

"Maddy's fixing up a place for you and Rich," John reminded him.

"I know. And I'm insanely grateful, believe me," Tim said with a wan but genuine smile.

"You didn't want to find your other people?" I said.

He shook his head. "Not to sound nasty, but they packed me and and Ed in a freaking box and shipped us to India with all the other crap they were sending ahead of time. And they didn't bother to doublecheck the address. You can kind of see where we stood. The only ones of the lot who got to travel with them were the 1D dolls and the Justin Beiber one." He rolled his eyes at that.

"What's One D?"

"One Direction. Some kind of boy band," Maddy said, coming in. "I thought those went out of style when N'Sync broke up."

"You were into them?" John-John Kilburne said.

"Not really. I didn't hate them, but I wasn't into them. How old was this girl, Tim?"

"Twelve, I think. Around there."

She shook her head. "When I was twelve, I was into Cheap Trick and the Ramones. Those were my versions of a boy band."

~*~

Sohalia, as it turns out, was a souvenir doll.

"It was a shop that sold things for tourists to take home," she explained. "I was in the window at the time and I saw Tim and Edward. I let them in around the back of the shop and hid them out in the stockroom. Tim was able to use the shop's computer to find his brother, who came to get him."

"I wasn't going to leave Ed behind, and I certainly couldn't at least offer to bring Sohalia," Rich said. "She rescued my brother. I knew I could find her a home somewhere, even if it was at Miskatonic."

"I knew I was better off with them than I was staying at the shop," she said.

"Are you and your brother going to stay here?" Maddy asked Richard.

He looked at John. "I think so, at least for now. I'm really tired of traveling so much."

"Right now I don't want to even leave this house," Tim said.

~*~

Maddy talked the two of them into at least going out to the backyard for a family portrait, though.

A good shot of Percy. I keep meaning to ask her if Persephone was the name she was given or if she picked it herself. I have a feeling she picked it.

Shel, looking handsome....


















~*~

And remember that weird little bottle Maddy found? We showed it to Rich. He has no idea what it is, either, but he overnighted it to Dr. Armitage. Maybe he can tell us something....

In which Richard Morris finds us....

"Caroline, you're not going to believe this," John said, looking around. It was an otherwise quiet Sunday evening.

"What is it?" I thought maybe the department Shoggoth had eaten someone - again.

"It's Richard. He's in India."

India? As in India-you're-my-love-song? Needles on the beach at Goa, we will have another flower...

And/or India as in where my ancestor Hitty totally went missing, too? THAT India?


Yeah. THAT India....

~*~

The story is almost as strange as my ancestor's.

Richard Morris, as it turned out, had a younger brother named Tim. Like me and my younger sister Val, Rich had been the prototype and his brother, the second edition. Unlike me and my sister, their maker had promptly listed them on eBay - separately. Rich went almost at once with a Buy-It-Now, Tim, on the other hand, got bid on. Sent to his new home within a day or so, Rich never did know what became of his brother - until recently.

As the fates would have it, Tim had been bought by a mother for her little girl - as a gift to make the family's impending move from Boulder to Bangalore a little easier. The father worked for IBM and had taken an international assignment. So within a few days of his arrival in Boulder, Tim was packed up and shipped to Bangalore, along with a bunch of clothes, some Barbies and a rabbit (stuffie, not pet!) named Edward. 

At least he was supposed to end up in Bangalore. Where he actually did end up, he wasn't sure. He thinks the package might have been misaddressed or the customs forms mislabeled, because the box was opened, inspected - and seized. He and Edward ended up in a room full of seized items slated for disposal. They escaped through an air vent but had no idea what to do next. Had it not been for a doll named Sohalia, they might still be wandering around - wherever they were. She hid them out in the little shop her person owned and from there, Tim was able to track Rich down online - he knew that his brother had been sent to Miskatonic University and found him through the Paranormal Studies Department website. That was when Rich went missing - he hitched a ride on a FedEx international plane to rescue Tim. (BTW, according to Rich, they were in Bhopal.) Once there, Rich was able to get in touch with John, who sent him Maddy's address and the Paranormal Studies department's FedEx account number - which explained the unexpected FedEx package Maddy received from India today.

It's a good thing she doesn't mind surprises...

~*~

This is Rich. He's a little taller than John, at about ten inches.











That's Tim on the right. He's still exhausted and kind of in shock, I think.

And these two are Sohalia and Edward. The guys didn't leave them behind.











Maddy says she thinks the family just got a little bigger, but that's fine with her.

~*~

Maddy's note: "Sohalia" means "Moonlight," according to a web site on girl's names in India. I actually made her back in February, but couldn't think of a way to introduce her until now. Edward is just a stuffie I fell in love with on eBay. For some reason he reminded me a little of Edward Tulane, even though he's not made of china. Rich and Tim I've been trying to get to come out right for a couple of months, at least. They're a little bigger than Caroline, John and Valentine, at about ten or eleven inches. And we'll probably hear more details of Tim's story after he recovers....

In which Maddy almost loses an earring and makes a strange find....

"Okay, girlfriend, big smile...."

"Why do I want to say don't point that thing at me if you don't know what you're doing---?"

*FLASH*






I have a feeling the next few days are going to be like this. Maddy sold some RC airplane and model train stuff that's been in a box in the downstairs closet since way before her father passed away and bought a better camera. Now she just has to figure out how to use it.

I kind of hinted that I wanted the plane, but she said it didn't fly, had never flown and probably never would unless someone threw it hard enough - and even if it did, she would never have trusted anything her father put together enough to send me airborne in it.

"Caroline, believe me. He only thought he knew what he was doing most of the time," she said, taking out something that looked like a silver hair dryer. "Eek. I thought we got rid of this."

"What is it?"

"Heat gun. Also known as The Thing He Broke My Window With That Time."

"How?" I was almost afraid to ask.

"He was watching a bunch of cooking shows one Sunday afternoon in January on PBS - this was back in the very early eighties - and Martin Yan was showing how to smoke a chicken in a wok using tea leaves. Well, he'd bought my mom a wok back over that summer, so - he decided to smoke a chicken in it. Put it this way - just because Yan Can Cook didn't mean it was a good idea for him to try it. Remember, it was January. About 10F out. All the windows were down, the house was closed up tight and here he was torching tea leaves in a wok with a chicken on a cooling rack over them. The entire house was full of smoke in no time, the smoke alarm went off and my mom came running up from downstairs wanting to know what the heck was going on. Long story short, she and I starting opening - or trying to open - all the widows to let the smoke out, but most of them were frozen shut because it had been so cold for about a week. Well, my hairdryer wasn't doing anything to thaw any of them out enough to open, so my father - who was getting really pissed off by then - stormed downstairs and got this thing. 1200F of heating goodness, 10F glass window - the one in my room, nonetheless - and you can guess what happened next. I was just glad it was the storm window and not the inside one. At least I could pull the inside one down in front of the screen. I don't know if my mom was more pissed off over that or over him ruining her wok."

She was right. I didn't want to be anywhere near that plane....

~*~

 "John-John, give me a smile, cutiepie..."

"Is this what you call a glamor shot?" He was actually quite amused.

"Aren't you supposed to be naked except for a strategically placed boa constrictor for that?" Shel said, waking up.

"In your dreams," John-John said.

"You bet," Shel replied with a grin.

Just a little more information than we needed....

~*~

This was the only spot in the yard dry enough to sit on for a photo. After we came back in, Maddy realized she'd lost an earring somewhere and went to retrace her steps.

"I'll be back, guys...." She hurried out to look before it could rain again.







"I don't think it's under here..." John said, looking under the bed.

I like having a place with a view, if you know what I mean.....

"Found it!" Maddy came back in about ten minutes later. "I also found this out near the butterfly bush. Any ideas what it is?"










John took it. It was tightly corked and sealed, with something swirling around inside.

"I don't know," he said, then looked around as his aether detector went off. "But it's something..."

In which John Ashton Smith reflects on his new life....

I must admit that this isn't what I expected....

From the moment I was made, I was rather the odd doll out, I suppose. My sister and I were meant to be toddlers, children to a larger doll my creator, Mrs. Bishop, had made. However, by the time we were finished, it was obvious that we weren't small children. (What I am, I'm still sometimes not certain...) She simply didn't know what to do with us. She ended up selling us to Dr. Armitage, who originally intended to give us to his young daughter, but his wife quickly put paid to that idea. Not knowing what else to do, he trained us as paranormal investigators. That way, at least, we were assured of room and board, as well as an education (for which I am immensely grateful.) I did (and still do) enjoy the investigative work, but I will admit it got rather lonely at times. At times I wished I had a home like some of the other dolls I met, but none of them were remotely like me - either smaller or much larger or wood or vinyl or - something. I thought that Percy, Rich and I must be the only ones of our kind....

Until I was sent here, that is.

I'd first heard of Hitty dolls when my maker contacted Dr. Armitage, frantic with worry about a "magical tree-worshipping cult" revolving around the original Hitty herself, who now resides in Stockbridge, MA. I really can't fathom what she was thinking - perhaps she had heard of the original Hitty's being carved from rowan (also known as mountain ash) wood, known for its magickal properties, as well as references to fans of Hitty and her autobiography as a "cult phenomenon." I was a bit surprised to find that Hitty and her various descendants were in fact around my size, although mostly made of wood. However, it wasn't until I met the lovely Caroline that I got to know any of them personally. I must say I'm quite in awe of these ladies. I've found them all (and Caroline in particular) to be quick-witted, resourceful and quite steady in a crisis.

I also realized that she was the love of my life.

 Fortunately, Caroline's person Maddy approved, as did the other dolls who share her home. I'm not exactly sure what Shel and his finace John-John were thinking when they gave us this, but it's perfect for the little Cthulhu that Maddy gave us.











According to Caroline, I even have an eye for selecting dress fabrics. I must admit her color preferences make it rather easy. The lady at the Village Fabric Shop thought her quite lovely, by the way.

I really must agree.....

In which Maddy gives me a very protective gift....

"What's this, luv?"

"Properties of stones. One of Maddy's books. Did you know coral protects against demons?" I looked at him. "Is that the same as Elder Gods?"

"You're worried, aren't you?" he said gently.

"Well, yeah, with all the stuff happening around here and Richard still missing and all..." Okay, I'm kind of freaked out. And I'm a Hitty, ancestor of a doll who faced down a sinking ship, being shipwrecked, being stolen by a gang and, later on, survived having to bail out of a crashing plane. In other words, it takes a lot to freak out one of us. And I'm kind of freaked out....

I borrowed a quartz crystal and a piece of amethyst geode from Maddy. I think she has some other stones somewhere, too....

"Did you get those from the computer room?" she said, looking in.

I nodded. "I think we need something."

Maddy looked thoughtful. "I think so, too. Wait here."

"What is it?" I said, watching her take a wooden box out of a drawer.

"This." She came back over with...

"A sword?" I took it. It wasn't sharp.

"Sort of. It's an athame." She pronounced it to rhyme with Sammy. "It's a smaller version of mine." She explained that it was a basic magickal tool, used more like a wand than an actual sword. "Use it to cast a circle if you need to defend yourself. The demons can't cross the circle, and it will at least give you enough time to think of something else."

I have a lot to learn, but I feel better now. I can kick some otherworldly butt if need be....

In which I post some more random photos....

Me as my ancestor Hitty's daguerreotype. I ended up giving the dress to my sister Val, though. It's nice, but  - too not pink. It's actually about as brown as it looks in the photo.

Nothing much to do but watch it rain. This was before Maddy's unwise decision to head for the bookstore. She still hasn't made it up there yet. BTW.

Syl the budgie. Cute little face, huh? He talks, but he isn't very understandable. He's funny. He's sweet and friendly, but doesn't really like coming out to play. He'll sit on Maddy's finger, but after about five minutes, he's leaning back in the direction of his cage, wanting to go home.

Me: So what's this?

Maddy: The back porch after that big October snowstorm a couple of years ago. That wasn't even the deepest end of the porch. I couldn't get to that.

Me: What October snowstorm?

Maddy: The one that we got a year - to the day -  before Sandy.

If things really do come in threes, I think we should be making plans to be somewhere else this October 29th....

This, according to Maddy, is the aftermath of the storm where she used to work. Those aren't shrubs in the yard - they're branches torn from that big tree. She had to drive to work very early on the morning of November first to carpool to a meeting, and she said it was one of the creepiest things she'd ever done. It was five AM and pitch dark, and she kept driving through areas that had power and areas that were pitch black. Driving up the twisted, narrow, hilly road leading to the building was the worst. The power was out for most of the street, and there were broken branches and half-fallen trees hanging in the road, along with electrical lines. (The Rogue bears a scratch all along its right side courtesy of one of those hanging limbs.) She said it was like the circle of hell in Dante's Inferno where the souls of suicides go - all these broken, twisted, shattered trees bent in agony, still with green leaves and broken with snow, with only a surreal pinkish-orange glow in the southwestern sky - the lights of New York City reflecting off some low clouds. This was actually taken at about five that same afternoon.

Keeping with Eerie Weather Pictures, this is the sky when Hurricane Irene was heading right for us.

Greetings, little hen.....

Me trying to pick a weapon. With all the weirdness a couple of weeks ago, I didn't think I should head out unarmed.

Maddy: Not my good scissors, guys.....

John-John: Do you really have to photograph everything we do?

In which we discuss rain and computers...

We had a lot of rain yesterday. 5.17" according to the weather report. I dunno - that seems kind of low.

This was when it was coming down rather lightly - for yesterday, that is.

It slacked up for a little while around noon-ish, so Maddy suggested a run to the book store. It seemed like a good idea, but it wasn't. First, we had to turn around about three miles from the house and backtrack thanks to an Escalade that had tried to plow through a small pond on the road and stalled out. We should have taken that as a sign, but we didn't. Several miles later it started pouring again. Freaking pouring. As in "can't see past the windshield" pouring. By the time we could see past the windshield, we had a bigger problem. The road going by the airport was under what looked to be three or four feet of water. Some larger vehicles were braving it, but Maddy decided she'd seen enough and pulled into an office park to turn around and go back home. While we were waiting to turn back out, an impatient BMW cut around the other, hesitant cars, plowed into the water - and stalled out. The water was almost up to the hood.

"I guess he just figured out that the "B" in "BMW" doesn't stand for "boat." Maddy said, shaking her head. "I shouldn't talk, though. I came very close to floating that little Saturn one time. The "puddle" I thought I was driving through turned out to be the sixth Great Lake. I could feel the tires starting to lift and I was like "oh man, I don't have anything to row this thing with!" I got through it, though. I was surprised it was that deep. It's that spot down near CVS where there's always a puddle after it rains."

We (and the Rogue) made it home just fine. Not sure about that Beemer, though. Some people just can't have nice things....

~*~

Today, fortunately, has been dry and quite pleasant, although we still have a couple of small roads nearby closed due to high water.

"So, what's up?"

"Not much," Maddy said. "Reposting that picture that Yahoo apparently ate. You know, for all the money they spent redesigning their logo, that could have invested a little in making the Groups better. I must have done things a lot differently when that Queen fanfic group was so active. I don't remember what it was, though." She looked at me. "Remind me the next time I have that desktop in the other room booted up to pull my bookmarks off of Firefox. I have a lot of sites on that one that aren't on the laptop. I bet most of them don't work any more, but I should at least see."

"You don't use that one to go online?" John-John said. He and Shel were looking over John Ashton Smith's shoulder at something he was doing on his laptop.

"I don't dare to. It's so old I can't update the antivirus software anymore. It isn't compatible. It's still running Windows 2000, believe it or not. I don't have enough hard drive space to upgrade, plus I'll lose my big flatbed scanner if I do. It's not compatible with anything newer than XP."

"We've got one at Miskatonic still running Windows 98SE," John (my fella) said. "We keep telling Dr. Ernsford that his computer's older than Cthulhu, but he still won't upgrade."

"Worst operating system. Ever," Maddy said. "My father, however, loved it. He even "upgraded" my computer to it as a "surprise' one day. Boy was I surprised, all right. Half of my stuff no longer worked. Then, to top it all off, he'd plugged my SCSI scanner into the parallel port and turned it on to "test it out." Totally destroyed my two-month-old scanner. Did I mention that he made a living designing computers? He could make 'em, but he sure as heck couldn't use 'em."

"Neither can Dr. Ernsford," John said. "I don't miss him yelling "John! How do I put one of those picture things on the computer?!" about three dozen times a day. If he didn't have a shortcut to it, he couldn't find it."

"Neither could my father," Maddy said. "He also didn't believe in antivirus software - said it was all a crock and a ripoff - even after his computer ended up disabled thanks to about a hundred different viruses and Trojans and who knows what all. Then there was the time with the battery."

"Battery? As in motherboard battery?" John said.

She nodded. "I had actually bought a book - one of those Dummies books - on computer repair. It was pretty informative. One bit of info I'd picked up was that there were several different kinds of batteries, including one that was hidden in a chip that had a little clockface on it - a "Dallas Realtime Chip." Well, he was complaining that his computer kept losing the time and date settings - a sure sign that the motherboard battery was about to die - but when I said that, he quite nastily informed me that his motherboard didn't have a battery. Meanwhile, he has the computer open and there I am, looking down at this little clockfaced chip. I told him that was it and he told me to get the hell out if I wasn't going to help, because I didn't know what I was talking about. Well, long story short, the battery dies, the computer can't find the hard drive to boot up, he goes ballistic and I end up having to drive him and the computer over to a friend's place to have him look at it. Well, he opens it up, points to the little clockface chip and says. "That's the problem. Your battery's dead." My father told him that he was as stupid as I was, because that wasn't a battery. He replaces it and guess what? The computer works again."

"I hope he apologized," Shel said.

"He did - to his friend. Not to me, though." She shook her head with a wry laugh. "He always used to say that kids should know more than their parents, but he totally didn't like to see it put into action."

It's like Maddy says - always check the battery first...

In which my attempt at playing lighting designer is an epic fail....

"I dunno, luv..." John and I had just finished installing the overhead lights we picked out. "Seems rather - well, industrial to me."

Maddy wasn't too sure, either. "Seems kind of harsh."

John-John Kilburne, however, was more blunt. "No way. I've seen better lighting in the men's bog." (That's "restroom," for all us Yanks.)

"I'll take your word on that," I said. 

"Let's think on it a bit," Maddy said. "I can always find a use for those lights if you decide you don't want them."

~*~

We found more fabric like the original butterfly dress (there are butterflies in the pattern, really; they're just really scattered and random,) so Maddy decided to make version 2.0. since she had no idea where the other one is. I think it's somewhere amid all the books she has under her bed.

This is the original one, BTW. And was I having a bad hair day or what in that picture? ZOMFG...

The pink streak is pretty cool, but the rest of it...










~*~

"Okay, places everyone - whatever that means...." Maddy has been trying to recreate some of the scenes from my ancestor's autobiography. Since there aren't any china or wax dolls here, we're being creative....

I didn't make much of a showing amid the other dolls.....

"Okay, hold it..."

"Caroline, where are you going?"

"Be right back...."

"Oh-KAY, eat your heart out, you Madame Tussaud's reject. it's Caroline time!"

"Okay, that's not in the book," Maddy said. "Although really, it would have been kind of cool if it had been. And wax museums are seriously creepy. I was in one in Quebec City years ago. I lasted about two minutes before I was like, "okay, I'll meet you all across the street at that drugstore. I am out of here." I felt like I was in a mausoleum where they'd posed all the bodies. And you know me, I don't creep out that easily."

"So what did you do?" I was changing back into my other dress.

"Went and looked at music mags until my friends got bored and came over. Didn't find any good pictures, though..."

THUD 

"What was that - oh boy..."

Well, back to the drawing room - whatever that is...

"Board. Not room."

"Then what's a drawing room?"

"Like the living room, only more Victorian."

And probably better lit, too....oh well.

In which we kind of start to catch up on other stuff....

Well, after last week, things are getting a little more back to normal around here.


John is still working for the university, albeit remotely. I'm so psyched that he decided to stay. He's awesome. We still haven't found his friend Richard, though.

"Caroline? Would you like to see a picture of the Shoggoth the Paranormal Studies department is sponsoring?"

Now I really have heard everything. Although I suppose that big transparent gelatinous blobs need love, too....

Maddy measured him for new clothes over the weekend. She asked him if he was going to have the rest of his stuff sent down and, as it turned out, there was no rest of his stuff. Just the coat, other shirt and other pair of pants he had with him. She's taking care of that, though. He already has a new pair of jeans.

I also finally moved into my new apartment late last week. It's a bookcase Maddy moved into her room. I love the open sides (windows!) but we're going to put something over the open back. Maddy also said she's thinking of getting me the whale rug from Gail Wilson's site. I like the wood floor and don't want to cover it completely, but it's nice having something by the bed. And yes, the flowers are from John. He hasn't officially moved in with me - yet.

This is the other side of the room. The photo is of the original Hitty. The little hatbox is made of wire and beads. The two bitty Hittys were made by Sue Sizemore and the feathers are courtesy of Maddy's African ringneck parakeet, Dharma (nicked from the title of a Jack Kerouac book, she said.) and her budgie Syl (yes, as in Syl Sylvain.)








John and I were looking at wallpaper together. He thinks we should do the part above that back slat in one color - like wainscoting - and the bottom in something else. I like that idea. I mentioned that we also needed to paint the dresser and he looked at the sea chest and asked what we'd primed it with, since the paint didn't look all that smooth.

Primed? So far as I know, Maddy just, in her words, slobbed a bunch of acrylic paint all over it and sealed it (shut, at one point) with Ceramcoat.

I think we might have missed a step somewhere....

In which John Ashton Smith solves one mystery, if not another....

"Dear Dr. Armitage,

We have solved the mystery of Dr. West, but I regret to inform you that we have not yet found Richard Morris.

Here is what I do know:

Today I returned alone to the lot we investigated yesterday. Although Miss Caroline implored me to take her along, I bade her remain at the house, hoping she would be safe.

In hindsight, it was a mistake to investigate alone. As I entered the woods. I was struck from behind and knocked unconscious.



When I revived....

"You're John Ashton Smith, the famous paranormalist? You're just a little pipsqueak."

"Who are you?" I demanded, trying to sit up.

"You may call me Dr. West. And you're just in time to witness my triumph," he sneered. "I have found a way to revive the dead through the bodies of that idiot Bishop woman's castoffs. And she really believed I was running an orphanage!" He snorted. "The only hing stupider than a woman is a little pipsqueak Brit doll, apparently...."

"Are you insane?" I demanded.

He didn't reply to that; just reached for an all-too-familiar silver box...

"What are you doing?! You're going to get us all killed!" I knew he wasn't about to listen to the voice of reason, but I felt I had to point put the obvious anyway.

"With the power of the great Yog-Sothoth..." he started.

"ALL RIGHT, YOU! IT'S HITTY TIME!"

I was never so grateful to have someone not listen to me in my entire life. Dr. West wasn't expecting to be struck down from above. 

"Don't even think of moving," she cautioned.

"No..." He tried to get to his feet, but his left arm had been knocked from its socket in the fall. One of the perils of being molded plastic, as I understand. Nevertheless, he was able to reach the silver box and knock it to the floor, spilling its contents and exposing...

"That's not the bloody Shining Trapezoidhedron!" I was so stunned that I forgot to mind my language around the lovely Miss Caroline.

"Wh-what?" Dr. West moaned.

I looked at him. "It's a crystal wing talisman from the lost city of Ydmos. It's a protective charm that will render worthless any of your reanimating spells."

He stared at me, unbelieving. "Y-you..."

"I think we know who the idiot is here," Miss Caroline said, then called the not-so-good Doctor by a term which, although highly appropriate, I shall not repeat here.

"Tell your girlfriend there to shut up or I'll smack her one in her fat mouth," Dr. West sneered.

"If you even try it, I'll dislocate your other arm, you..." I won't repeat the name I proceeded to call him, but be assured it was also highly appropriate. 

I am pleased to report that Dr. West has been turned over to the appropriate authorities. As for me, I shall remain here to continue my investigation into Richard Morris' disappearance..."

"So, this isn't bad after all?" I was looking at the wing thing that John had brought back with us.

"No. If anything, it's a talisman against evil," he said. "However, being that it set of the aether detector, I couldn't take any chances."









He looked at me. "Wait. It's "Hitty Time?" What does that mean?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, It sounded gangsta." I had to say it. "He called me your girlfriend."

John looked down for a moment, then back at me. "Well, even idiots have to be right sometimes, I guess. I mean, if you..."




Sometimes, it's just better to cut to the kiss....