Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 �>�The Third Kind of Nudist by deanosaur

   One

   Marion was washing a few plates in the kitchen when she caught sight of
her friend and neighbour Linda in the window opposite.  Taking care not to
raise her hand too high Marion gave her a cheery wave.  A mere five yards
away across the garden Linda waved back and then shook her hand to indicate
drinking a cup of tea.  Marion nodded vigorously and held up her hand with
fingers and thumbs splayed to indicate five minutes.  She finished her
washing up and peeled off her rubber gloves.  As Marion retreated carefully
towards the hall her whole being was flooded by a familiar feeling of
excitement and elation.  With a just a hint of sadness Marion dressed,
picked up her keys and made her way across the driveway to the house next
door.  Despite her warm jacket she shivered in the brisk winter breeze that
carried a hint of rain.

    -�Come in Marion -� Linda shouted  -�the door -(TM)s open -�

   Marion pushed open the dark blue door and stepped into the warm hallway,
her heels clattered on the Victorian tiles sending echoes resonating
through the house.  Linda was waiting for her in the kitchen, two steaming
cups already on the table.  Marion took off her thick green coat and draped
it on the back of a chair.  She glanced out of the window towards her own
identical kitchen and smiled, her security measures were perfect.  There
was no way that Linda could have seen her.

    -�Aren -(TM)t you cold in that top? -� asked Linda

    -�No, why? -� replied Marion, in what she hoped was a nonchalant
manner.

    -�Well it is the middle of winter.  When I saw you in the kitchen it
looked like you were naked -� said Linda, laughing at her own joke.  Marion
laughed along; after all that was the reason she had put that pink
strapless top on.  Not for the first time Marion considered telling her
friend her secret, but wiser council held sway.

    -�As if -� she replied scornfully.

   Later when she had returned home Marion looked at herself in the full
length mirror hanging in her hallway.  She had to admit that Linda had a
point.  The blouse truly belonged to a bright sunlit summer -(TM)s day. 
And, of course, Marion would have appeared to be naked if all you could see
through a window partially obscured by a large chopping board were her bare
shoulders.   -�An easy mistake to make -� said Marion to herself as she
pulled the top over her head.  Her large breasts fell loose.  She examined
them critically, pulling them to one side before letting them fall.  She
squeezed them together and watched them bounce, once, twice, three times
before they halted.  She sighed; there had been a time when they would have
stopped on the count of one.  Marion hung her top next to her coat, quickly
removed the rest of her clothes and went and made herself some lunch.

   As she ate her cheese and pickle sandwich Marion contemplated her
journey over the last few months.  Her adventure began, as most adventures
do, by chance.  One hot summer -(TM)s night when her husband Brian was away
on business and her daughter Isla had chained herself to the railings of
the nearby power station as one of her many protests about the state of the
planet, Marion had found herself unable to sleep.  The night was hot and
humid without a breath of air and, in a fit of rebellion, which for Marion
was as daring as her daughter -(TM)s, she removed her nightdress and lay
naked under the sheets.  Even so she was still unable to sleep, but now it
was not the heat of the night that was keeping her awake, but the thrill of
being nude, the feeling of the sheets against her bare skin.  Inside the
intimacy of this moment she felt pulled, as if by magnetism, to the window.
Marion peeked through the window, should anyone see her it would be just
her face, but would they suspect her to be naked behind the curtains?  She
smiled a secret smile as looked down into her garden; the shadows of the
trees were deep and dark under the starry sky.  And then an impulse took
her, three times she went to the bedroom door and three times common sense
prevailed and she drew back.  But the call of the wild was too strong, it
refused go away, and so, on the fourth of asking the chains of morality
broke and for the first time in her life Marion walked naked though her
home.  She revelled in the freedom, the recklessness of the deed, the
knowledge that she alone knew what she had done.  And then, suddenly, there
she was standing at the door to the garden.

    -�I -(TM)ll just open the door -� she promised herself  -�I won -(TM)t
go out.  I won -(TM)t -� But she knew that for the lie it was, for as soon
as she had opened the door, and felt the humid air move against her skin,
all caution was gone.  Lost in the moment she was out in the heavy summer
scented breeze, feeling the cool grass against her bare feet.  The rustle
of an animal in the bushes brought Marion suddenly to her senses; she
quickly crouched, scanning the windows of the neighbouring houses, as a
soldier looks for snipers.  She was safe; the curtained windows looked down
blindly.  Stepping quickly to the left Marion blocked her neighbours -(TM)
view of her bare body with a large Vibernum.  Slowly she worked her way
back to the door to the house using the cover of several large shrubs. 
Marion hardly slept all that night, her mind racing with the thrill of her
adventure balanced with the fear of having been seen.

   The next day was torture, Marion waited for a neighbour to call or make
some casual remark about her nocturnal venture.  When her husband returned
that evening she seriously considered confiding in him before someone told
of her shameful display.  She held her tongue and, as time passed Marion
knew she had got away with it.   -�Never again -� she told herself, but she
knew she was lying.  A week later on a hot afternoon she was walking in the
garden, checking the sightlines, working out a path to follow where she
couldn -(TM)t be seen.  Three weeks later she was back again walking
barefoot, bareback, bare everything through the bushes while her husband
Brain slumbered sweetly on lost in a land of dreams.  From there it was but
a small step to living nude during the day, listening for the warning note
from the engine of Brian -(TM)s car.  A siren to send her scurrying for her
clothes.



   Two

   Three o -(TM)clock on a bitter winter -(TM)s morning, the ebb tide of
the soul.  As Belvoir Avenue lay sleeping, tightly wrapped in warm duvets a
cold wind whistled through Marion -(TM)s pubic hair and stiffened her
nipples to the point of pain.  Slipping silently through the frosty garden
she was close to ecstasy.  Marion had halted her nude forays at the end of
the summer for fear of the cold, and this was her first experience of a
sharp winter -(TM)s night.  Overhead the sky fizzled with stars as she
followed her secret path towards the back gate.  Here she paused and
considered a brisk walk along the lane that led to the street.   -�No -�
she thought to herself as her breath steamed in the freezing air,  -�I
-(TM)ll just see if the coast is clear, but I won -(TM)t go -� Carefully so
as not to disturb the nearby sleepers she opened the gate a sliver and
peeked through.  Marion quivered at the thought of her neighbours soundly
snoring in their beds whilst she stood naked just outside their windows. 
If only they knew, safe staid Marion Shaw, never known to wear short skirts
or revealing tops, a veritable nun of the community, liked to roam the
streets at night wearing just her sensible shoes.  She was pushing her
luck; she knew this, and she knew with utter certainty that one day she
would be caught.   -�Go back now -� she told herself, but it was no use,
the lane was clear and there was nothing between her and the silent street.

   Brian Shaw woke with a start.  Languidly he stretched out his hand to
gain comfort from the warmth of wife; but she was not there and the bed was
cold.  All of the fatigue gone now, his mind began to race,  -~surely she
isn -(TM)t out tonight -(TM) he thought,  -~not in this weather. -(TM) He
climbed out of bed, shivered in the cold and groped for his dressing gown.
Very carefully, so as not to warn his wife, he parted the curtains a
smidgeon, just enough to look out with one eye.  There she was, a pale glow
at the edge of the garden.  Brian sighed, and not for the first time wished
that Marion would spend some quality time with him in the nude.  What drove
his wife to wander naked around the garden in the middle of the night was a
mystery to him.  Not once in their twenty years of marriage had she shown
any exhibitionist tendencies.  Even now, when it was perfectly obvious to
Brian that Marion loved to bare all, she hid herself away under her staid
clothes.  She was careful he had to admit, and it had been just by chance
that he had caught her, one night in early autumn when she had stepped out
from under the deep shade of the apple tree near his prize bed of
chrysanthemums.  Since that time Brain had tried to breach the subject of
nudity with his wife, but somehow the opportunity never quite arose.  He
watched her naked skin glowing in the starlight as she moved towards the
back gate.  She wouldn -(TM)t dare?  But she would; the gate creaked open
and for the first time he glimpsed her whole, as she looked out in the
lane. Even at the age of forty she had a fine figure, he admired her
straight back and well rounded backside in the faint glow.  A sudden panic
gripped him as Marion turned and looked straight him.  He held the curtains
very still; for even now Brian couldn -(TM)t let his wife know he had seen
her, he just wished she could find it in herself to tell him.

   Funnily enough this was exactly what his stark naked wife was
contemplating in the gloom of that freezing midwinter -(TM)s night when the
light in her bedroom snapped on.  Swearing quietly to herself she ran in
zigzags across the garden for the door.  Knowing that silence was more
important than speed, Marion closed the kitchen door behind her and slipped
into her dressing gown and slippers which she had left conveniently, arms
spread wide by on the kitchen table.  Picking up the glass of milk she had
poured before going out Marion sat down and waited.

   Brian gave his wife enough time to get into the house and cover her bare
body before he started to go downstairs.  He found her in the kitchen
drinking a glass of milk.  Sadly she wasn -(TM)t nude.

    -�Sorry -� said Marion  -�did I wake you -� She tried to sound calm
although her heart was pounding like a drum.

    -�No, I just wondered where you were -�

    -�I couldn -(TM)t sleep so I came down for a drink. -� She finished the
milk and said  -�I -(TM)m coming back to bed now -�

    -�Oh right, -� said Brian, trying not to look at his wife -(TM)s muddy
feet.

   At the top of the stairs Marion turned to her husband.   -�I think I
-(TM)ll just have a quick shower to warm me up -� Fifteen minutes later she
slipped into bed, he felt her warm naked body brush against him, her skin
so smooth and fragrant.  He reached out and gently, as soft as a feather
touched his wife -(TM)s breast.  Her whole body arched in ecstasy and Brian
knew he wasn -(TM)t going to get much sleep from now on.

   Brian woke with the alarm as usual.  His mind drifted through the
rollercoaster of last night, if that was how Marion was going to respond
after a naked walk he decided he would encourage her to do it more often.
His wife was already gone, up showered and dressed for the new day.  She
greeted as if the previous night had just been a mid winters night dream.

    -�You -(TM)re late darling.  Hurry up and eat your breakfast. -�

   Before he knew it he was out of the front door and into the car.  As
soon a Marion heard her husband -(TM)s engine fade in the distance she
removed all her clothing and went back to the crossword she had half
finished.

   That evening Brian lay awake in bed forcing himself to keep his eyes
open.  He felt like a small boy trying to catch a glimpse of Santa on
Christmas Eve.  Instead of a jolly man in a red suit sneaking into his room
in the middle of the night, he was looking forward to a surreptitious
glance of his wife in her birthday suit sneaking out of the room and into
the silent, frosty garden.  In impatient expectation Brain tossed and
turned, while his wife slept soundly, never moving from the bed until he
was long gone to work on this dim winter morning.  Of course if Brian had
known what was going to happen he would never have slept at all that during
that year -(TM)s Christmas Eve.



   Three

   Brian and Marion Shaw had one daughter they had christened Isla.  She
had been conceived on their honeymoon when they had both been young and
careless.  Although they had never thought of having a child so young, and
in many ways it had been a struggle, now they found it to be a blessing. 
Friends of their own age were always complaining as they grappled with the
angst caused by their teenage children.  They were free of Isla who was
away at university.

   Well, most of the time, Brain mused, that fateful Christmas morning as
he lay in bed.  Marion was already up and preparing the turkey dinner.  If
he listened carefully he could hear her singing carols in the kitchen.  She
greeted him with a warm Christmas kiss when he finally got up.  Isla was
nowhere to be seen.  This was fortunate as both her parents were feeling a
little piqued at her zeal for saving the environment.  One bright September
day they had bade a tearful farewell to a normal self centred materialistic
teenager.  Eighteen months on, and a green warrior had taken her place. 
Last evening they had been lectured for at least three hours on the evils
of consumerism.  Finally, having consumed a fair amount of wine, Brian and
Marion were able to break free and retire with their guilty consciences

    -�Come on Isla, get up.  We want to open our presents -� shouted her
mother.

    -�Enemy of the planet -� came the reply.

   Eventually a tousled haired teenager appeared in the lounge.

    -�You could at least have dressed -� said Brian as Isla lowered herself
into the armchair clad only on her dressing gown and slippers.

    -�I thought you were in a hurry -� Isla replied tartly.

    -�Oh for goodness sake, let -(TM)s get on with it -� her mother
interrupted sharply.

   Marion had spent a considerable amount of time, and money, choosing a
tasteful and quite trendy dress for her daughter -(TM)s present.  She
waited with eager anticipation as Isla opened it.  The first comment her
daughter made regarded the waste of precious resources that had gone into
the wrapping.  She held the dress up against her small frame and then
looked at the label.   -�Dry clean.  High energy wastage and dangerous
chemicals -� commented Isla.

    -�The least you could say is thank you -� snapped Marion.

    -�It -(TM)s a nice gesture, mum, but we need to think of the Earth
-(TM)s resources.  They are running out and so much is wasted on items we
don -(TM)t need -�

    -�Really Isla, your mother spent a great deal of time choosing that -�

    -�I -(TM)m sure she did Dad, and I -(TM)m grateful, but we have to look
at ourselves and change our lifestyles.  We can -(TM)t afford to go on
wasting precious resources on trinkets -�

    -�Hrrumph -� exclaimed Marion as she flicked her Father Christmas
earrings.  -�I suppose these are a waste? -�

    -�Well yes -� said Isla

    -�Right -� exclaimed Marion between clenched teeth, removing the
earrings and dropping them on the table.   -�And my dress, that -(TM)s an
uneconomic use of resources, no doubt made by small children in sweat shops
-� she continued.  Marion stood up.

    -�There -(TM)s no need to take on like that, stay and finish opening
your presents -� pleaded Brian trying to defuse the situation.

    -�Oh no -� continued Marion  -�we can -(TM)t have any more wasteful
possessions, can we -� and without further ado, she unzipped her dress and
stepped out of it.   -�There miss green warrior, does that suit your
principles -�

   Brian looked at Marion with utter astonishment while Isla studied her
fluffy slippers.

    -�I -(TM)m sorry Mum, I didn -(TM)t mean -� But Marion had the bit
between her teeth now.

    -�Wait a moment, my bra, it -(TM)s made of nylon.  Oh that -(TM)s from
oil, very bad -� and without further ado she removed that too.  Brian knew
that she would go on now.   -�And the knickers, all the detergent used to
wash them will be poisoning the waterways.  There, happy now -�

   And with a flourish, she pulled them down and strode stark naked from
the room.

   Isla turned her ashen face to her father  -�I --I -- didn -(TM)t mean -�

    -�I -(TM)ll talk to her -� said Brian getting wearily to his feet.

   In the kitchen a very nude Marion was extremely pleased with herself. 
That had gone much better than she had expected.  She wondered how much of
the day she could spend naked in a mood of outraged indignity.  She quickly
wiped the smile from her face as the door opened and Brain entered.

    -�Well I hope she -(TM)s satisfied now -� she stormed,  -�little
sanctimonious madam -�

    -�Marion you -(TM)re naked -� said Brain trying to sound calm

    -�Well spotted dear -� she replied sarcastically.

    -�Will you put some clothes on please? -�

    -�Not until she apologises -�

    -�Marion, it -(TM)s Christmas, what has come over you? -� But Brian was
beginning to realise what had come over his wife, this was her big outing.

    -�I -(TM)ll go and talk to Isla -� he said

   He left and began to go upstairs to Isla -(TM)s room

    -�I -(TM)m still in here dad -� she called as he passed the lounge
door.

   He turned and went into speak to his daughter.  His jaw dropped, for
there, sitting quietly in the armchair next to the Christmas tree, was his
nineteen year old daughter.  She sat comfortably, legs crossed, hands
clasped together in her lap.  She was still wearing her fluffy pink
slippers, but that was all she had on, her dressing gown was folded primly
on the coffee table next to her mother -(TM)s discarded clothes.

   In the kitchen Marion became aware of a high pitched whine.  She tracked
the mournful sound to the lounge where she found her husband standing
looking out of the window.  It was clear that he was the source of the
wail, and sitting calmly on the chair was the cause.

    -�Why are you naked Isla? -� Marion asked

    -�For the same reason you are Mum -� she replied calmly.

   Marion paused briefly, she rather doubted that that was the case, but
she wasn -(TM)t going to illuminate her family.

    -�Brian, will you stop that -�

    -�Look what you have done -� he shouted at the window.

    -�Yes -� said Marion turning to her daughter,  -�look what you have
done -�

    -�Me -� she countered pointing towards her mother -(TM)s bare chest.  
-�You started it -�

    -�Well it -(TM)s gone far enough -� Brian interrupted  -�both of you
can get dressed now, you have made your point -�

   But Marion had not made her point by a long way; she had planned on
sitting down to lunch naked.

    -�I -(TM)ll get dressed when Isla promises to stop lecturing me -�

    -�I -(TM)m sorry Mum, but I feel so strongly on this -�

    -�Fine -� she said simply, turned on her bare and flounced out.

   Brain groaned and followed her.

    -�How long is this going to carry on? -� he asked his wife.

    -�That -(TM)s up to Isla -�

   Brian sighed and then called  -�Isla, will you come into the kitchen? -�



   Four

   He had half hoped she would have covered up, but there she was, fluffy
pink slippers, shiny vagina, and bare breasts with pink nipples pointing
accusingly at him.  Brain winced, and Marion grimaced before turning back
to preparing the vegetables for lunch. Isla offered an olive branch  -�Do
you want a hand Mum? -�

    -�That would be nice, dear -�

   Brian couldn -(TM)t believe his eyes; there they were, both stark naked
peeling potatoes.  Shaking his head he sloughed off to the lounge.  The
room was a littered with torn wrapping paper and his wife -(TM)s discarded
clothes.  Not having the will to tidy the room he sat disconsolately on the
sofa as forlorn as Aenaes amongst the ruins of windy Troy.  This was
without out a doubt the best and worse Christmas ever.  The best because
his wife was stark naked in the kitchen preparing dinner.  The worst
because his nineteen year old daughter was also stark naked in the kitchen
preparing dinner.

   Suddenly his brain caught like the waterlogged engine of an old car.  It
spluttered and coughed and then, as the fuel began to flow, it roared into
life.

    -�The Jenkins -(TM) are invited to tea -� he shouted at his wife -(TM)s
bare behind.

    -�I -(TM)m sure they -(TM)ll understand, dear -� replied Marion.

    -�What, you mean; you are going to stay naked? -�

    -�You heard what I said, Brain. -� She turned to her equally naked
daughter.   -�Are you going to give up this environmental nonsense? -�

    -�It -(TM)s not nonsense -� replied Isla vehemently.

    -�Very well, then the clothes stay off -�

    -�What am I going to tell Howard and Jill? -� asked Brian desperately.

    -�I always find the truth refreshingly innovative -�

    -�What -� he screamed,  -�What? -� He paused for breath.   -�You want
me to cancel them because you refuse to put some clothes on? -�

    -�Who said anything about cancelling them -� replied Marion evenly.  
-�I -(TM)m sure they will understand, and I don -(TM)t think I have got
anything either of them hasn -(TM)t seen before -�

    -�Nor me -� added Isla.

   Brain slapped his forehead with his hand and stormed out of the room.

   Marion continued to prepare the sprouts while her daughter carefully
peeled potatoes.  Neither spoke.  Isla was just about coming to terms with
her predicament.  She had been on the longest rollercoaster ride of her
life.  The dull climb of a family argument had taken a sudden sickening
drop into a naked void as her mother shed her clothes.  This had been
followed by a several savage twists and turns; another sinking drop when
she felt the compelling gravity of obligation to bare all.  Now Isla -(TM)s
car was gliding serenely into the disembarkation hall where she found
herself chatting nonchalantly with her equally naked mother about the state
of the turkey in the oven.  Slowly the enormity of what she had done rose
over her like a harvest moon in the September sky.  She had let her father
see her, all of her, breasts, bottom and worst of all her vagina, freshly
shaved of all pubic hair that very morning.  Nobody had mentioned that yet,
eerily nobody had mentioned her naked body at all.  Slowly and
surreptitiously Isla looked at her mother.  The last time she had seen her
naked was as a child in the swimming pool changing rooms.  Her mother was
much as she recalled, heavy breasts and the same thick bush of pubic hair
that had so fascinated her then.  It came to Isla as a sudden flash that
for her mother, Isla -(TM)s body had changed little.  Her breasts were
there, but rather small, and of course she had meticulously removed all
signs of maturity with a fresh razor just a few short hours ago.

   Just as Isla -(TM)s storm tossed ship nosed quietly into safe harbour
Marion was beginning to wonder if she may have gone a bit too far.  She had
planned an outing this holiday and she had cynically used her daughter
-(TM)s sincere beliefs as an excuse to bare all.  She hadn -(TM)t expected
her Isla to join her, and a nude family for Christmas was never part of her
plan.  Now she was trapped in her own web, staring at a naked dinner with
her daughter, followed by a big surprise for some of her oldest friends.

    -�Mum -� Isla -(TM)s voice broke into her thoughts  -�what are we
doing? -�

   Resisting the urge to reply  -�making Christmas lunch dear -� Marion
sighed and turned to her daughter  -�I don -(TM)t know -� she said with a
hint of despair,  -�it just got a bit out of hand -�

    -�I -(TM)ll put the kettle on -� said Isla, the typical response to any
crisis.

   Marion watched her daughter as she made the tea.  Not an ounce of spare
flesh spoiled the outline of her body.  Marion sighed to herself as she
recalled how she had once been that slim.  Not for the first time she
wished she had discovered the joys of being naked when she was younger and
had a figure to flaunt.

    -�Mum -� began Isla in a quiet voice  -�you -(TM)re not going to stay
like this for the rest of the day are you? -�

   Marion gave out a sigh.   -�No dear -� Isla misinterpreted her mother
-(TM)s reply as remorse for her situation.  Marion -(TM)s disappointment
actually lay in her decision not to spend the rest of the day naked.  She
had shocked Brian, but it was very clear that he would cancel before
allowing their friends to see them naked.

    -�So shall we get dressed then? -� Isla enquired.

    -�Oh not just yet -� replied her mother,  -�I -(TM)m just beginning to
feel comfortable.  You can get dressed if you like -�

    -�No, I -(TM)ll wait for you -� Isla paused before admitting  -�it is
quite nice isn -(TM)t it -�

    -�You know -� said Marion  -�I think your father is missing out on
something. -�

    -�Mum you wouldn -(TM)t -�

   But Marion was gone.

   Brian stared up at the door as it opened to reveal his still naked wife.

    -�For God -(TM)s sake Marion -� he began.

    -�I -(TM)ll ring Jill and explain the situation, I -(TM)m sure it will
be fine -�

    -�Please Marion -� he begged.

    -�Oh come on Brian, we -(TM)re old friends, I don -(TM)t mind them
seeing me in the nude -�

    -�Neither do I -� said Isla entering the room.

    -�You don -(TM)t mind them seeing your mother naked either, is that
what you -(TM)re saying? -� Brian asked, hoping that was what she meant.

    -�No dad, I don -(TM)t mind them seeing me in the altogether -� This is
what Brain feared she meant.

   He groaned and held his head in his hands.  He wasn -(TM)t sure whether
his daughter was serious but he was sure that Marion would be there wearing
just a smile as she offered around the mince pies and mulled wine.  After
all to anyone who was prepared to trip down the back lane stark naked on an
ice cold winter -(TM)s night was capable of anything.

    -�Tell you what sweetie -� said Marion  -�We -(TM)ll do you a deal -�

   Brian looked up from the chair.  There they stood two little buff peas
in a pod, all shiny and gleaming in the glow of the Christmas tree lights.

    -�We -(TM)ll have dinner in the nuddy and then get dressed for Howard
and Jill -�

   Brain leant back and sighed.  He -(TM)d much rather they both got
dressed straight away, but at least there would be no awkward situations.

    -�So what do you say Dad? -�

    -�Ok, that would be acceptable -�

    -�Right -� said Marian brightly  -�get you kit off -�



   Five

   Brian felt like he had been hit in the solar plexus.  If he hadn -(TM)t
already been sitting down he -(TM)d have collapsed.  His mind was in
turmoil, a thousand thoughts flashing this way and that like a shoal of
fish that had just caught sight of the shadow of a shark.

    -�What me? -�

    -�That -(TM)s the deal -� replied his wife  -�or Jill and Howard get
the biggest Christmas surprise since they were six -�

    -�I -(TM)ll just go upstairs -� said Brian, a defeated man adrift on
the ocean with no hope of rescue.

    -�No -� said Marion -� you -(TM)ll spend half an hour pacing around
worrying, looking the mirror tying to suck your stomach in -�

   Isla giggled.

    -�Treat it like a swim in the cold sea, it -(TM)s easier to dive
straight in rather than wade out into the freezing waves -�

   Brian looked nonplussed.  Where her husband wavered, Marion was
resolute.

    -�Strip -� she ordered.   -�Isla, go and get your father a sherry, I
think he is going to need one after this -�

   Their daughter dutifully left, bare buttocks swaying as she walked.

    -�Right, quick -� Marion told her husband,  -�I -(TM)ve done you a
favour, get  -~em off while she -(TM)s out of the room -�

   With an impressive turn of speed, Brian was out of his clothes quicker
than a teenager at an orgy.

    -�Woo Dad -� Isla exclaimed when she returned,  -�looking good -� As
she handed him his sherry Brian gave a rueful smile.  His first encounter
with a naked waitress and it was his own daughter.  Brian sat in the chair
while his wife busied herself with clearing away all the clothes.  Suddenly
she was gone leaving Brain alone with no clothes and his very naked
daughter.  Fortunately he did not have to think of any topics for polite
conversation as Isla had plenty to say.

    -�I have to admit, I quite like being naked -� she was saying.

    -~It must run in the family -(TM) Brian thought to himself

    -�Give yourself half an hour and you -(TM)ll be right as rain, you won
-(TM)t even notice you -(TM)re nude -� she continued.  Brian was noticing
very much that his daughter was very nude, especially her shaven vagina
which looked like for all the world like a small slot on a vending machine.
Not without venom he hoped that no unsuitable boy had been allowed to pop
his coins in there.  Totally oblivious to his scrutiny Isla continued to
prattle on about her favourite subject, the environment.  There was a
project called econudes that had cropped up once in a websearch.

    -�After dinner I shall investigate this fully -� she told him
authoritatively

   Quite understandably given the circumstances Brian didn -(TM)t pay much
attention to his daughter -(TM)s invective.  An understandable moment of
inattention, but a lapse he was later to regret.



   Six

   It had been the best of Christmastimes and the worst of Christmastimes
reflected Brain as he dressed thankfully.  The best because his wife had
been thoroughly naked throughout, the worst because his daughter had also
been nude.  Total purgatory had been confirmed when he had been forced to
disrobe himself.  He had managed to preserve some dignity by careful use of
the red paper napkin covered in silver stars that had been placed on the
carefully laid table.  He could have used all three as neither Marion nor
Isla made use of theirs.   -�No clothes to protect dear -� his wife had
told him as she pulled his cracker.  So they had sat there as the afternoon
waned and the long dusk drew in, their sole attire being the novelty paper
hats from the crackers.

   Still it was over now, or so he hoped.  Giving the excuse that the
Jenkins -(TM) were coming soon, he had scurried upstairs as soon as he had
bolted the last of his meal.  His wife and daughter didn -(TM)t follow his
lead, but he had felt confident at the time they would.  Now he was not so
sure.  He picked up his Christmas book and began to read.  A good thirty
minutes passed during which time he read and re read the first chapter
several times.  He still had no idea what it was about.  At last, with
something approaching great relief, he heard footsteps on the stairs.  He
waited for the door to open, but the footsteps went past the door.  Isla
going to her bedroom.  This was the chance he had been waiting for.  He had
to speak to Marion alone.  Brian hoped she had dressed but somehow he knew
this would be an unfulfilled wish.



   Seven

   Marion was comfortably slouched in an armchair in the lounge.  The
television was on but she was pinching the fat over her stomach.  There was
still a fair amount left although it was significantly reduced from the
summer, in fact she had lost eight pounds in a month.  This had been
achieved without a single visit to the gym.  I -(TM)ve invented a new diet,
she thought, nudity in a cold climate.

   Her reverie was interrupted by her husband who stole into the room as a
thief into the night.  Many a man, finding his wife sitting naked in her
lounge would be aroused in passion, lust even, but Brian -(TM)s face was
etched with despair.

    -�For God -(TM)s sake Marion, will you put some clothes on, the Jenkins
-(TM) will be here in a moment -�

    -�You know perfectly well they won -(TM)t arrive for another hour. 
Besides -� she gestured towards her clothes folded neatly in the corner of
the room  -�I can get dressed in a trice -� Brian sighed, he had a strong
suspicion she was well practiced at getting dressed in hurry.

    -�I hope this will not carry on all holiday -�

    -�What dear -�

    -�You, naked -� he replied sharply

    -�And what -(TM)s wrong with my body.  Too fat; too ugly; keep it
covered at all costs -�

    -�There -(TM)s nothing wrong with your --..  in fact it -(TM)s --. -�
Brian felt he was a small toy train that was about to come off the rails.
Marion was at the controls and she had the voltage on high.  As much as he
tried to express his hopes, his fears, his brain was befuddled and his
tongue severely twisted as his wife reclined, breasts spread across her
chest, idly curling her pubic hair in her fingers

   Marion decided to change the subject.   -�I was thinking of shaving it
off, like Isla. -�

   Brain was totally confused now  -�What? -�

   Marion smiled.   -�My pubes dear -� She smiled as her husband blushed
bright red.

   Oddly enough, in the seclusion of her bedroom, their daughter was coming
to the opposite conclusion and resolved to grow her pubes back.  She was
shocked at that thought, for there was no point in letting her pubic hair
grow if her parents would not see the result.  Even more startling was the
odd thought that spending the remainder of her holiday in a state of casual
nudity would be fun.  She had been about to get dressed and return to the
lounge, but decided not to bother.  So Isla went downstairs as she had come
up, stark naked.  As she entered the lounge and sat opposite her mother her
father clapped his forehead in despair and stalked form the room.

    -�I think he -(TM)s finding it hard to adjust -� Marion told her
daughter.

    -�Frankly I -(TM)m not surprised -� Isla replied  -�Why are you doing
this Mum -�  -�I quite like being in the nude -� she replied honestly.

    -�Mm, I can see the appeal.  Do you think we are naturists? -�

    -�You may be dear, but I -(TM)m a nudist -�



   Eight

   Henri Dalcroix, nothing French but the name, sat in the small committee
room of the students -(TM) union of the University of Canterbury staring at
the wall.  The whole building was of a functional sixties design, the only
hint of comfort being the paint covering the breeze blocks.  This was the
first meeting of the inner committee of Greensoc, the University
undergraduate environmental society,  -~emphasis on the mental -(TM) he
thought.  He -(TM)d been here an hour now and he was bored, very bored
indeed. Chairman Louis Holding was true to his name, he was keeping a firm
grasp on the talking stick and literally beating the committee to death
with it.  He was an earnest middle class boy from Marlborough.  Henri
suspected his parents rode with the local hunt and this was Louis -(TM) way
of assuaging his family guilt.  Next to Louis sat Susan Blackwell, a pretty
girl with a fine figure.  Henri didn -(TM)t think she was aware of her sex
appeal, that was almost, but not quite, hidden underneath a grey shapeless
jumper and bulky fatigues.  Susie had a passionate belief that all humans
were destroying the planet and was prepared to do anything to save it.  He
smiled, Susie -(TM)s resolve was about to be tested.  Henri had no real
interest in the environment either way.  He had joined Greensoc for one
reason, to get into Isla Shaw -(TM)s pants.  This had taken a few weeks of
protest marches and writing mass e mails, but success came eventually and,
just as Isla -(TM)s father had feared, he had been making regular deposits
into his daughter -(TM)s slot long before the Christmas break.

   Louis had finally finished speaking and called for any other business.
Here we go thought Henri, the rollercoaster is at the top of the climb and
I -(TM)m in the front looking down at the drop.

    -�Yes -� began Isla in a very business like way  -�Over Christmas I
have been researching new avenues of protest and this seems a way of making
our message heard -� She dug Henri in the ribs and he dutifully handed
around Isla -(TM)s version of econudes.  The look on Louis -(TM) face was
priceless.  The half dozen or so of the committee began to shift uneasily
in their seats as the full portent of Isla -(TM)s vision began to strike
home.  In times of crises, however, true class will always triumph.

    -�Well Isla -� began Susie  -�I -(TM)m not too sure of some of these
claims, I doubt the energy saved on laundering clothes would compensate for
the extra heating required to live au natural -�

   The committee began to settle, it -(TM)s most ardent activist, was
cutting straight into the heart of Isla -(TM)s plans.

    -�However, -� she continued  -�I do think that when summer comes we
have a strong case for nudity.  There are times when many people are
changing clothing daily because it has been stained by sweat, and some
people shower two to three times a day! -� There was some uncomfortable
shuffling of feet as Susie -(TM)s points hit home.   -�However the main
target for us should be air conditioning.  It -(TM)s as expensive as
heating, and frankly our bodies are designed for the heat -� The committee
were as stunned as a fish suddenly confronted by a moray eel.   -�I -(TM)d
like to propose we devote the next meeting to devising an action plan for a
series of naked protests this summer -�

   Greensoc was silent, their own personal Galahad had seen the Holy Grail
and there was no option but to join her on the quest.



   Nine

   Late winter, and a night as cold and as dark as the grave.  The worst of
the weather was over, but spring had limited itself to shoving up a few
snowdrops.  The temperature was above freezing but it was still nipple
stretching cold.  Marion shivered in the bitter wind as she locked the back
door and hid the key beneath her usual flowerpot.  There was no thought of
returning to the warmth of her bed where Brain slept peacefully.  She was
confident he would remain so until well into morning as she had spent the
evening carefully filling him with single malt.  There were to be no more
close calls.

   The lane behind their garden was an untidy rubbish strewn mess, but at
three o -(TM)clock in the morning, when all but the owl slept, it was
paradise for a middle aged naked woman.  With every sense fully alive
Marion slipped along the lane drifting from one shadow to the next.  Her
destination was the nearby wood with no name.  One obstacle stood between
her and the trees, and that was the blind street.  It was named thus as it
led to nowhere.  Sixty years ago a small housing estate had been planned
but bankruptcy followed by the war had put construction on hold, and then
along came the Green Belt legislation which killed the project forever. 
All that remained was the beginnings of a street flanked by the blind sides
of two houses.  No one would see her as she slipped across the road.  And
if they did, who would recognise her, after all who would be looking at her
face?

   Marion reached the end of the lane and stopped.  She was as vigilant as
a bird, alive to every sound and movement in the shadows.  Something wasn
-(TM)t right.  She felt in through the soles of her running shoes. 
Standing very, very still in deep shadow she checked behind and then ever
so carefully she poked her head into the light to inspect the road.  She
caught a brief glimpse of a shambling figure before she jerked her head
back into the safety of the dark alley.  Again she checked the lane behind.
The sensible course of action was retreat, slip back through the dark areas
and the calculated path through the garden.  But something held her there,
something inside her that felt the risk and fed off the danger of being
caught.  Marion held her breath and listened to the beating of her heart
and waited.  Nothing came past the end of the alley; he should have been
there within seconds.  Perhaps the interloper into Marion -(TM)s adventure
had taken a wrong turn and returned to street.  The staggering gait had
suggested he was drunk.  She had come so far now that she didn -(TM)t want
to go back.  So carefully, ever so carefully she manoeuvred her head so one
eye so she could see the road.  What she saw caused her to curse under her
breath; the man had collapsed and was lying twitching on the ground, a dark
heap spread across the line of amber light drawn by the street lamp on
Belvoir Avenue beyond.  Somehow Marion knew he was not drunk.  She shivered
in the cold of the dark late winter night as the realisation dawned that he
would not survive if she left him.

   With hindsight it was all so simple.  She should have returned home, and
telephoned for an ambulance.  She could have told them that she had heard
something in the street, and when she looked there was a man clearly in
some distress.  Then she could have donned a long warm coat to become his
Florence Nightingale.  But the light of hindsight is always blinding and
strong, and instead of being comforted by a Samaritan ,Tomas O
-(TM)Sullivan was looking at an angel.  He knew she was an angel because
who else would be standing over him in the middle of a freezing night on a
street to nowhere.  He had been told all angels were naked and this woman
certainly filled the bill, although he dimly recollected that angels were
supposed to be hermaphrodite and this one was most certainly female.  If he
was going to be picky he would have chosen a younger, less plump angel to
escort him to St Peter -(TM)s Gates, but she had decent sized breasts and a
good figure and frankly he was in no position to complain.

   Tomas O -(TM)Sullivan had suffered a mild stroke as he left the
restaurant where he worked as a chef.  This had confused him to the extent
that he had caught the wrong bus.  When he had realised his mistake he was
far from the city centre and heading away from home.  Having been assured
by the bus driver that another bus was due in the opposite direction he had
disembarked at the end of Belvoir Avenue.  The shock of the cold air had
triggered a second stroke, and blind in one eye, and very greatly confused
he had staggered drunkenly along the avenue to the dead end street where
his naked angel witnessed his third and almost fatal stoke.  He smiled as
she stroked his head, her long dark hair covering her face, he wanted to
tell her his soul was prepared but stalled as she began to speak.  Tomas
expected a voice of sublime purity that would usher him towards the heavens
Instead a low gruff voice told him he needed an ambulance and asked if he
had a mobile phone on him.

   Stunned at the earthliness of his angel he asked a stupid question 
-�Don -(TM)t you have one? -�

    -�How could I carry a mobile phone? -� asked Marion in her own voice.
Suddenly she realised she was squatting in front of him, his head level
with her crotch.   -�Don -(TM)t answer that -� she said quickly.  By way of
reply Thomas moved his on good hand weakly towards his jacket pocket.  His
naked angel understood.   -�What -(TM)s your name -� she asked as she
pulled the phone from his pocket.  Surely she should know, an angel sent to
bring him to join the heavenly chorus?  Perhaps it was a test?   -�Tomas O
-(TM)Sullivan -� he mumbled, hoping that his name was on her list.

   Marion took the phone from his pocket and wondered what she should do
next.  The man was clearly very ill, but how could she stay with him.  She
retreated against the wall of the street very conscious that the light from
the phone -(TM)s keyboard would illuminate her bare body.  Quickly, before
she had time to change her mind she dialled for an ambulance.

    -�Emenrgency.What is the problem, sir? -� She smiled; her gruff voice
had fooled them.

    -�I think I -(TM)ve had a stroke -�

    -�What symptoms do you have? -�

   Marion reeled off what Tomas had complained of, and told them where she
was and that her name was Tomas O -(TM)Sullivan.  She finished with a low
moan that she hoped would be interpreted as another stroke and, leaving the
line open returned to the prone chef.  She carefully wiped off her
fingerprints using his tie, and laid the phone on the pavement.  The
plaintive pleas of the operator for more information, followed by the
blessed announcement that the ambulance was on it -(TM)s way sounded like
the public announcer at a main line station in the quiet dark street.

    -�You -(TM)ll stay with me until the end? -� Tomas asked weakly.

   Marion smiled and assured him in a warm voice that she would stay until
they came.  She gripped his hand which was even colder than hers.  This was
not good, she was stark naked, and he fully clothed with a coat.  To Marion
it seemed like an age, although in reality it was but a few short minutes,
before the walls of the houses reflected the blue light of the emergency
vehicle, and with it came the unlikely dawn of hope.  Marion laid her hand
gently on Tomas head and whispered into his ear.   -�They are coming now, I
must leave now, -� and with a final  -�good luck -� Tomas -(TM) naked angel
sprinted for the alley way.  She reached the haven of its shadow just as
the lights of the ambulance swung into the road, picking up the mound that
was Tomas.  Whatever happened now it was out of her hands, she had done all
she could.  Marion -(TM)s main priority was the race for home before any of
her neighbours were woken and poked their nosey heads through the curtains.

   At least the run had warmed her up she thought as she kicked off her
trainers and put on the robe she had left waiting by the door.  Quickly,
but quietly, Marion climbed the stairs and went into Isla -(TM)s vacant
bedroom where she opened the curtains just a chink and looked into the
avenue, just in time to see the ambulance speed past, blue lights flashing.
That must be good news she thought to herself, they wouldn -(TM)t rush if
Tomas had died.  There was even better news when she returned to bed, Brian
was still fast asleep, that meant he would have no suspicions.



   Ten

   Brian was not amused.  He was sitting at a plastic table, in the plastic
interior of an ersatz American diner with two of his work colleagues. 
John, a happily married philanderer and Jan, an unhappily married ditherer
who was the latest objective of his raging libido.  Jan had invited Brian
along as a chaperone, and then proceeded to ignore him throughout the
lunch.

    -�Did you hear about the naked angel? -� John asked of Jan.  Brian
decided it was time to leave.  He knew John -(TM)s modus operandus and this
was as tactful as it got.   -�Here Brain you might know something about
this.  It was in your area -� A cold hand gripped Brain -(TM)s heart.  
-�Apparently some chef was wandering around and had a stroke.  Then a naked
woman appeared to gave him the kiss of life. -� Brian looked at John
through narrowed eyes, but John only had eyes for Jan.

    -�Is that what it -(TM)s like where you live Brian? -� he asked, eyes
firmly locked on Jan  -�all the women wandering around in the nuddy. -� Jan
licked her lips and smiled,  -�perhaps I should move there? -� she
suggested.  John laughed, Brian was in no mood for foreplay, he broke in
sharply  -�And where did you get this information from? -� This broke the
spell.

    -�All over the Mercury, you get the local rag? -� asked John.

    -�Yes, Marion reads it, but I never -- --.  Look I need to get back -�
Brain rose hastily to his feet and gave John some money.   -�If that -(TM)s
not enough let me know -� he said as he left in hurry.

   Jan turned to John,  -�What -(TM)s into him, do you think it -(TM)s
true, people walk around starkers in his neck of the woods? -�

   John snorted,  -�It -(TM)s strictly Stepford around there, I doubt his
wife takes her clothes off to have a bath. -�

   Even though he knew there would be one at home Brian couldn -(TM)t wait
and went to the nearest newsagent where for the exorbitant price of eighty
cents bought another copy of  -~The Nelson Mercury -(TM).  Hiding it under
his coat like a schoolboy with a dirty magazine he scurried back to his
office.  The naked angel had made page seven.  It was clearly the work of a
new girl who had been given the graveyard shift.  She had taken a phrase
muttered by an incoherent and very ill man and proceeded to turn it into a
half page spread.

    -~Who is the naked angel of Nelson? -(TM) the banner headline screamed.
The foundation of the article appeared to be the delirious ramblings of a
chef who had been found lying in the street suffering from a massive
stroke. During a casual chat with the ambulance crew she had learned he had
been muttering about being saved by a naked angel.  The crew had told her
the man was hallucinating, but that had only spurred the journalist on to
quizzing the staff at the emergency call centre.  Despite being told that
the patient himself had dialled for an ambulance, Julie Lewis had perused
her story.  The police were completely non committal when asked about the
legality of a naked woman roaming the streets, pointing out that they had
no reports of such a thing happening in the area, ever.  The only man who
had seen the naked angel was now lying in a coma in a hospital bed.  Faced
with such robust denial and the flimsiest of evidence the editor of the
Mercury did what all newspapermen would do under such circumstances.  He
published it.  Normally Brian would have dismissed the article out of hand
but for one minor fact, the man had been struck down thirty yards from his
house, and, unlike the police, Brain did know of a woman who roamed the
neighbourhood in her birthday suit.

   He stuffed the paper in his drawer and tried to get some work done, but
it was no use, he couldn -(TM)t concentrate and as soon as it was politic
to do so Brian sloped off home.  When he arrived their copy of the local
paper had arrived.  Marion had not.  He laid the paper on the hall table
and went to make himself some tea.  A few moments later he heard the key in
the lock.

    -�You -(TM)re home early, dear -� called his wife.  She breezed into
the kitchen and gave him a peck on the cheek

    -�I -(TM)d love a cup of tea -� she told him,  -�I -(TM)ve had such a
busy day.  I can -(TM)t tell you the trouble I had sorting out that
advertising company -(TM)s books -� She kicked her shoes off.   -�That
feels good -� she said with relief as she placed them in the utility room.
-�It was so hot there, and the room was so stuffy -� she complained as she
unbuttoned her blouse.  She stuffed that straight into the washing machine
and proceeded to take off her skirt which she sniffed suspiciously, 
-�Hrrmph that will have to be dry cleaned -� she muttered draping it on the
back of a chair.  Brian finished pouring his wife -(TM)s tea while she
continued her striptease.  She dumped her underwear into the washing
machine and sat down gratefully at the kitchen table.   -�Not joining me
darling? -�

    -�I -(TM)ve got a cup thanks -� he told her.

    -�In the nude -� she chastised.

    -�Trifle chilly for me -� he told her.  He rarely shed his cardigan,
let alone his underpants.  Now and again Marion would get sulky and start
to pout and tell him he was an old stick in the mud and he should join her.
So to keep the peace and, more importantly, keep his wife naked around the
house he would reluctantly bare all for an  -�in the all together evening
-�.  On the whole Marion didn -(TM)t seem to mind him being fully clothed
while she wandered the house as nature intended.  Which was just fine by
Brian.

   Brain watched his wife carefully as she scanned the local paper.  Not a
flicker of acknowledgement crossed her face as she passed over the story of
the naked angel.  Nor did she remark on its closeness to home.  Marion was
able to pass nervelessly across the story because she had already read it.
Someone had pointed it out to her at work.

    -�Don -(TM)t you live near Belvoir Avenue, Marion? -� one of the two
partners who ran the company had asked her.  He pushed the paper towards
her.  Panic rose inside her as she saw the headline.  Mustering all the
self control possible under the circumstances, Marion read the article. 
When she had got to the end she nearly collapsed with a mixture of concern
and relief.  Concern that the story of the nude rescuer was in the paper at
all, and relief that Tomas was still alive.  Better still he had not given
a description of his personal angel.

    -�It -(TM)s all a bit flimsy -� she stated noncommittally.

    -�Oh I don -(TM)t know -� Dave continued in a mischievous voice,  -�We
-(TM)ve all heard those stories about suburbia, a den of iniquity behind
those net curtains -�

   Marion looked him straight in the eyes and replied coolly  -�Well I
-(TM)ve never seen any naked women wandering the streets -� emphasising the
point with a nod.  What was more, it was also the truth.

    -�Maybe, -� Dave continued,  -�that is because you are the nude angel.
-� He winked.  Marion felt her heart surge and a warmth in her cheeks as
she blushed bright red.

    -�Only joking, Marion -� Dave put in quickly.  He liked to tease
Marion, who he saw as overtly prim and proper, but perhaps, he thought to
himself, he taken it a bit too far this time.  Marion smiled weakly at him,
Dave misinterpreted this gesture of relief as an acceptance of his apology.

   She was therefore steeled for Brian -(TM)s scrutiny, and had answers
prepared for any comments he might make about the article.  That he made
none brought forth a long held concern that her husband knew of her night
time adventures.  Not for the first time she considered telling him about
her forays, because (and this sudden realisation shocked her) her recent
close shave had only left her craving for more.

   Before he could mention the article, the doorbell rang.  Neither of them
moved.  Brian looked Marion, and she just sat at the table cup held in both
hands, breasts brushing against her arms.   -�Shall I answer it? -� she
said, putting down the cup.

   This stirred Brian,  -�Aren -(TM)t you going to put something on? -�

    -�It -(TM)s probably Isla, she said she would be coming home for a few
days, got a reading week. -�

   Brian shot his wife a suspicious look,  -~why had she not told him this
before? -(TM) he thought as he got up and went into the hall.

   He opened the door to a pretty young woman with long curly hair.  She
introduced herself as Julie Lewis.  Brain -(TM)s memory whirred and found
an answer, the journalist who had written that story, surely she had not
tracked Marion down?

    -�I -(TM)m just following up on my story of the naked angel, are you
aware of it? -� Brian nodded  -�I suppose you didn -(TM)t see or hear
anything last Thursday? -�

    -�Oh no, nothing at all -� he replied guardedly.

   Julie Lewis nodded,  -�Do you know of anybody who saw or heard anything?
-�

   Brian looked at her, she was in her early twenties, had a nice smile,
and he could have made her day by asking her in to meet the naked angel,
who was sitting on her bare bottom in the kitchen.

    -�No neither of us saw anything and none of our neighbours have spoken
of it.  In fact the first I heard of the story was in the paper -�  -�So
what is your opinion of a naked woman roaming around in this area? -�

    -�Well, um, as I read your report, there -(TM)s not a lot of evidence
beyond the ramblings of a very ill man, unless of course you have some
other witness. -�

   Brian was fishing now, this was dangerous.  If she did have a witness it
could arouse suspicions.  She smiled

    -�No, not really, I -(TM)m just trying to get a flavour of the locality
until Mr O Sullivan wakes up -� She paused,  -�if he wakes up.  Anyway
thanks for your time. -�

   Marion was washing the tea cups when he returned to the kitchen.   -�Who
was that dear? -�

    -�Some reporter wanting to ask about a man who collapsed in the street
last Thursday -�

    -�Not the one who claimed he was rescued by a naked angel? -�

    -�Yes, lucky I didn -(TM)t invite her in.  She might have met one -�

   Marion gave him a withering look  -�You wouldn -(TM)t do that to me,
would you darling? -�

    -�But what if it was somebody else, like Linda next door, she would
have just walked straight past me into here, and then she would have had a
shock -�

    -�Oh well -� began Marion,  -�it -(TM)s bound to happen sometime, I
-(TM)m fed up with scurrying for some clothes every time she comes around.
I think it -(TM)s time she knew we were nudists -�

   Brian was stunned.  It is not as if he hadn -(TM)t been expecting it,
but it still came as a knee in the solar plexus shock, Marion had used the
n word.

    -�What did you say? -�

    -�We -(TM)re nudists Brian, or would you prefer the term naturist? -�

   No he wouldn -(TM)t actually, and come to think of it he rather objected
to being called a nudist.

    -�So, does that mean you want to join a club? -� he asked, heart
somewhere around the soles of his shoes.

   Marion gave it some thought, before replying.   -�No, I don -(TM)t think
that is me really, but if that -(TM)s what you want I happy to go along
with you -�

   His blood began to boil, do that!  He was standing there in his business
suit, not his birthday suit.  She was the nudist not him.

    -�But I do think we should spend more time in the nude together,
perhaps when the weather is nicer we could try being naked outdoors, I
-(TM)ve heard that is nice, or maybe we could find a nice quiet beach
somewhere. -�

   Brain could barely believe his ears, he was about to explode, and the
last thing he needed to hear was the sound of a key in latch and a cheery
hello from his daughter.

    -�In here, dear -� called Marion completely unaware of her husband
-(TM)s distress.

    -�Hi dad -� she greeted her father with a peck on the cheek.   -�Hi mum
looking good, I like the outfit -�

   Marion kissed her daughter and smiled,  -�Bag full of washing? -� she
asked.

    -�Not much -� she replied.  Brian missed this; it was a portent of
things to come.



   Eleven

   Nipples to the left of him, nipples to right.  By all rights Brain
should have been as happy as a pig wallowing in pure gravy.  Here he sat at
the dinner table book ended between two naked women.  The left breast to
the right of him belonged to his wife while the smaller, perter, right
breast to his left was his daughter -(TM)s.  Moreover he was still dressed.
Soon after complementing her mother on her outfit Isla had joined her by
sporting her own version which was smaller, better fitting and, it had to
be said, properly ironed.  Brian had escaped having to bare all with the
flimsy excuse of being cold.  He was unhappy because Marion had brought up
the n word again.

   Isla had agreed with her mother  -�I think we are nudists, I mean just
look at us -�

    -�Well apart from your father -�

    -�And how many of my friends have seen their father naked? -�

   Brian winced, this was not a good evening.  Unfortunately for Brain this
was the best part of the evening, he had no idea how much worse it was
going to get.  He tried to retrieve some sanity.

    -�Well, I asked your Mother if she wanted to join a nudist club and she
said no -�

    -�Oh there -(TM)s more to nudism that joining a club, we all like being
nude at home, which makes us nudists -�

   Marion upped the stakes  -�That -(TM)s exactly what I told your father,
and it -(TM)s time we stopped hiding the fact from our friends.  I -(TM)m
sick and tired of running for my clothes every time Linda calls -�

    -�Oh come on Marion -� Brain was getting heated now,  -�you know how
attitudes are in this country, we -(TM)ll end up a laughing stock -�

    -�Oh I don -(TM)t know dad, people are more fair minded than the
tabloid press.  I think you may be pleasantly surprised.  Anyway if she
disapproves then just tell her you -(TM)ll get dressed when she calls
around -�

   Brian didn -(TM)t like the way things were going, it was time to play
his ace.

    -�If you bring it up now.  She -(TM)ll think you are the naked angel -�

   This stopped the conservation dead.  Isla looked at both of them. 
Marion explained the newspaper article.

    -�Oh come on Dad -� exclaimed Isla  -�Nobody is going to walk about
stark naked in the middle of a freezing night -� she paused before adding
the final Jenga brick onto Brian -(TM)s tottering pile but  -�it could be a
good way to casually bring up the conversation with Linda -�

   He may not have won the trump, but he had outplayed his wife whose
weakness lay in the knowledge that Linda may just have been looking at the
wrong time.

    -�We -(TM)ll see what tomorrow brings -� she replied enigmatically
before changing the subject,  -�How -(TM)s uni then Isla?  I see you have
let hair grow, and not just on the top of your head. -�

    -�Well there is something I need to tell you guys -�

   OhmyGodshespregnant was the only thought that raced through Marion
-(TM)s mind.  The same thought had simultaneously taken prime of place in
Brian -(TM)s consciousness.  After Isla had laid their mind to rest in that
respect she outlined her plans.

    -�I felt it only fair to bring you guys up to speed on out econude
protests.  I wouldn -(TM)t want you to find out by reading all about me in
the paper -�

    -~Unlike your mother -(TM) thought Brian.  By the time Isla had
outlined her summer project both her parents were beginning to come round
to the idea that pregnancy would have been preferable.  They also knew
there was no way in hell that Isla could be persuaded to change her mind.
All Brian and Marion could do was grin while Isla bared it.



   Twelve

   A week later, armed with her parents -(TM) consent, (well resignation to
the inevitable) Ilsa, with Henri in tow made a discreet entrance to an
extraordinary meeting of Greensoc.  For once Herni was keen to attend, for
what was on the agenda today came under the heading of  -~never in my
wildest dreams -(TM).  The econude protest was going ahead.  Susie had made
up her mind and the meeting had been called to plan direct action against
companies that provided air conditioning in the summer.  There were going
to be many facts and figures, and carbon footprints would be stamped upon
his brain until it shrieked in pain, but for once he could cope with that.
Oh yes he thought as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

    -�You cold or something -� demanded Isla

    -�No, why -�

    -�You -(TM)re rubbing your hands together.  It had better not be cold
in there -� she continued.

    -�I -(TM)m sure it -(TM)ll be fine babe -�

    -�It -(TM)s all very well for you to say that, you -(TM)ve got a jumper
to keep you warm -�

    -�Not my choice, babe, you know I -(TM)d be happy to join in your
protest -�

    -�Mm, I do think Susie is bit over zealous on this -�

   So did Henri but he saw no reason to object.  As usual they were the
last in.

    -�Make sure the door is locked Henri -� Lois Holding told him.

    -�Sure, Louis, you can rely on me -�

   He took his place next to Isla.  Across the table sat Susie.  This was
the first time he had seen her in a dress, albeit a long and shapeless
effort beneath a large bulky woollen pullover.  Next to Susie was her would
be boyfriend, Pete Atkins.  Would be if she noticed him, which she didn
-(TM)t.  There were a couple of other male crusties present, earnest types
who never washed and would release the lions from the zoo if they could
find a way of doing it without being eaten.  They were of no interest to
Henri.  Usually the whole committee was of no interest to Henri, but today
was going to be different, today the plan for nude protest would be
presented and voted on.  Henri knew which way he was going to vote, even if
it meant the rest of the world seeing Isla in all of her glory.

    -�This extraordinary meeting has been called by Isla and Susie to
discuss their proposal for naked action in the summer -� began Louis to the
rapt attention of all.  He droned on about the carbon footprints of
washing, laundering and air conditioning.  This gave Henri the opportunity
to give the other two female members of the committee the once over.  Julie
Langstone was small, vivacious and pretty and pencil thin.  When she turned
sideways she vanished.  The opposite was true of Catherine Sanders.  She
must have huge carbon footprint given her size.  For without a doubt Cat
was the fattest vegetarian Henri had ever seen.  His reverie was broken by
Isla who had dug him in the ribs.

    -�Check the door again Henri -� This he dutifully did while Susie
outlined the planned protest.  It wasn -(TM)t rocket science, all they
would do is target a store or office, or anywhere they could gain entry,
strip off and chant  -�Air con bad -� There was a snappy slogan in there
somewhere but nobody had quite come up with it yet.  Henri sat down and
gave Susie his full attention as she was getting to the juicy bits.

    -�After due consideration with the other girls we have decided that
this will be a female only protest as you boys may be perceived as
threatening and are more likely to be arrested.  And as most security
guards are male they can -(TM)t touch us with out being accused of indecent
assault.  They -(TM)ll rugby tackle you boys before you have got your pants
over your shoes.  Also given the nature of society a girls only protest
will garner more publicity for the cause and the cause is predominant here
-�

   The room was as silent at the gulfs between the stars

    -�So, as a way of affirming our intent, I propose we continue the
meeting naked -�

   There was utter silence, the two crusties looked alarmed, Henri
suspected that this was probably a concern over their personal hygiene
rather than prudery.

    -�When I say we, I mean those of us who will actively protest. -�

   Louis interrupted  -�We -(TM)ll have to vote on this Susie -�

    -�We already have.  It was unanimous -�

   Lois was puzzled now.

    -�I don -(TM)t understand -�

    -�It -(TM)s only us girls who are going to strip, Louis -� said
Catherine softly.

    -�But really, I do think we should show our support -� Lois blustered.
Henri looked around the male members, he didn -(TM)t see much support in
their eyes, just a hunger for the coming show.  A sharp dig in the ribs
brought Henri to attention.  Isla had told him about Susie -(TM)s
conviction that only the girls should bare all.  She knew she would never
convince Susie to change her mind but that didn -(TM)t mean Isla was
prepared to0 down without a fight.

    -�You know why, don -(TM)t you? -� she had told Henri as they lay in
bed the previous evening.  Henri recognised a reciprocal question when he
heard one.   -�She -(TM)s frightened of seeing an unleashed penis -� she
said, idly stroking Henri -(TM)s  -�She -(TM)s worrying there may be an
erection on show -� Henri -(TM)s penis duly responded to Isla -(TM)s
stimulation,  -�She thinks you men can -(TM)t control; yourself -� she
continued rubbing the top of his swelling member between two fingers.  She
suddenly let go and stared intently at his fully erect penis with all the
astonishment of an amateur conjuror performing a successful rope trick for
the first time.   -�And she -(TM)s right -�

   Henri sighed.  He was just beginning to enjoy Isla -(TM)s attention. 
One thing was certain, he wasn -(TM)t going to get any more.   -�I can
control myself around naked women as long as they don -(TM)t start playing
with me -� he told her.

    -�Ah, but that -(TM)s not what little miss perfect thinks, oh no.  She
thinks that one glimpse of her bare body will send a man into
uncontrollable lust.  In her inexperienced little mind they -(TM)ll be
saluting her faster than a guardsman meeting the Queen -�

    -�So what do you want me to do?  Strip off at the same time as you.  I
don -(TM)t mind but what about Loius and the crusties, will they strip?  I
bet Pete will be out of his pants as fast as a Parisian whore, but then he
has trouble controlling himself when Susie is dressed.  He nearly has an
orgasm when she speaks to him -�

    -�No sweetie, I don -(TM)t want you to strip, just put up a bit of a
show, OK. -� She reached again for his flaccid penis,  -�now where were we?
-�

   So Henri did as Isla asked and steamed in to support Louis, but it was
all to no avail.  Susie was determined, the crusties were glued into their
clothes and poor old Pete was bent double trying to control a raging
erection clearly visible in his stiff jeans

   The committee room was long and rectangular.  It naturally divided into
two parts, the meeting area with a large round table and a small kitchen
area where the students could break off from their arduous negotiations and
relax with tea and sandwiches.  As Louis once again made a pitch for one
off all off, Susie cut him off mid flow by standing and walking into the
middle of this area.  Without a word the other three girls followed.  They
turned to face the silent men.  A deep silence fell within the committee
room.  Henri suddenly became aware of the rapid beat of his heart.  The
muffled sounds of the student union going about its normal business crept
under the locked door.

   It was Isla who took the lead and quickly pulled her long dress over her
head, draped it on a chair and stood still, arms by her side showing no
sign of embarrassment.  This surprised all, but Henri, who had had much
time to reflect upon his girlfriend -(TM)s sudden conversion to casual
nudity since the Christmas holidays.  He would dearly like to know why
Isla, who had gone home a normal student, who would happily strip for sex,
but that was all; had somehow turned into a rampant nudist who had to be
reminded to dress when company was expected.  He dared not ask Isla in case
she interpreted the questions as a rebuke and started to dress normally
again.  A prospect Henri viewed with some horror.

   Susie was caught unaware and raced to catch up, almost tripping over the
hem of her dress in her haste to show the slavering boys her body.  What a
body it was too, thought Henri, as his eyes devoured Susie -(TM)s bare
flesh.  He started at the only part of her left clothed, and moved upwards
along firm thighs, through a small forest of blonde pubic hair, across a
flat, pale stomach to firm, perfectly proportioned breasts with pertly
protruding nipples.  From there it was but a small journey over her bare
shoulders to the familiar territory of her face that shone red in
embarrassment.  When his eyes met hers he stopped.  Susie smiled at him, a
message of triumph, and regret for what could have been.  Isla was right,
Susie had insisted on the boys remaining clothed because she didn -(TM)t
want to see them naked, she didn -(TM)t want their unleashed penises
showing their lust for her, especially as she had no interest in any of
them, except that was for Henri.  He could have been hers, but for the
painful fact he was Isla -(TM)s This she regretted bitterly, but the die
was cast.  Susie would never betray her friend; this was against all her
principles.  So she held his eyes as she stood naked before him and smiled
a rueful smile for what might have been.  Henri had no such scruples and he
would have happily two timed Isla with not the slightest twinge to his
conscience.  All that stopped him was bitter experience.  He had dated two
girls at school, and when they found out he learnt a telling lesson.  Not
only did they both dump him, but they proceeded to spread such vicious
invective around the small town he lived in, that no girl would even speak
to him.  No, it was one at a time for Henri now, and although Isla -(TM)s
bare body was a small candle next to the stellar beauty of Susie, it -(TM)s
not just looks, it -(TM)s how you use it that counts and Isla may not have
had the bodywork of a Rolls Royce, but she had the engine of a Ferrari and
Henri was well satisfied with the ride.

   That left Julie and Cat standing side by side in their long dresses. 
Clearly the girls had chosen this form of attire fro the ease of
undressing. Julie swallowed hard, smiled at no body in particular, nudged
Cat who shrugged and said  -�Oh well, what the hell, -� In unison they
began to disrobe.  Cat wiggled sensually as she squeezed her large body out
of her clothes, while the tiny Julie merely pulled the straps from her
shoulders and let the blue patterned summer dress fall to the ground, she
stepped out of it and smiled at the boys, who stared silently eyes and
pants bulging.

   Cat was astonishing, Henri had never seen such flesh, and it was all as
solid as a rock, her thighs bulged, her midriff swelled as if pregnant. 
Many a time had heard of woman -(TM)s breasts being referred to as melons,
but he never once thought that they came that big.  He wondered how she
managed to stand upright.

   That left Julie, thin Julie with tiny breasts that were like small
mounds, each one tipped by an exquisite cherry nipple.  Her long dark hair
caressed her shoulders, but the rest of her body was hair free, her long
pink vagina visible for all to see least anyone doubt her femininity.  That
brought a stray thought back into Henri -(TM)s mind, why had Isla grown
hers again.  She had gone home in December fashionably bald, by the time
she returned there was considerable regrowth, which she made no attempt to
rein in.  More and more Henri wanted to know what had happened over
Christmas, and why had she gone home over the weekend?

   Susie broke into his reverie.   -�Shall we resume our seats? -�

   The girls returned to their chairs, they had chosen to sit next to each
other with an empty space between Susie and Louis, and Isla on the other
end next to Henri who was more than used to his girlfriend in the nude.

    -�Well I think the disrobing went well and should achieve the effect we
are looking for.  Once we are naked, you boys will start to chant our
slogan -�

    -�What -(TM)s that -� asked Louis who had regained his composure.

    -�Er well, we haven -(TM)t quite got one yet, we -(TM)re looking for
something catchy, you know, like  -~Meat is Murder -(TM) and  -~I -(TM)d
rather go naked than wear fur -(TM).  Has anybody got any ideas? -�

   Henri had a suggestion  -�It -(TM)s not snappy enough, but something
about the con in air con, I dunno I -(TM)ll think about it -�

    -�What about the Police? -� asked Julie, finally finding her voice.

    -�I -(TM)ve checked that out -� Susie told her  -�and it -(TM)s not
illegal unless someone objects.  They have never arrested anybody who has
agreed to dress when told to -�

   The look on Julie -(TM)s face told Henri there would be no problem
there.  -�What about photographs? -� asked Cat.

    -�Well that is the whole point -� responded Isla leaning back
comfortably in her chair.   -�Publicity for the cause.  You -(TM)re not
thinking of backing out are you Cat? -�

    -~What -(TM)s she worrying about -(TM) thought Henri,  -~Susie -(TM)s
the front page model. -(TM) His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the
door.

    -�Oi you sanctimonious environmental veggies, your time is up -� came a
loud voice.  There was a rattling on the door handle,  -�Why -(TM)s this
door locked? -�

    -�We -(TM)re having an orgy -� Isla called back to them.

    -�Well let us in, we -(TM)ll show you a good time -�

    -�Fat chance -� called Julie.   -�Shall we adjourn Louis? -�

    -�Under the circumstances I think so -�

   There was a rattle at the door, and a girl -(TM)s voice -�

    -�C -(TM)mon Isla, what are you doing? -�

    -�I -(TM)m just getting dressed, Vicky, give me a moment -�

   The girls walked over to the kitchen area and to the boys great regret
climbed back into their dresses.

    -�All decent -� said Isla and without checking opened the door.

    -�What was all that for, man -� complained an tall gangly youth with a
baseball cap tilted to an angle that would be instantly recognised as not
quite right by a local street gang.

   The short girl with spiky red hair behind him seemed to know

    -�You really going through with this? -�

    -�Mm hm -� replied Isla

    -�With what? -� demanded the youth who liked to be called Desmond. 
-�You -(TM)ll find out soon enough, Toby -� Cat told him



   Thirteen

   The day had burnt like a furnace that had scorched the earth.  The
midsummer sun had passed across the sky like a flame that burnt red in the
western sky before setting in a calm sea washed of all colour.  But the
night that brought no relief from the stifling heat.  Brian woke with a
start in a bed soaked in sweat.  He emerged trembling from a fitful dream,
a nightmare where he had walked naked through his local supermarket to the
astonishment and disgust of his friends and neighbours who pointed
mockingly at his exposed genitals and jeered with cruel laughter at the
size of his hairy behind.  He did not need a Jung to analyse this dream, he
knew its source well, his headstrong daughter Isla.  Tomorrow she would
begin her bare all campaign against air conditioning, and there was nothing
he could do to stop it, no reasoning would sway her from the path she had
held unswervingly for the past four months.  His distress was instantly
doubled when he turned to his wife looking for comfort, only to find Marion
gone.  With no thought to his own nudity he dashed down the stairs, his
swaying genitals slapping gently against his bare legs.

   All his fears were realised when, racing into the kitchen he found the
door to the garden wide open.  He tip toed to the threshold and peeped out.
To his relief Marion was sitting in a chair on the sun terrace.  She was
completely naked of course, but at least she wasn -(TM)t off down the lane
like a character from a warped nursery rhyme.

    -�What are you doing Marion? -� he hissed, so as not to wake the
neighbours.

    -�Trying to cool down -� she replied quietly.

    -�What if somebody sees you? -�

    -�Don -(TM)t be stupid Brian -� responded Marion with some distain, 
-�we ate supper out here starkers while it was still light, who -(TM)s
going to see us now -�

   Brian had to admit she had a point.  Isla had deliberately grown her
bush since Christmas, and so had Marion, except her bush acted as a privacy
screen to save her from the neighbours prying eyes.  Or was it vice versa?
Brian was never quite sure.  Such had been the fierce heat of the day that
Brian, who usually remained clothed at all times had joined his wife for a
bare all session when he had come home sweating and irritable from a
sweltering day at the office, which, to his daughter -(TM)s great
satisfaction used a novel form of air conditioning called windows.  For
once Brian appreciated his wife -(TM)s lifestyle, marvelling in the
refreshing feelings of a total lack of clothing.

   Confident in the efficiency of his wife -(TM)s shrubbery screen Brian
slipped on his sandals and joined her in the fragrant night air.  Unseen,
the door swung silently closed behind him and it wasn -(TM)t until it gave
out a portentous click that Brain realised his error.  To his horror he had
locked them both out of the house.   -�Oh my God -� he hissed in complete
panic,  -�we -(TM)re locked out. -� Marion, who had been on her way for a
midnight stroll, was prepared for such an eventuality.

    -�Don -(TM)t panic, Brian -� she told him holding up a key that he
could just make out in the light from the Milky Way high above them. 
Assuaged her husband sat back in the garden chair and relaxed.  Silence
hung between them like a thread as they drunk in the starlit sky and the
faint breeze that brought a heady scent from the end of the garden.

    -�Smell that -� Marion asked.

    -�Mmm -� he replied with contentment.

    -�I wonder what it is? -� And with that she was gone.

    -�Marion, come back -� pleaded Brain.  He had to stop her, and so with
great care he ventured out into the garden.  There was nothing to fear for
Marion -(TM)s careful gardening had ensured seclusion, and safe in the
knowledge that nobody could catch a glimpse of his birthday suit Brian
tripped along the garden path after the fading pale blob that was his wife
-(TM)s bare behind.  Like a moth to a night flower he homed onto her bottom
that protruded upwards from a flowerbed.

    -�Beautiful -� she said, meaning the flower

    -�Yes indeed -� agreed Brian, meaning his wife -(TM)s buttocks.

    -�Why Brian -� said Marion, turning to look at him,  -�I do believe
there is something growing in your shrubbery. -� He quickly turned sideways
but this merely served to emphasise the object of his wife -(TM)s
attention. She reached out and stroked him gently.

    -�Have you ever thought of making love in the wild -� she whispered in
his ear.

    -�No -� he said abruptly, but his heart was beating strong and his mind
was no longer in control as Marion continued to stroke his mutinous penis.

    -�I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, -� she whispered into his
ear, her breath hot in that midsummer night,  -�Where oxlips and the
nodding violet grows, quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, with
sweet musk-roses and with eglantine. -�

    -�Are you talking about the wood? -�

   Brian had spent many hours in the nearby wood with is infant daughter.
He could not think of anywhere that matched Shakespeare -(TM)s description
of a fairy queen -(TM)s bed.

    -�Come on Brian -� murmured his wife,  -�let -(TM)s live a little -�

    -�This is madness, Marion -� he protested,  -�what if someone sees us
-�

   But all his protests were in vein as his erection grew in his wife
-(TM)s hand.  With a quick tug they were on their way out of the back gate
and down the lane; hand in penis following their own Midsummer night -(TM)s
dream.

   A few score miles away, for exactly the same reasons as her father, Isla
was also having trouble sleeping, and she decided on a similar remedy.  She
turned to Henri who lay flat on his back, fast asleep, but that was not an
insurmountable problem and so, at exactly the same time as her mother
reached out and grabbed her father -(TM)s penis, her daughter began to
stroke life into Henri -(TM)s.  Like her mother Isla was pleased with the
success of her labours as Henri first stood to attention and then marched
quickly out of the land of his midsummer night -(TM)s dreams.  Fully
aroused he rolled over right on top of Isla, fully prepared to thrust his
swollen ardour into her, before a firm hand on the chest brought him up
short.

    -�What -� he exclaimed

    -�No you can -(TM)t -� Isla told him firmly.

    -�Why not? -�

    -�At ten o -(TM)clock tomorrow morning I am going to parade around the
shopping mall stark naked -�

   They, well Susie, had decided on this time so the pictures would make
the midday news bulletins.

    -�I know.  Why is that a problem?  They won -(TM)t be able to see you
had sex the night before -�

    -�They might -�

    -�What -�

    -�What goes up must come down -� replied Isla in the manner of a school
teacher talking to a backward child.

    -�Oh, I didn -(TM)t realise -�

    -�No, you never end up with the sticky pants, do you? -�

   That wasn -(TM)t exactly true, but Henri knew when to keep his mouth
shut.

    -�So why did you bother to wake me -�

    -�I couldn -(TM)t sleep -�

    -�Oh great -� he replied in frustration.

   Isla smiled seductively.   -�But -- --..Since you are awake you can make
yourself useful -�

    -�If you think I -(TM)m going to make a cup of tea! -�

    -�That -(TM)s not what I had in mind at all -� she replied pushing his
head down under the thin sheet covering her body,  -�you don -(TM)t have to
make a deposit to get my interest -�

   Henri sighed and bent his back as a slave to the night; for after all
she might reciprocate later.

   As Henri began to alternately kiss Isla -(TM)s small breasts, her
equally naked mother was pulling her father down onto her in a shady hollow
beneath a rustling oak that Marion had earmarked, more in hope than
expectation, a few weeks ago.  Brian was no longer hesitant and completely
lost in the moment entered his wife without waiting for an invitation. 
Caught by surprise Marion gave out a startled gasp which her husband
interpreted as an exclamation of ecstasy to which he responded with deep
rhythmic thrusts.

   In the privacy of her bedroom Isla was also in rapture as Henri -(TM)s
experienced tongue explored her erogenous zones.  She let a small moan of
elation as he probed her engorged clitoris.  Far to north Marion also let
out a moan.  This was not turning out as she had expected at all, the
bracken beneath her irritated her skin and she was certain some blood
sucking insect was crawling all over her back about to bite.  And so, at
exactly the same moment as her daughter arched her back in the pleasure of
orgasm Marion arched hers in an attempt to dislodge the thrusting Brian. 
All this did was to trigger a massive orgasm in her husband who, when he
had deposited every last drop of, what to Marion seemed, an enormous amount
of semen, flopped forward and lay motionless on top of her, lost in his
afterglow.

   Henri was similarly disappointed, as, just like her father Isla had
immediately fallen asleep post coitus.  He lay there idly playing with
himself and thinking about Susie -(TM)s ravishing naked body a mere nine
inches away.  Unfortunately that space was filled with a solid layer of
breeze blocks, so Henri had to make do with the memory from the meeting and
the anticipation of the day to come.

   The wood which had seemed so quiet when they had entered it full of
anticipation was now as noisy as a rush hour rail station.  Marion was
aware of every rustle of animals as they stole through the bushes, the hoot
of the owl in the trees where the leaves rattled and wheezed in the breeze
like an old man with a fever.  Her back was itching worse than chickenpox
and she was desperate to go home, but she was unable to move, pinned
underneath the prone body of her husband.  There was nothing for it, it had
to be done.  She leaned her head forward and whispered three little words
that were guaranteed to get his attention.

    -�Darling, it -(TM)s getting light -�

   These cut through his post orgasmic slumber like a red hot poker through
a snow bank; and without further ado, he was pulling Marion up to her feet
and dragging her back towards the lane.  She just managed to stop him
before they reached the open ground that led to the style.

    -�Wait -� she hissed,  -�we have to check no one is looking out -� This
stopped him soon enough.  There were no lights to be seen at any of the
windows, but the curtains and all the windows of the houses of Belvoir
Avenue were wide open, desperately searching for a cooling breeze.

    -�We -(TM)ll just have to chance it -� said Brian and without further
ado he sprinted for the style, where he without warning he stopped dead
causing Marion to career into the back of him, The slap of naked flesh on
naked flesh resounded through the still night like a rifle shot.  As
soldiers caught in an ambush the bare couple threw themselves to the
ground. Brian uttered a grunt as the solid earth forced the air from his
lungs, Marion, however, landed in something rather more soft and squigy
something that had an unpleasant and sadly familiar smell.   -�Ur -� she
exclaimed getting to her feet, not caring if anyone was there to see or
not.  -�Just when I thought things couldn -(TM)t get any worse -� she
muttered and grabbing two handfuls of grass she miserably wiped off the cow
dung that clung to her breasts as best she could.   -�What -(TM)s that
smell -� said Brain at her side,  -�is that you? -�

    -�Let -(TM)s just get home -� Marion pleaded.  Brian tip toed to the
style and peeked over.  The lane was bible black, nothing stirred in the
blind shadows.   -�Let -(TM)s go -� Brian hissed urgently and without
waiting for his wife -(TM)s reply he hopped over the style, his low
swinging testicles avoiding a painful brush with the crumbling wood by the
width of a pubic hair.  He didn -(TM)t need to turn to check Marion was
following as he could plainly smell the remnants the manure covering her
modesty.

   Silently, they stole along the crow black lane towards the street with
no name, where the light from Belvoir Avenue shone as bright for them as
any midday sun.  Here they stopped, ears pricked, as alert as a mouse in an
open field.  As she stood silently behind her husband Marion grimly became
aware of a warm sticky stream dribbling down the inside of her bare thigh.
This night was going from bad to worse she thought, as she wiped Brian
-(TM)s semen from her leg.  She sniffed it experimentally just to confirm
her suspicions, but she knew exactly what it was, for as her daughter had
told Henri less than an hour before, what goes up must come down.  She
wiped her hand on Brain -(TM)s bare back glowing pale orange in front of
her.

    -�Ugh, what -(TM)s that? -� he complained as he felt the slimy fluid.

    -�Yours -� replied Marion, who was long past caring if anyone was in
the road.  Without so much as glance she strode brazenly across the road
and into the lane that led to their garden gate.  Brian scurried after her
cursing silently to himself.

   Safely inside the house Marion inspected the damage in the hall mirror.
The whole of her front was streaked with cow dung, her hair looked like the
bracken she had been lying on, and Brain -(TM)s semen had reached the knee
of her left leg and the ankle of her right.  All Brain could worry about
was whether they had been seen.

    -�I don -(TM)t think so -� she told him in a voice that clearly
indicated that at that moment she wouldn -(TM)t have cared if the Mayor and
the whole of the town council had been taking photographs.  Muttering in
disgust she headed straight to shower, leaving Brain to do as he willed.

   Half an hour later Marion was much refreshed and headed off to find her
husband who, she felt most definitely, owed her an orgasm.  She tracked him
to the bedroom where, like their daughter he lay fast asleep.  With a sigh
Marion went to the front window to check the street.  It was as empty as
the main square of a French town at lunchtime and all the windows of the
houses were as blind as moles.

    -�Ah well, -� she muttered to herself,  -�at least there was nobody
else around -�

   But she was wrong; for many nights now a lonely figure had waited in the
shadows that lay deep upon the street with no name, in the increasingly
forlorn hope of catching sight of the naked angel.  Perhaps there was no
such thing, perhaps the story had been, after all the ramblings of a
seriously ill man.  And then suddenly when all hope was nearly lost there
she was, strolling across road in all her naked glory.  Desperate to remain
unseen the watcher drew back into the coal black shadows hardly daring to
breathe.  The seconds ticked silently by; when enough time had lapsed for
the stranger to be sure the angel would not return, the silent figure left
the dark corner and crept to the entrance of the back lane.  The alley was
empty, but the stranger pressed on, shying away from the patches of
starlight, confident that the quarry had not gone far.  A light suddenly
snapped on in one of the houses and the hunter knew where she had gone to
ground.  Carefully the shadowy figure counted the houses back to the street
with no name, before returning to Belvoir Avenue to find the house she
lived in.  There it was, as pretty as a picture, with flowers and a high
hedge blocking the view of the windows.  A winding path led to a green
front door with a solid brass letterbox.  It wasn -(TM)t heaven but it was
the abode of an angel.  Noting the address the watcher set off up the
avenue and was long gone by the time Marion came out of the shower.



   Fourteen

   Brian had been living on his nerves all day.  He had drunk at least five
cups of coffee.  The caffeine had left him agitated and unable to settle to
his work.  He stared at his computer screen, like an artist that had lost
his muse, desperate for inspiration

    -�That -(TM)s the eighth time today -� commented John as he left for
the toilet.

   The source of his worry wasn -(TM)t difficult to pin point.  Firstly
there was the previous night.  At the time he was elated, running on
adrenalin.  Now in the cold light of day the magnitude of his folly gnawed
at his guts like an acid.  How could he have been so stupid?  Running
around the streets stark naked.  Anyone could have been passing, coming
home from the night shift, or a party.  A police patrol could have come by.
The list things that could have gone wrong was as endless as the Pacific
and Brian could have spent all day worrying about it if he hadn -(TM)t
another more pressing concern.

   It was too late to hope that Isla would back out of her protest.  The
deed was done.  A bight and breezy text message from Isla confirmed to
Brian that his daughter -(TM)s bare body would soon be available to the
whole world courtesy of the Internet.  He was now waiting with all the
fatality of a truant outside the headmaster -(TM)s office for her naked
flesh to drop into John -(TM)s inbox.  He had managed a snatched phone call
with Marion, who didn -(TM)t seem the least worried, but given her hobby
Brain could see why.

    -�At least she didn -(TM)t get arrested -� his wife had told him.

    -�That -(TM)s not the point, Marion, pictures of her in the nude will
be everywhere, everyone she ever meet from now will know precisely what
-(TM)s under her dress  -�

    -�You sound just like your mother. -�

   Brian slapped his hand on his forehead,  -�What the hell did you phone
her for? -� he demanded.

    -�I didn -(TM)t.  Isla did -�

   The day was going from bad to worse.  Brian was about to remonstrate
further when Jan and John came back into the office.

    -�Got to go now -� he said quickly and hung up.

   Marion had been a trifle nonplussed by this, but a ring at the door
stopped her pursuing that line of thought.  She padded off towards the
front door, just remembering to pull on a long shirt that came down to her
knees before she opened it.

    -�Hi Marion, it -(TM)s only me -� said Linda, stating the obvious, and
without pausing for an invitation, stepped into the hall.   -�It -(TM)s so
hot -� she complained, I nearly went for a drive just to put the air con on
-�

   Marion spotted an opening and went for it.   -�That would upset my
daughter -� Linda stopped, put her head on one side and gave Marion a
quizzical look.  This was the chance she had been hoping for.  So without
further preamble Marion explained Isla -(TM)s protest.

    -�So she was the naked angel -� was Linda -(TM)s only comment.

    -�Couldn -(TM)t be -� replied the real naked angel,  -�Isla was in
college a the time, besides, you know there was nothing in that story -�

   Linda looked long and carefully at Marion and a sudden thought popped
into her head.  -�Marion can I ask you a personal question? -�

    -�Of course -� she replied, expecting some question on the morality of
Isla -(TM)s protest.

    -�What have you got on under that shirt -� Caught unawares Marion
answered truthfully.

    -�Nothing, -� before qualifying herself,  -�well er it -(TM)s so hot I
er -�

    -�I know -� continued Linda,  -�I -(TM)m finding this weather
unbearable, and let me let you into a little secret, -� she leant forward
confidentially,  -�I -(TM)ve actually been wandering around in the buff -�

   Marion was speechless.  This was what she was supposed to say.

    -�Don -(TM)t say anything -� continued Linda,  -�I know it -(TM)s not
the done thing, but  -- it was so hot and something just came over me. -�
She looked at her friend and pouted  -�you don -(TM)t think any less of me
do you? -�

    -�Er no, not at all -� said Marion who was thinking that Linda had
stolen her clothes, in a manner of speaking.

    -�Have you ever thought of trying it? -� Linda whispered

    -�I --.I -�

    -�You don -(TM)t have to if you don -(TM)t want to. -� Linda leaned
forward and took Marion -(TM)s hand.  It felt warm and claddy as she
pleaded  -�Just, please don -(TM)t tell anybody -�

   Marion, the real naked angel, pulled herself together and told her
friend haltingly that she -(TM)d screw her courage to the sticking post and
give it a go.  Linda beamed in the knowledge that her secret would be safe.
Marion smiled at her friend -(TM)s naivety.  Her secret would be safe until
Brian came home.

   Marion was about to remove the shirt she had been wearing for all of ten
minutes when Linda took charge.

    -�I -(TM)ve set up a secluded sunbathing area in the garden, why don
-(TM)t you come over? -�

   Marion, paused, once again wrong footed by her friend.   -�Well, right,
I -(TM)ll just get my phone in case there -(TM)s more developments on the
Isla front. -�

   And so wearing just a long shirt and a pair of sandals Marion followed
her friend out of the front door.  Amazingly she felt exposed in her
knickerless state.   -~Pull yourself together Marion -(TM) she thought 
-~the last time you went for a walk outside you were stark naked -(TM)

    -�Cold drink? -� enquired Linda as she led the way into her voluminous
kitchen.

    -�Yes please -�

    -�Lemonade? -�

    -�Perfect -� replied Marion as she took the proffered glass.

   Linda held hers and proffered a toast.   -�To us -�

   Marion responded.   -�To us -�

   Linda put her glass down and grabbed the hem of her short summer dress.

    -�Ready? -�

   Marion laid her glass on the cool, grey, marble work surface of Linda
-(TM)s kitchen, crossed her arms and took a firm grip on her shirt.

    -�One, two, three go -� shouted Linda.  And then they both stood there
staring at each other -(TM)s bare body for the first time.  Marion -(TM)s
eyes swept over her younger friend -(TM)s small breasts with the puffiest
nipples she had ever seen, the stretch marks left by her two children on an
otherwise perfectly flat stomach, her wide hips and an oddly rectangular
patch of well trimmed pubic hair.  She suddenly remembered her manners and
whipped her eyes back up to meet Linda -(TM)s.  She needn -(TM)t have
worried for while Marion had been inspecting her friend -(TM)s birthday
suit, Linda had been giving Marion the once over, and it was with perfect
timing they both brought their gaze back to eye level.  In unison both
women broke into wide grins which dissolved into a fit of giggles.

    -�Let -(TM)s go outside -� Linda said picking up her glass and leading
the way into the bright mid morning light.



   Fifiteen

    -�Tally ho! -�

   Like a hunter who had just caught sight of a fox John announced the
arrival of Isla -(TM)s bare body to a box marked public property.

    -�Whoo hoo, four naked fillies in a shopping mall.  Would you look at
that! -�

   He turned his screen around to show Brian.  He had hoped that maybe,
just maybe, but no.  There she was in all her glory proudly holding a
placard aloft.   -~Air con con -(TM) was all the combined talent of the
University of Canterbury was able to come up with, but it didn -(TM)t
matter as nobody was looking at Isla -(TM)s slogan.

   Brian had steeled himself for this moment, and instead of trying to
bluff it out, went uncharacteristically onto the attack.

    -�I -(TM)ve seen it before -� he told the enthusiastic John and the
disapproving Jan.  John, who was in full flow, screeched to halt.

    -�What? -�

    -�She -(TM)s my daughter -�

   John stared closely at the screen.  Jan, who up until now had been
conveying silent messages of utter disgust at John -(TM)s lasciviousness,
came to look too.

    -�My God, -� said John,  -�it is Isla -�

   Jan was all sympathy,  -�Oh, I am so sorry Brian, how embarrassing -�

   Brian shrugged,  -�We tried to talk her out of it but she is completely
committed to the cause -�

    -�The last thing we need is a campaign against air conditioning -�
complained John,  -�it -(TM)s boiling in here -�

    -�Well perhaps you should follow Brain -(TM)s daughter -(TM)s example
-� Jan told him.

    -�I will if you will -�

   Brian scrutinised John -(TM)s face very carefully.  John had been trying
to get inside Jan -(TM)s pants for months and Brian had a feeling he wasn
-(TM)t getting anywhere near.  The way he held Jan -(TM)s eyes for just a
trifle longer than he would had he been familiar with his co workers -(TM)
body confirmed Brian -(TM)s suspicions.

   Jan uttered the very words that were passing through Brain -(TM)s mind.

    -�In your dreams, mate -�

   Further discussion was curtailed by Marion -(TM)s phone call.  Isla was
on the national news at one.  Not quite sure he was doing the right thing
given John -(TM)s presence in the room Brian found the station -(TM)s
webstream and the three of them gathered around the computer to watch his
daughter and her friends parade naked through the Rockendon shopping mall.

   It was a slow news day and the steaming weather was the top story.  As
the naked protest was related Brian only had to wait a few minutes before
pictures of Isla, accompanied by a very skinny dark haired girl, and a
large rotund blonde filled the screen.  The camera quickly left them and
zoomed in on the final member of the group.

    -�Will you look at that -� John muttered under his breath.  Even Jan
gasped at the sight of Susie.  Brian was ecstatic as he watched the
gorgeous young woman lecturing a slavering reporter on the evils of air
conditioning.  He knew instantly that Isla was going to be sidelined
completely.  Susie was rattling off statistics faster than a demented
politician defending the latest crime figures.  No one was listening, there
was only one figure of interest and that was the unwrapped body of Susan
Blackwell.  Tomorrow -(TM)s headlines had just written themselves, PHEW,
WHAT A SCORCHER

    -�Oh my -� said Linda.  She and Marion were sitting naked in her
kitchen watching the lunchtime news of television.   -�I wish I had her
body -� But Marion was not thinking about Susie -(TM)s perfection.  Her
mind was working in tandem with Brian -(TM)s, Isla was going to escape with
much less exposure than she had feared.  Meanwhile Linda continued to
prattle on.

    -�She has a point, Marion, this heat so much more bearable without
clothes.  Wouldn -(TM)t it be wonderful if we could all walk around in the
nude?  Have you ever thought what it would be like to walk down the street
naked?  You should try it sometime -�

   Marion suddenly caught up with what her friend was saying.

    -�What do you mean Linda? -� she asked carefully.

   Linda looked at her with a hint of embarrassment.

    -�Can I tell you a secret? -�

   Marion nodded her head slowly, dreading what was coming next.   -�Well I
-(TM)ve, sort of well. -� The room felt utterly silent despite the constant
commentary from the television,  -�I don -(TM)t want you to think any the
less of me. -�

    -�I won -(TM)t Linda -� Marion told her quietly.

    -�Well I -(TM)ve taken to going for midnight walks, au natural, so to
speak -� she blurted, looking desperately to Marion for absolution. 
Mistaking her friend -(TM)s look of sheer terror for surprise, Linda began
to apologise,  -�I -(TM)m so sorry.  I -(TM)ve shocked you -�

    -�Er no well, I have to admit this is all a bit sudden -�

   Linda breathed easily,  -�So my secret -(TM)s safe with you -�

    -�Oh yes, after all, we -(TM)re both in the same club, if you see what
I mean -� said Marion running her eyes down Linda -(TM)s naked body to
emphasise her point.

    -�You could say the same nudist club -� replied Linda laughing heartily
at her own joke.

   Rule one, thought Marion, is to never ask a question you don -(TM)t know
the answer to.   -�Were you the naked angel, Linda? -�

    -�Oh no, but the story was my inspiration, it set me thinking, what
would it be like to walk down the lane in the buff? -�

    -�And what is it like? -� asked Marion who was better placed to know.

    -�Absolutely wonderful, you should try it sometime, in fact I was out
there last night -�

   Marion nearly fell off her chair.   -�Oh dear I am shocking you aren
-(TM)t I? -� said Linda mistaking her confidant -(TM)s utter panic for
surprise.   -�It was brilliant; I went all the way to the edge of the wood.
-� Marion -(TM)s eyes were wide, she held her breath, as her friend
continued blithely,  -�I was going in but I was put off by the animal
noises -�

   Marion was desperately thinking how she should respond to this.  She was
supposed to be a respectable housewife, who, after being led astray by her
friend, was now sitting stark naked in a strange kitchen.  Linda, whom she
had previously considered to be an upstanding member of the community, was
now admitting she walked nude through the neighbourhood.  Should she be
expressing outrage, or disgust, or perhaps admiration for Linda -(TM)s
daring do?  In the event all that emerged from Marion -(TM)s lips was a
small squeak.  With all the relief of a sinner finally unburdening herself,
Linda continued blithely on.

    -�I tell you I think there must be some wild boar living in there, what
with the grunts and the squealing and panting.  It made me think twice I
can tell you. -�

    -�Oh yes, I can imagine -� agreed Marion,  -�so you came straight back?
-�

    -�Absolutely, I didn -(TM)t want to meet a wild animal, what if it had
charged me?  How would I explain that, being out and about in the all
together -�

    -�Quite -� agreed Marion, and continued quickly  -�Well, I think I have
to get back now as I -(TM)ve some work to be getting on with. -� She picked
up her shirt and pulled it over her head, before breezily telling Linda,
not to bother to get dressed as she could see herself out.

    -�You won -(TM)t tell anyone will you? -� Linda pleaded again.

    -�Oh no, my lips are sealed -� replied Marion who had absolutely no
intention of telling Brian his mating calls had been heard by their equally
naked neighbour who had mistaken them both for a pair of pigs.

    -�Stay naked -� called Linda hopefully as Marion left.

    -�I -(TM)ll think about it -� she replied.



   Sixteen

   As soon as she closed her own front door behind her Marion peeled off
her shirt and went for a sit down.  After Linda -(TM)s revelations she felt
she needed one.  Once the shock of her close call had worn off Marion began
to realise that Linda -(TM)s admission to night time nude jaunts was not
the problem she had thought it was going to be.  She could still continue
her rambling and if she did bump into her friend in then she could claim
that Linda had been her inspiration.  Cheered by this thought Marion smiled
and was about to start some work when the doorbell rang.  Once more donning
her emergency long shirt Marion opened the front door.

   Every year the European cycle season stages a classic race called the
Paris -"Roubaix.  It is known as The Hell of the North as it pitches the
riders from smooth metalled surfaces onto rough cobbled tracks that jar
both body and machine.  Marion -(TM)s day seemed to be following just such
a course, for standing on her front porch was the last person Marion wanted
to see, ever.

    -�Good afternoon, Mrs Shaw -�

   She was a good head smaller than Marion, and casually dressed in a brief
summer dress.  She held out a pass with her photograph and the word PRESS
in large red letters.  Marion didn -(TM)t need to read the name, she
recognised Julie Lewis by her curls.   -�My name is Julie Lewis; I -(TM)m a
reporter for the Nelson Mercury -�

   Marion said nothing, she just stared, waiting for, and dreading the next
line.  When it came it was a pleasant surprise,  -�I wonder if you had any
comment on your daughter -(TM)s protest in the mall down in Christchurch
this morning -�

    -�Well naturally I have to give her my support and I am very proud of
her conviction and dedication for such an important cause.  I -(TM)m sure
we all share her concern for the environment, and if Isla -(TM)s actions
have some effect then it will have all been worthwhile -�

    -�So you are happy that pictures of your daughter -(TM)s naked body are
in the public domain? -�

    -�Well I do wish she had chosen a different way of getting her point
across. -�

    -�Did she inform you she would be making a nude protest? -�

    -�Oh yes we knew. -�

    -�What does her father think, is Mr Shaw at home? -�

    -�No he is at work, but he also gives Isla his support -�

    -�I have spoken to your husband before, Mrs Shaw, on the reports of the
naked angel.  Was that your daughter too? -�

    -�Absolutely not -� replied the true angel,  -�Isla was away at
university at the time.  Has that cook woken up yet? -�

   Marion winced, she asked that too quickly.  Fortunately the reporter
didn -(TM)t pick up on it.

    -�Yes, but he remembers nothing of the evening -�

   Relief flooded Marion -(TM)s body like summer returning to a frozen
wasteland.

    -�Or so he says -� Julie Lewis paused, and smiled before continuing in
a more conciliatory manner.   -�Look, Mrs Shaw, I think we can help each
other here -�

   Oh, how -� she snapped.  It was Julie -(TM)s turn to wince.  Marion gave
her a small smile; she was still on tenterhooks and had not meant to be so
sharp.

    -�Well, you are going to have journalists from the national papers
contacting you.  I could head them off for you.  If they knew we had an
exclusive, they will use the Mercury as a feed. -�

    -�I see -� said Marion thoughtfully.

   Encouraged by the slight thaw she continued  -�what I would like is an
inside story of your daughter -(TM)s protest, a local angle for the paper
-�

    -�Well I don -(TM)t know, that would be up to Isla -�

    -�Would you put it to her, after all she is doing this for the
publicity, and all I -(TM)m offering is more. -�

   Marion thought about this, and although she viewed Julie Lewis as an
enemy hunting her down, it -(TM)s usually a good ploy to keep the enemy
where you can see them.

    -�Come in -� she said,  -�let me contact my daughter -�

   Marion led Julie through the darkened hall into the kitchen.  She
gestured to a high chair next to the breakfast bar.  Mindful of the fact
she was not wearing any underwear, Marion remained standing as she enquired
if her guest would like a drink.

    -�Oh, yes please, its baking today, your daughter picked the right time
for her protest, I almost feel like joining her -� She laughed nervously as
Marion shot her a piercing look.  There would be nothing she would like
better than to see her persecutor laid bare

   Isla was full of herself and quite prepared to talk to the journalist.
Mainly because this was actually her first interview, all the other
journalists and TV crews had swarmed like bees around the honey pot that
was Susie.  Marion listened in as Julie talked to her daughter.

    -�I -(TM)d like to publish a form of a diary -�

    -�No just yours, you are the local girl -�

    -�No, photographs will be head and shoulders only, but we might stretch
our readers -(TM) sensitivities to a bare bum or two. -�

    -�If I could join you on a protest; that would be great -�

   She laughed nervously.   -�No, I don -(TM)t think I -(TM)m up to that -�

    -�Committee meeting, well I suppose so, if they are closed, and
everyone else is -�

   Good girl thought Marion, get her kit off.

    -�Tomorrow, Cathedral Square, at ten, I -(TM)ll be there -�

   Later as they sat on their patio in twilight -(TM)s last hot and sweaty
gleaming , Brain and Marion discussed the day.  They agreed it had gone
better than it could have.  Brian had received much sympathy at work, but
to enable them to empathise with Brian -(TM)s despair everyone had to have
a good look at Isla -(TM)s bare body.  Julie Lewis had been good to her
word; no other journalists had bothered them.  After much thought, Marion
had given Brian a heavily abridged account of Linda -(TM)s nudity.  She
kept it to the sunbathing only.  Given the surprise on his face Marion
could only imagine the effect the news of her wandering the neighbourhood
would have on him.  If Brian had found out Linda was out and about at the
same time as they were last night Marion would have been called upon to
make her second au natural emergency call.

    -�You mustn -(TM)t tell anyone about Linda -� she admonished him
earnestly as she eyed his big grin,  -�I promised her I wouldn -(TM)t tell
you. -� Marion paused for effect  -�After all, how would you like it if I
told her about you? -�

   It took five minutes and a glass of water to cure Brian -(TM)s coughing
fit.



   Seventeen

   Isla -(TM)s protests were short lived.  Soon every security guard in the
country had her photograph in his pocket along with strict instructions not
to let her in.  But that couldn -(TM)t stop the campaign against air
conditioning; it spread like a wildfire across a parched prairie, as others
took up the cause and ran naked with it.  The shops and malls responded
quickly by robustly caving into the protesters.  It wasn -(TM)t much of a
contest as it was in the complexes owners -(TM) interests to turn off their
expensive air conditioning.  This allowed them to save large amounts of
money whilst giving the outward appearance of caring for the environment.
They almost fell over each other in the rush to turn off the fans.  The
only cloud in this clear blue sky was the faint possibility that some
people out there would take the slogan; I -(TM)d rather have nothing on
than have air con on, literally and turn up in the nude.  They crossed
their fingers, knocked on wood and hoped for rain.

   Flushed with success the University of Canterbury Greensoc had one last,
all naked, picnic in the summer countryside before scattering for the long
summer break.  Cat and Julie went hiking while Susie continued to promote
the cause.  She was everything that the media could have asked for,
articulate, intelligent, persuasive and happy to take her clothes off.  The
camera loved her, clothed and unclothed.  She steamed off into the
limelight leaving Isla drifting miserably in the quiet backwaters.

    -�I think I -(TM)ll go back and see my folks -� she announced to Henri
as they sat quietly in the corner of a crowded beer garden.  She paused and
hesitated before continuing.   -�You wouldn -(TM)t like to come with me
would you? -�

   To Isla -(TM)s surprise, and Henri -(TM)s utter astonishment he agreed.

    -�Isla -(TM)s coming home tomorrow -� Marion announced to her husband,
-�and she -(TM)s bringing her boyfriend -� That got Brian -(TM)s attention.
They had both speculated about their daughter -(TM)s love life for some
time; and, despite her robust denials, had long suspected Henri -(TM)s
existence.   -�Get the loft room ready, Marion -� was Brian -(TM)s reply.
He didn -(TM)t care what they got up to at University, but it wasn -(TM)t
happening under his roof.

    -�Shall I prime the tank trap dear? -� enquired Marion

    -�Don -(TM)t be facetious -� Brian continued at his most pompous, 
-�and you can keep your clothes on for the duration of their stay -�

    -�Aye, aye, capn -� replied his naked wife giving him a mock salute. 
Brian watched her bare buttocks quiver as she strode out of the room to
prepare the nest for the return of their wandering chick.

   Marion sighed to herself as she cleaned the old attic bedroom.  This
time tomorrow she would be locked up in her prison clothes.  She knew deep
down that Brian was right, Isla -(TM)s boyfriend was an unknown quantity
and it was probably for the best that his first memory of his future
mother-in-law wasn -(TM)t of her naked.  She interrupted her train of
thought.  What was she thinking of, she hadn -(TM)t even met the boy, and
here she was marrying Isla off.

   Brian was thinking quite the opposite, this boy was just a passing
fancy, Isla would soon come to her senses and drop him for a nice quiet,
sensible, medical student.  He rather wished that Isla wasn -(TM)t bringing
him at all.  The only good thing he could think about Henri -(TM)s visit
would be it would stop Marion pestering him to take his clothes off.  The
thought of nudity set his mind going again, worrying away, and gnawing away
at the thought of his daughter -(TM)s protests and, worse still, that one
mad night in the wood.  Again and again he went over it in his mind, could
they have been seen?  It was a question he would never know the answer to,
but that didn -(TM)t stop him tormenting himself.

   Conversely Marion was worrying about having to wear clothes.  She was
smoothing the sheets on the bed as she pondered her predicament.  Isla and
the boyfriend wouldn -(TM)t be there all the time, so she could go nude
when they were out, just keep something handy if they came back
unexpectedly; and she could rely on Isla to call ahead just to give the
time to dress.  It would be like old times she thought warmly as she stared
down at the garden from the dormer in the roof.  All those months, she had
sat naked in the house, listening for Brian -(TM)s return and scurrying to
get dressed at the first throaty sound of the car -(TM)s engine in the
drive.  Unconsciously she scanned the shrubbery mapping out the hidden path
to the gate.  She suddenly realised what she had been doing and smiled,
perhaps she could take a walk.   -~Oh yes -(TM) she thought brightening up,
her pulse quickening at the thought of the danger involved.  She might even
arrange to meet Linda in the lane.  She warmed at the thrill of it, roaming
naked, with the unsettling danger of being caught.  Cheered tremendously by
these thoughts she returned to the lounge where Brian was watching
television.

    -�You -(TM)re still dressed -� she scolded,  -�This will be our last
chance for a few days to spend time together naked -�

    -�It -(TM)s too cold -� he complained

    -�Nonsense it -(TM)s the middle of summer, it -(TM)s far too hot for
clothes.  I fancy I don -(TM)t know how I will get through tomorrow -- --.
-�

   Brian recognised a threat when he heard one; although he was beginning
to feel there was not as much substance behind them as he once feared.  As
far as he was aware the only people who had seen Marion naked were Brian
himself, their daughter and their neighbour Linda.  The stricken man
suddenly came to mind.  This burst Brain -(TM)s pretty party balloon. 
Anyone who was prepared to walk the streets stark naked and not pass by on
the other side when they meet a helpless soul would have no qualms about
baring all in front of their daughter -(TM)s boyfriend.  Suddenly sober,
Brian quickly stood up and stripped.

   Marion smiled as she contemplated the mound of bare flesh on the settee
that was the spoils of her victory.

    -�I do think it -(TM)s a little mean putting Henri away in the attic.
-�

    -�I know I can -(TM)t control what they do in university Marion, but
while they are under my roof there will be no shenanigans -�

    -�You won -(TM)t be here al the time -�

   Marion paused while Brian ruminated on this,

    -�People do have sex in the day you know -�

   Brian was at his most haughty  -�I do hope Isla and her boyfriend will
not abuse our hospitality -�

    -�They could do it outside -�

   Brian shot a look at Marion, but she was staring out of the window, idly
playing with he left nipple.  He watched as she gave it a little squeeze. 
-�There -(TM)s a place in the wood -� she continued as she rolled her hand
over her breast.  Brian felt an unwanted stirring between his legs  -�Do
you remember the place -� Marion -(TM)s voice was low and husky now.  He
certainly did, and so did his penis.   -�There -(TM)s nothing to stop them
going there, after all it is so arousing, sex al fresco, don -(TM)t you
think -�

   Brian didn -(TM)t have to think, his libido was doing all that for him.
In desperation he crossed his legs and tried to stare at the picture of a
stormy seashore hanging above the stone mantelpiece.  It was no use, as if
by magnetism his eyes were drawn towards his wife -(TM)s naked body and her
left hand which was slowly, idly, and apparently unconsciously caressing
her right breast.  Suddenly, like a seal coming up for air, his perfidious
penis burst free and poked its head out from between his legs,.  Marion let
go of her nipple and smiled,  -�There you are, I knew you remembered -�
Brain wasn -(TM)t sure she was talking to him.



   Eighteen

   A warm, golden summer -(TM)s afternoon.  Belvoir Avenue shimmered in the
hot air that rose in great swirling currents from the tarmac made soft by
the unendurable heat.  Henri took in the street, wide and tree lined and
well kept, the epitome of middle class suburbia, from the well trimmed
hedges to the blooming rose bushes which filled the air with a heady scent.
Isla saw different things, this was her home, and she saw the changes.  New
windows in the Smythes, the council had cut down the old tree opposite the
mad woman -(TM)s house, and whoever had moved into to her friend Charlotte
-(TM)s old home had put up stone gates topped with lions that screamed of
bad taste.

    -�Ouch -� complained Isla as a ball hit here ankle.  She turned to face
two small boys

    -�Sorry -� said the younger of the pair.

    -�I -(TM)ve seen you tits -� the elder told her,  -�my dad -(TM)s got a
picture of you with no clothes on -�

    -~I bet your mother doesn -(TM)t know that -(TM) thought Isla.

    -�And did you like what you saw Arty? -� she asked him.  Arty screwed
hid face into a scowl.

    -�Leave Isla alone -� pleaded the other boy.  Arty kicked him in the
shin.

    -�Shut up Timmy, we shouldn -(TM)t even be talking to her; my mum says
you -(TM)re a slut -�

   Henri, who had played Lancelot to Isla -(TM)s Guinevere with burly
security guards and testosterone charged teenagers, was not prepared to let
this go any further.  Arty had been indulged by his parents and had assumed
in his usual arrogance that nobody would dare touch him.  He was suddenly
surprised to find his feet were no longer on the ground.  Slowly Henri
pulled him up to his eye level.  He then explained very carefully that he
was Isla -(TM)s boyfriend and should he bother her again he would tell his
mother exactly what Arty had said to her.  And then he told the terrified
boy he -(TM)d tell her that her son had a collection of photographs of
naked women on their computer.  Small bullies always recognise large
bullies, and Arty realised he was in the presence of a master.  He gave a
small gulp followed by a gasp as Henri released him and let Isaac Newton
finish the job.  Picking himself off the hot soft tarmac he ran home,
barely managing to hide his tears.

   Despite the loss of his leader the small boy held his ground  -�My Mum
says you -(TM)re a hero! -� he told Isla

    -�Why thank you Timmy. -� She smiled graciously  -�How have you been?
Come and meet Henri, he won -(TM)t bite -�

   Henri bent down and solemnly shook the small boy -(TM)s hand  -�Pleased
to meet you Tim, where do you live -�

    -�We live next door to Isla and my Mum thinks she -(TM)s great -�

    -�She supports the cause too, has she been writing to the council? -�

    -�Dunno about that, but she walks around with no clothes on -�

    -�What! -�

   Timmy looked desperately at Isla,  -�Really.  I -(TM)ve seen her -� he
said trying to convince her,  -�when she thinks nobody is looking she walks
around the house and round the garden, and -� he dropped his voice to a
whisper  -�even down the lane -�

   Henri was astonished, this looked so much like an ordinary street, the
sort of place you found everywhere with normal people doing all the same
normal boring things; shopping, visiting the cinema, watching the same
detective stories.  Cereal for breakfast, salad for lunch, the occasional
curry for a taste of the exotic.  Not the place where women ran around
naked in public.

   Isla, who knew Linda well, was wondering if her mother had got to her.

    -�You won -(TM)t tell anybody, will you? -� pleaded Timmy.  Isla
promised him his secret was safe with her.   -�Thanks -� he called as he
ran up the path, the front door closed with a bang.  Henri stared at the
house with its flowered garden and well trimmed hedges and a line form a
half forgotten song came drifted into his head.

    -~There -(TM)s an ol -(TM) piano, and they play it hot.  Behind the
green door.  Wish they'd let me in.  So I could find out what's behind the
green door -(TM)



   Nineteen

   Henri knew that first impressions are important, and he was very aware
that he wasn -(TM)t making one.  They had taken the coastal route up to
Nelson, stopping off at some friends overnight.  By the time they got there
they were both covered with the dust and the sweat of their journey.  Isla
-(TM)s parents were prepared to forgive this of their daughter but were not
so understanding of the dishevelled boyfriend who stood for the first time
in front of them.  Henri was surprised to find he actually cared what they
thought.

    -�Please call me Marion -� Henri shook her hand, a middle aged suburban
hausfrau right down to her pink toenails poking out of her unfashionable
sandals.  She wore a large summer dress which bore the pattern of inter
crossing fern fronds.

   Isla -(TM)s father shook his hand, a serious dark haired man with a
pleasant face that wore a fixed smile that didn -(TM)t match his eyes.  
-�Good to meet you at last, exactly how long have you two been going out
together? -�

    -�Dad, please -� interjected Isla

    -~Call me Mr Shaw -(TM) thought Henri glumly.

   Isla -(TM)s mother broke in to stop her overprotective father with the
suggestion that everyone could do with a long cool drink.  As they walked
out into the garden with its potted blood red geraniums, Henri stared
carefully at the hedge separating this garden from the one next door.  He
desperately searched for a chink through which he might glimpse that rarest
of flowers, a naked neighbour.  But Marion -(TM)s shrubbery shield was
thorough and there was no chink in her armour.  She waited until they were
all comfortable before breaching the topic that had been hanging in the
sultry air since Isla and Henri had arrived.

    -�Tell me about your protest -�

   Isla took a deep breath and began.

    -�Well, I have to say it was the most nerve racking and exciting thing
I have ever done at the same time.  We went down to the mall and walked
straight to the middle and  -- I was so nervous I can tell you, but there
was no going back.  Susie gave the signal and we whipped off our dresses.
You could have heard a pin drop, then some woman gasped, so we started our
chant.   -~Air con con, air con non, no clothes on before air con on -(TM)

   Isla caught a glimpse of her mother -(TM)s face  -�It -(TM)s cheesy I
know, but we couldn -(TM)t think of anything else.  Anyway it was so good;
being naked in the shopping mall you should try it some time -�

   Henri thought that this was an odd thing for Isla to say to her parents.
He looked at them both, her mother serene and her father ready to gnaw his
own head off.

    -�And then the security guards came, and Cat just stood in front of
them hands on hips with her breasts jutting out and just dared them, 
-~touch me and that -(TM)s indecent assault -(TM) They backed off and
decided it was more important to control the crowd.  Most were really
supportive, there was the odd pervert, and of course some young guys who
had never seen a naked woman in the flesh before.  You could tell by the
way their tongue was hanging out. -� Henri also remembered the day well;
there was utter chaos as the four young women strolled, with no shame,
through the shopping mall.  Some people tired not to notice, most sneaked
glances while a few honest souls openly stared.  Then there young men with
their phones, snapping away sending them to their mates.   -�Come on
darling, spread  -~em for me -� That was unpleasant but they cheered up the
security guards who could vent their pent up frustration by forcibly
ejecting them.  Susie was the magnet, but she didn -(TM)t care because the
cause meant more to her than her exposed body.  After all it was exposure
they craved, as they strolled through the cool marble halls, breasts
bouncing, firm buttocks quivering with each footstep.  The bonanza they
were waiting for, a TV crew, never came, the police beat them to it.  Cat
and Susie came to a sudden halt before two burly policemen, accompanied by
two petite policewomen.  By the look on their faces the policewomen would
have no qualms with physically arresting some naked female students.

   The policeman asked them why they were naked.  He winced as Susie stood
before him, hands on hips, legs apart and gave him the green broadside.

    -�If you don -(TM)t get dressed now -� he told them all firmly,  -�you
will be arrested -�

   They had discussed this and were all agreed the cause would serve little
if they were taken into custody.  So all four girls capitulated politely,
took their dresses from the accompanying boys and allowed themselves to be
escorted form the mall to the impatiently waiting press pack outside.

   After half an hour of interviews they caught a bus to the other side of
the city, and following a leisurely lunch in the park, went out and did it
all over again.

    -�So you never got in trouble with the police -� commented Brian
offering grateful thanks to whatever gods may be.

    -�Henri nearly did -� giggled Isla

    -�I thought it was a girls only protest? -� asked her mother with a
little concern.

    -�It was, but in the Freeglade Mall there was this pervy guy, he kept
calling to me.   -~Jus' rub your tits darling, go on spread them' and ugh,
some really disgusting stuff, so Henri grabbed his camera off him and
smashed it into his face -�

    -�Well done -� said Brian, turning to Henri for the first time since he
greeted him at the door,  -�did you do any damage -�

    -�Not really, those cameras are quite robust -� Henri replied with some
regret.

    -�I wasn -(TM)t referring to the camera -� Brian replied through
gritted teeth

    -�Oh I see, -� Henri grinned,  -�just a broken nose and a split lip
that needed six stitches -�

   Brian smiled,  -�Care for another beer Henri -�

    -�Oh yes please Mr Shaw -�

    -�Call me Brian, -�



   Twenty

   The scorching afternoon dissolved into a warm evening as Isla related
her stories of notoriety.  Finally Marion interrupted  -�I think it is time
to start cooking dinner, you weren -(TM)t planning on going out? -�

    -�Oh no -� replied Isla who was a little concerned about visiting her
old haunts now everyone she had ever known had seen her naked.  She thought
she would just die if she met her old headmistress in the street.

    -�It -(TM)ll be about half an hour, I -(TM)m sure you need to freshen
up. -�

   This was Marion -(TM)s way of telling them both they smelt.  Isla took
the hint.  Henri who had been smelling his stale sweat for a some time now
was grateful of the opportunity for a shower.

    -�Right ho -� replied Henri,  -�I -(TM)m afraid I haven -(TM)t brought
anything smart. -�

    -�Oh, no need to dress, we -(TM)re quite casual here. -� Before Isla
could comment her mother turned to her  -�Henri -(TM)s in the attic room -�

    -�Dad! -� complained Isla turning towards her father.  She knew very
well who to blame.

    -�I -(TM)m sorry about this -� Isla told Henri as she led him up the
stairs to the attic.

    -�Oh that -(TM)s alright, it -(TM)s their house.  My parents were the
same when my sister -(TM)s boyfriend came to stay. -�

    -�Yes, but I -(TM)ll never be able to sneak up here without them
hearing -� complained Isla.

   Henry grabbed her by the waist and kissed her.   -�We don -(TM)t have to
restrict ourselves to night time manoeuvres -� he whispered into her ear.

    -�Or indoors either -� she told him, her breath felt hot his neck,  -�I
know a spot in the wood that -(TM)s just perfect -�

    -�Won -(TM)t that be hard on your back? -� Henri suggested.

    -�Yes, but not on yours -� She gave him a playful slap on the backside
as crossed the room to the window.  He looked dawn on the garden.  It was
like a medieval maze with bushes all over the place.  Next door a woman in
shorts and a skimpy pink top was watering some plants with a hose.  She was
tall and thin, wide at the hips, with long blonde hair.   -~The naked woman
behind the green door -(TM) thought Henri  -~maybe tomorrow when the sun is
out.. -(TM) he -(TM)d keep an eye open.

    -�Who -(TM)d have thought it? -� Isla muttered looking over his
shoulder,  -�Linda wandering around naked? -�

    -�You set the trend babe -� he told her

    -�And I -(TM)m the best -� she said as she removed her top.

    -�What are you doing, we -(TM)re expected downstairs in ten minutes -�
exclaimed Henri  -�I -(TM)m taking a shower -� replied Isla

    -�What if your parents come in? -�

   She laughed, they won -(TM)t it -(TM)s you room.  They -(TM)ll hear the
shower and think it -(TM)s you -� she replied as she removed the rest of
her clothes.

    -�Please Isla, I -(TM)ve only just got your dad onside -�

   She put her hand on her bare hip, and wiggled her waist,  -�Well if you
don -(TM)t want to have a shower with me -- -�

    -�Oh come on babe, you know there is nothing I would like better, but
this is not the place nor the time. -�

   She smiled, picked up her clothes and walked naked from the room,  -�I
-(TM)ll just have to shower downstairs then. -�

   Henri cleaned himself up as quickly as he could, chose the cleanest
clothes he could find and tiptoed downstairs.  He was relieved to hear Isla
singing in the shower as this enabled him to get downstairs without being
dragged into her bedroom.

   Isla had showered and was drying her hair when she remembered her mother
-(TM)s comment.  -�Oh, no need to dress, we -(TM)re quite casual here. -�
As quickly as she could she dashed upstairs to warn Henri of what her
mother meant went she had said dress was casual.  But Henri had already
gone.  Isla sprinted down the stairs in the vein hope of catching him
before he went into the kitchen and got the shock of his life.

   Too late.  Isla burst into the kitchen and there was Henri drinking beer
with her father as her mother plated up the starter of prawns and smoked
salmon.  What ever Isla had been about to say died on her lips.  Henri,
Brain and Marion stood frozen in time and speechless.  They were also, more
to the point, fully dressed.

    -�Ah -� said Isla backing towards the door,  -�Sorry, er slight
misunderstanding of the word casual -�

    -�There -(TM)s no air conditioning here -� Marion told her.   -�Well
there -(TM)s no point scurrying off now, after all, the entire world -(TM)s
seen you naked.  Sit down and eat your meal -�

   To Henri -(TM)s utter amazement Isla did just that.  Having dinner with
your girlfriend -(TM)s parents is always a difficult experience but to sit
at the table making polite conversation while your girlfriend sits next to
you stark naked made the experience a whole lot worse.  Throughout the meal
Brain and Marion kept asking him questions.

    -�What are you reading at University? -�  -�What do your parents do? -�
 -�What was it like growing up in Milton? -�  -�Have you any brothers and
sisters? -�

   And Henri would drag his thoughts away from Isla -(TM)s breast with its
pert pink nipple and the small brown moles either side, not quite in a
line. And when he could drag his eyes away from her breasts they
treacherously dropped to her alabaster thighs that were firmly crossed.  He
gazed speechless at the small tufts of jet black pubic hair that poked up,
like young seedlings desperately seeking the sunlight.

   He tried to answer the questions lucidly but he could hear himself
fumbling, his answers rambling and incoherent.  It would be understandable
had he never seen Isla naked, but of course he had, everyone -(TM)s eyes
had roamed free over her bare flesh.  Nobody had explored her body quite as
thoroughly as Henri, who had been over every inch, as well as investigating
a few crevasses.  Even so her nakedness unsettled him; and it showed.

   This nervousness endeared Henri to Marion and Brian.  They would have
expected most men his age to have sat there with their tongues hanging out.
Henri stared, but who could blame him for that.  It seemed, however, he
gaze was of astonishment where others would have displayed lust.  Of course
neither of Isla -(TM)s parents were thinking rationally either.  The mere
appearance of their daughter in all her glory had unsettled them.  Even
Marion, who had threatened to do the same on many occasions herself, was
shaken by her daughter -(TM)s complete lack of shame.

   She needn -(TM)t have worried on that score.  Isla was certainly feeling
the shame; she just tried not to let it show.  How could she have been so
stupid?  What could have possessed her?  Looking back over the last few
months, it was true, she had hardly ever seen her mother in clothing, but
as far as she knew only she and her father were privy to their naked
lifestyle.  How could she have been so blind, she should have realised her
parents would never be naked in front of Henri.

   But the moving finger having writ moves on and there was no going back.
She had turned up for dinner in her birthday suit.  Running away would
merely have compounded her guilt.  Isla had considered making a pretence of
being cold and run upstairs to dress, but it wasn -(TM)t cold and, after
all, she had one of the most famous bodies in the world now.  Everyone had
seen it, so why hide.

    -�It -(TM)s so hot -� she announced,  -�I don -(TM)t know how you can
bare it being dressed -�

   Her mother looked daggers at her,  -�perhaps you would help me serve the
main course Isla -� she demanded, rather than asked, as she rose from the
table like a mastodon from the primeval swamp.

    -�What the hell do you think you -(TM)re playing at, Isla?  Why are you
naked? -�

    -�I didn -(TM)t mean to come to dinner in the nude -�

    -�It -(TM)s supposed to be a mistake? -� asked her incredulous mother
nearly dropping the steamed potatoes.

    -�I just forgot I was starkers that -(TM)s all -�

    -�Oh what, so you spend so much time in the nuddy, you can -(TM)t
remember if you -(TM)re wearing clothes or not! -�

    -�Well just like you then -� Isla replied, hackles beginning to rise.

    -�No not just like me, I remember to put some clothes on when we have
some company -�

    -�How was I supposed to know? -�  -�You seriously think I would greet
your new boyfriend with just a smile? -�

    -�Well clearly not, but how was I supposed to know? -�

    -�What? -�

    -�You said dress casual for dinner -�

   Marion waved her hands over her summer dress,  -�Yes, this is casual,
for me -�

    -�No it -(TM)s not -� shouted Isla,  -�this is casual for you -� waving
her hands over her naked form.

   Marion took her point.   -�Well you could have checked before you came
barging in in your birthday suit -�

    -�That -(TM)s exactly what I was trying to do, I came out of the shower
and it suddenly hit me that you set casual, and by God mother when you
usually say casual dress that means no dress at all -�

   A small cough broke into their argument.  Brain stood at the doorway.  
-�Er, we can hear you, you know -�

   That stopped them both, Marion looked at Isla  -�you better try and
explain.  Brain help me with his will you -�

   Henri was sitting bemused; he had heard the argument and witnessed the
pain on Brain -(TM)s face.  Isla slipped in and grabbed him by the hand and
led him into the garden.

    -�I -(TM)m sorry about this hun -� she told him.

    -�It -(TM)s cool -� he replied,  -�Your family are nudists, it explains
quite a lot about you -�

    -�You don -(TM)t mind -� she asked.

    -�No it -(TM)s fine -� a cloud passed over Henri -(TM)s sunny face.  
-�You don -(TM)t want me to join in to you? -�

    -�Do you have a problem -� An accusation rather than a question.  Henri
pondered for a moment

    -�No, -� he appeared uncertain, then continued more confidently,  -�no
I -(TM)ll be fine. -� he deliberated again before asking  -�now? -�

    -�No, not now I think it will take my parents a while to decide what to
do -�

    -�Oh right, you -(TM)re not planning on getting dressed are you -�

   Isla smiled and wiggled her hips suggestively.   -�I don -(TM)t know,
what would you prefer -�

    -�You know how much I admire your body -� he told her with a lascivious
smile.  She smiled back.

    -�Nude it is then -� she told him as he grinned,  -�but don -(TM)t get
any ideas, there -(TM)ll be no night manoeuvres.  You -(TM)ll just have to
wait until morning -� she told him firmly.

   Several months ago Brian had enjoyed a meal due to the presence of his
naked wife and also not enjoyed a meal due his bare daughter.  Henri
enjoyed the rest of the meal, who wouldn -(TM)t as he was sitting next to
his girlfriend who was wearing a watch and a green wristband that
identified her as a warrior of the environment.  What preyed on his mind
however was the looming presence of his girlfriend -(TM)s mother, who now
she was outed as a nudist, may just join her daughter at the drop of a hat.
Or in her case the drop of a summer dress.

    -�I -(TM)ve explained the situation to Henri and he understands -� Isla
told her parents.

    -�And what dear -� began Marion as her husband looked on with all the
futility of peasant charged with teaching a horse to sing,  -�have you told
Henri -�

    -�That we are nudists -�

    -�Ah -� replied Marion as Brian contemplated stabbing himself with his
fork to test if this was a nightmare.

    -�Better out than in -� she sighed.  This was not a sentiment shared by
her husband.

   Henri felt he should say something  -�I did rather suspect, what with
Isla -(TM)s penchant for strolling around naked. -� The look on Brain
-(TM)s face told him that his was probably not his finest contribution to
the dinner table conversation.  He -(TM)d already put his foot well and
truly in it so Henri thought he might as well carry on.   -�So are you guys
members of a club -�

    -�Oh no -� replied Marion  -�we -(TM)re not that type of nudist -�

   Brian winced at the sound of the N word.

    -�We -(TM)re just a trifle casual with our dress at home -� Isla
explained.

    -�And some of us outside as well! -� put in Brian

    -�That -(TM)s a legitimate protest, dad -� protested his daughter.  But
that was not what Brian was referring to.

    -�So what -(TM)s you position on nudity Henri -� asked Marion in an
attempt to steer the conversation away form her night time excursions.

    -�I -(TM)m easy -� replied Henri, hoping this was vague enough.  It
was, so Isla decided to clear away any lasting confusion.

    -�Don -(TM)t worry, I -(TM)ve converted him, he -(TM)s fine with nudity
now -�  -~Please don -(TM)t say it -(TM) Brian prayed fervently to himself.

    -�Well, in that case -� said Marion,  -�maybe later in the week we can
have that casual dinner, what do you say Isla -�

   Isla blushed all the way from her face to her pink puffy nipples

   Henri just stared at Marion in her floral summer dress topped off with
her best necklace.  Would she be wearing just the pearls this time tomorrow
he wondered, or would she be the complete nudist.  His money was on the
pearls.



   Twenty one

   The following morning Henri woke alone.  Isla had been as good as her
word and had not suddenly begun to sleepwalk.  He read a book and listened
to the sound of the house, the doors opening and closing, muffled
conversations, the humming of hair driers.  Finally the goodbyes of first
Brian, and then Marion as they left for work.  Henri laid down his book and
waited for Isla.  After a full fantasy laden quarter of an hour where Henri
imaged all sorts of wild sex, he began to think that she wasn -(TM)t going
to come.  Perhaps she was waiting for him.  Mindful that this was not his
house Henri dressed in an old shirt and a pair of frankly disgusting
shorts, and as quietly as he could descended the stairs to Isla -(TM)s
room. It was empty.  That was an exaggeration, it was actually stuffed full
of cuddly toys, there were clothes everywhere, the dressing table was
invisible under a pile of make up, hair starighteners, hair drier.  What it
lacked was the architect of this mess: Henri decided to widen his search.

   He finally tracked Isla down to the kitchen where she lounged in a
comfortable chair with the morning paper covering her modesty.  She looked
critically at her lover,  -�Why are you wearing those clothes -�

    -�I didn -(TM)t know if your parents would still be here. -�

    -�Well they -(TM)re not so you can get them off -� Henri dutifully did
as he was told.  Isla sniffed the air.   -�And you haven -(TM)t had a
shower -�

    -�Well, I was only wondering if you were up, now I know, I -(TM)ll --.
-� He wasn -(TM)t allowed to go any further.

    -�Oh you -(TM)re here now, what do you want for breakfast? -�

    -�You -� replied Henri with a big grin.

    -�You can have me later -� Isla gave him a sly look,  -�first something
to eat, you need to keep your strength up! -�

   He smiled as he sat down on the chair and settled back to watch the
show. His eyes wandered freely over her bare flesh.  The curve of her
calves, the tiny tufts of hair that poked through the back of her thighs.
She caught him staring and smiled as she sat opposite him, her small
breasts brushing the table.

    -�Did you enjoy last night? -� she asked licking her lips suggestively.

    -�Yes, I was a bit worried, but your parents seemed very nice -�

    -�That -(TM)s not what I meant -� she said firmly.   -�Did you enjoy
looking at me, in all my glory -�

    -�You know I love to watch your body -� he replied watching her rounded
buttocks as she bent over to put the dirty plates in the dishwasher,  -�did
you enjoy it, being the only one naked? -�

   Isla smiled as she stood; hand on one hip, the bright light from the
window sparking in her eyes.   -�I wouldn -(TM)t be the only one in the
buff now -- --.  if my mother got back early. -� Henri panicked, and then
caught himself.  It -(TM)s not often a young man could give a plausible
explanation for being found naked in his host -(TM)s kitchen, with the host
-(TM)s naked daughter.  If Marion walked in now he could brazenly shake her
hand with no more said, provided he remained seated.  Should he stand there
would be than his right hand outstretched.

   Isla drifted around the kitchen like a dream, clearing the rest of the
dishes.  Then with a flourish she pulled away the white line table cloth
that Henri had been using as a hide.  Isla grinned mischievously, placed
her finger in her mouth and started to suck on it.  She looked over the
edge of the table to observe the result.

    -�I think it -(TM)s playtime -� she said with a grin. Henri got up and
grabbed hand, pulling her towards the door.  Isla pulled back.

    -�No here -� she told him pushing herself up onto the table, legs open.
She shivered briefly as she lay back on the smooth polished wood.

   One minute later following a series of groans and high pitched squeaks,
both Henri and Isla got the message.  The table wasn -(TM)t up for it. 
They however were, so with all their bits bouncing, and giggling manically
in anticipation they raced each other up the stairs to the more receptive
bed in the attic room.

   Two hours later they were woken by the sound of the telephone.  Isla
dashed down to her bedroom.  She returned in animated conversation.

    -�Yes of course I -(TM)ll sponsor you -�

    -�What -(TM)s it for? -�

   To Henri -(TM)s ears the voice in Isla -(TM)s earphone sounded like an
angry hornet.

    -�What do you have to do? -�

   Or perhaps a bee, flitting from flower, to summer flower.

    -�You -(TM)re going to do what?  This I have to see -�

   The bee buzzed and buzzed for at least a minute.

    -�Is that all? -� Isla replied condescendingly before ending the call
with  -�One thirty, Marlborough Arms, see you there Alice -�

    -�Who was that? -� asked Henri

    -�My old school friend -�

    -�I take it we -(TM)re going out -�

    -�Indeed we are; mind if I use the shower here? -�

    -�Be my guest, mind if I join you? -�

   They were nearly late for the old school reunion.

   There was no naked dinner with Isla and her parents that evening.  It
was well past one in the morning when the two of them staggered drunkenly
into the house.  With theatrical whispers they staggered up the stairs. 
Isla bade Henri a cheery goodnight and closed her bedroom door from the
outside.  Barely surpassing her laughter she followed Henri as quietly as
she could in her inebriated state up the stairs to the attic room.

   It was a poor deception which only half worked.  It fooled Brain for the
simple reason he was fast asleep.  Unfortunately for Isla her mother was
wide awake and knew precisely what was going on.  On the plus side Marion
didn -(TM)t really care.  When she was Isla -(TM)s age, she was already
pregnant, so there was no point in trying to take the moral high ground. 
In fact Marion was pleased her daughter was otherwise engaged as she had a
little excursion of her own planned.  As the sounds of muffled passion
leaked down the stairwell, Marion slipped as silently as Isla had thought
she was from the bed and tiptoed downstairs and out into the silent
midsummer night.

   Henri woke at some ungodly hour with a pain in his bladder.  He knew it
was early as it was not yet dawn.  He fumbled his way towards the bathroom
and relieved himself.  Still half drunk he fell back into the bed which
complained at this rough handling.

    -�Ouch, -� moaned Isla,  -�did you have to dig me in the ribs -� she
pushed him away and, completely disorientated he fell onto the floor, where
he sat awkwardly rubbing his head.   -�Quiet will you, do you want to wake
my parents? -�

    -�You pushed me out -� he whispered, his voice rich with injustice.

    -�I -(TM)d better be going -� she whispered giving him a mojito
flavoured kiss,  -�where are my clothes? -�

    -�You took them off before we got here -�

    -�Oh right, -� she said, stopping suddenly.   -�Henri, come here a
minute -�

   Ever eager, he was by her side, fondling her bare behind.  v -�Stop that
-� she demanded as she pointed out of the window  -�look there -�

    -�Where? -�

    -�There, in the lane behind the fence -�

    -�There -(TM)s someone out there -� Henri gulped  -�I swear they haven
-(TM)t got any clothes on -�

   The bare form flitted into the shadows and was gone.  Moments later a
flash of flesh crossed a patch of moonlit ground.  It was only a glimpse,
but that was enough to confirm to both of them that the naked form was
female.

    -�Did you recognize her -� asked Henri

    -�Too far away. -�

   But their minds were as one.  They -(TM)d been told two days ago and
they hadn -(TM)t forgotten.

    -�That kid was telling the truth -�

    -�So Linda -(TM)s the naked angel -� whispered Isla

    -�The what? -�

   Isla told Henri the story of the cook, his stroke, and his mythical
rescuer.

    -�Wow -� was all he could say

    -�The question now is what shall we do?  Julie Lewis has been hunting
this story since it broke, she -(TM)d love to know who it was.  Should we
tell her? -�

   Before Henri could reply the click of a bedroom door echoed through the
house.

    -�Damn -� whispered Isla who shot out of the room.

   Henri listened intently but nothing further disturbed the quiet of the
very early morning in Belvoir Avenue.  He returned to the window, but the
lane now was empty.  Presently he went back to bed and fell asleep.  As
usual he dreamt of naked women.



   Twenty two

   The catch, when it came, was sudden and unexpected, leaving poor Henri
no time to react.  He and Isla were enjoying a leisurely late morning drink
on the sun drenched patio.  Henri was as observant as a bird, attentive to
every sound from the other side of the hedge where the mysterious naked
neighbour, Linda, lived.  He stared constantly at the thick privet,
desperately wishing he was a superhero and could see through it.  The
slightest sound that might indicate a presence of someone in the adjoining
garden drove him to his feet, pacing the patio looking for the smallest
sliver of bare flesh through the thick green leaved branches.  It was
during one of these excursions with all his senses concentrated in the
wrong direction that he was taken by surprise, like a harvest mouse caught
in the open hearing the sudden screech of the tawny owl.

    -�It -(TM)s nice out isn -(TM)t it? -� said Marion in a cheerful voice.
Henri was stunned into silence, trapped by obsession with Linda -(TM)s
naked body with no concern for his own.  He had no reply to Marion -(TM)s
jaunty comment for his trousers were still up in his bedroom so Henri was
not able to put it back in again.  Fortunately neither Isla nor her mother
seemed to notice, let alone care.

    -�You -(TM)re back early, Mum -�

   Henri gulped, all he wanted was to be reunited with his clothes, but
Marion was blocking the door, and now she seemed happy to chat.   -�I
-(TM)m soaked with sweat, -� she complained, that advertising agency had
the air con off -�

    -�Well that -(TM)s good -� commented Isla at her most saintly.

    -�Well yes, if you -(TM)re dressed for it.  The place was colder than
an Alaskan dog kennel yesterday.  I -(TM)m going to slip into something
more casual -� As she disappeared into the cool dark interior Henri came
out of the blocks faster than an Olympic sprinter who had sat on a
porcupine.

    -�Whoa, big boy, where do you think you -(TM)re going? -� asked Isla.

    -�I -(TM)m going to get my clothes before your mother gets back. -�

    -�Why? -�

    -�Because I can -(TM)t sit here in the buff talking to her, it -(TM)s
bad enough she caught me in the nude -�

    -�And where do you think she has gone? -�

    -�She -(TM)s diplomatically got out of the way so I can go and get
dressed. -�

    -�Exactly the opposite -� said Isla.

    -�What -(TM)s that supposed to mean? -� Hi brain whirred for a moment
until it reached a logical and awful conclusion.   -�Oh, er, right -�

   And suddenly his fear became flesh, and with the words  -�Well that
-(TM)s better -� Marion was there.  Henri realised he had never seen anyone
Marion -(TM)s age naked before.  He had once had a close call when he
walked into the bathroom at home while his mother was in the shower. 
Fortunately he managed to beat a hasty retreat before he could catch a
glimpse of any flesh.  Bizarrely he had been more worried than his mother.
In fact she had found it quite amusing and teased him remorselessly in
front of his sisters who found the whole affair hilarious until one of them
had a thought.  In Henri -(TM)s experience thought and his sisters -(TM)
minds occupied separate universes, but somehow an idea managed to bridge
the gap and settle momentarily in Annie -(TM)s cerebrum.

    -�Oh my God, -� she squealed,  -�what if it had been me, I -(TM)d have
just died -�

    -�No you wouldn -(TM)t Annie. -� Replied their mother  -�Do you think
you -(TM)ve got anything different under those clothes?  We -(TM)re all the
same.  Tell you what why don -(TM)t we all compare private bits? -� She
suggested as she began to unbutton her blouse.  This brought a storm of
protest from both his sisters while Henri looked resolutely at the pattern
on the hearth rug.  Highly amused at the chaos she had wrought their mother
stopped and broke into a big grin  -�There -(TM)s nothing wrong with
nudity, as you -(TM)ll find out one day -�

   Well this was Henri -(TM)s day alright.  Despite the teasing he had seen
nothing of his mother -(TM)s body that day.  The mere outline of her flesh
though the translucent shower curtain had been enough to send him flying to
his room.  He would have the done the same now but for Isla.  So here he
sat, trapped with his naked girlfriend and her equally naked mother. 
Slowly his heart began to beat a little slower and he sneaked a peek.  She
may be old, but a naked woman is like watching your local team.  No matter
how bad you think they may be, you just have to watch.  He had expected
Marion -(TM)s body to wrinkled, like an old dry leaf with only the memory
of the summer that had gone.  He was pleasantly surprised to find quite the
opposite.  Her skin was as smooth as her daughter -(TM)s; although it had
to be said there was somewhat more of Marion than Isla.  What would his
mother and sisters say now he wondered?  This was more than an a passing
what if, they all knew he was dating one of the most famous nudes on the
planet.  He had told his mother just before the protests began, as he had
expected countrywide television coverage to show him standing on the
sidelines.  His family had followed Isla -(TM)s progress with interest.  To
his twin sister Amelie she was a green heroine, someone to be looked up to,
but perhaps not followed.  His elder sister Annie thought it all
disgusting. His parents position was ambiguous, the only comment had come
from his mother, who after seeing Isla parading stark naked around the
Sapphire Shopping Mall said  -�She looks nice dear -�

   What they would make of her in the flesh?  He -(TM)d find out soon, as
in a week -(TM)s time they were going north to meet his folks.  He just
hoped that meeting Isla in the flesh didn -(TM)t mean just that.  Could she
keep her clothes on for a week?  He fervently hoped she would, but deep
down he knew there would an unveiling at some point.  Then what would
happen, would Amelie emulate her heroine, would their mother carry out the
threat she had dangled before them all those years ago.  One thing was
certain, Annie would walk out.

    -�So how was work? -� Isla broke into his reverie

    -�Like I said hot -� replied her mother  -�and it -(TM)s all your fault
-�

    -�How -(TM)s it my fault? -�

    -�Well there -(TM)s an advertising campaign up for tender for the 
-�Air con con -� at the mall and they -(TM)re making a bid -�

    -�So -�

    -�So they have switched the air con off to impress the clients -�  -�Oh
well -� said Isla haughtily from her vantage point on the moral high ground
 -�they could always go naked, like our slogan says -�



   Twenty three

   Emaline Mirabelle Conway was known as Merri to her parents.  Her school
friends had called her Bella, but at the PDQ Agency she was called E-M
(pronounced Em).  Her job was to do the sensible things.  All the creative
things were done by the erudite copywriters and the flamboyant art
directors who flounced and strutted, argued and enthused.  Merri kept the
business running.  It she who filled the coffee makers, ensured the
printers and photocopier were tonered and filled with the right type of
glossy paper.  There were always staplers and glue and paint and pencils
handy to replace the ones they lost or destroyed in a fit of petulant
anger. While she may not have won any contracts or awards one thing was
absolutely certain there would never been any campaigns without her.

   The morning of the day that would change her life forever was warm. 
There was every probability that the rest of day would be warmer still. 
Even so Merri packed her cardigan, one with a simple plaid pattern today,
the purple and white, she thought as she folded it neatly and placed it in
her wicker shopping bag.  Merri always needed an extra layer in the summer
at PDQ as the air con was invariably set on alpine peak.  Checking herself
in the mirror that hung in the shadowy hall, Merri sighed, a long,
heartfelt sigh for the life that might have been.  An involuntary
expression of sadness for the lost lives of both her parents, and the
inextricable link to the loss of her own future.  Still, she thought to
herself briskly, no use crying over spilt milk.  Wiping a tear from her eye
she stepped out into the golden morning, brushing her bare legs against the
warm fur of her only companion, Eric, her tabby cat who was hurrying in
after a long night prowling the neighbourhood.  She often wondered what
strange sights he saw in the wee small hours.  Were the streets and back
alleyways populated by a different set of inhabitants while the rest of the
world slept?

    -~How wrong can you be? -(TM) thought Merri as she opened the door to
PDQ -(TM)s office and a wall of warm air hit her like a foolish motorist
opening his car window in the middle of Death Valley.  The temperature
seemed to rise by one degree per stair as she climbed to the first floor
suite where she, manager Dave or D-Z (pronounced Dizzy) worked with a small
group of creatives in a suite of seven rooms.

    -�Is the air con broken? -� she asked a slender, petite blonde called
P-W (Penny Wilson, aka Pow) who was monopolising the water cooler.  She
grunted before replying  -�It -(TM)s Dizzy -(TM)s latest ploy to get the
Misthaze shopping centre account. -� Merri knew all about this, the local
mall was promoting itself as a green venue by turning off their climate
control, hence Dave -(TM)s decision to switch of theirs.  She moved through
the open plan office cheerily greeting the other staff members who seemed
to be boiling already.  She dreaded to think how they would all feel by the
afternoon.  Little did she know that they would all feel cool and
refreshed, but at that time Merry had no inkling how the day would
progress.

    -�Wow, I know I always thought the air con was too high, but there was
no need for this -� Merri turned and smiled.   -�Morning Marion -� Their
part time accountant was always welcome.  Merri viewed her as a kindred
spirit, level headed and sensible.  A veritable pillar of the community,
although she had a nagging doubt about her daughter -(TM)s actions.

    -�Hello Marion, -� said Dave,  -�I hope you -(TM)re pleased with our
concern for the environment -�

    -�I would have appreciated a little warning, Dave. -� Marion ignored
the latest office fad for initials  -�I -(TM)d have worn a little less -�

    -�It -(TM)s your daughter -(TM)s fault -� he retorted,  -�She started
this --by wearing a lot less! -�

    -�You don -(TM)t have to follow all that rubbish -� Marion complained,
-�She -(TM)s hardly likely to march around here demanding you turn off the
air con -�

    -�It -(TM)s a little more complicated -� H-S, (Harry Smith, pronounced
Hiss) a pleasant looking, long haired lad, explained  -�You see we -(TM)re
up for the Mall -(TM)s contract and they are following the air con bad
message -� he gulped on some coffee before adding  -�Saves them money, they
-(TM)ve no real scruples -�

   Merri left them to their discussion to check the answer phone.  The
first call was from Miles Jones the director of the Misthaze centre.  He
confirmed his appointment for three that afternoon.  Merry hoped they would
be ready, but she doubted this.

   Her suspicions were confirmed later in the morning by a very sweaty M-S
(Melainie Smith or Mess).

    -�We -(TM)re nowhere Em -� she told her as she inspected two large wet
patches on her pale pink silk blouse,  -�Do you think these will come out?
-�

    -�Oh yes, a bit of biological will sort that -�

    -�It won -(TM)t ruin the material? -�

    -�Not if you use a very low temperature, Mess -�

   The whole office consulted Merri on just about everything except for
affairs of the heart.  They saw her as an old spinster left on the shelf, a
shrivelled virgin who had never felt the sting of Cupid -(TM)s darts.  On
that account they were wrong, for she had had her day once, many years ago
when she was a fresh faced, eighteen year old.  Back then, she had a boy
friend called Chris whom she loved deeply.  She had even made up her mind
to have sex with him.  Merri had planned it all, a secluded picnic in the
woods after which she would allow the unsuspecting Chris to seduce her. 
She had even chosen the date, a day late in her monthly cycle when
pregnancy would be highly unlikely.  Merri had always been pragmatic. 
Sadly it was never to be; her poor father put paid to that.  The very
Sunday before, what was in her mind, the biggest event in her life so far,
he contrived to upstage her passage from maiden to woman.  Merri remembered
the day well, how could she ever forget?  They had just left church, and
she and her mother were admiring the rose bushes that were in full flower,
Merri could still remember their heady smell hanging in the fresh summer
air.  Her father, who stood as a rock around which the family was anchored,
was talking to the vicar.  She could still remember the warm rhythm of his
words, his deep voice sounding across the crunch yard.  Then there was a
cry,followed by a quiet crunch of the gravel in the curchyard.  In sudden
panic Merri turned to see her father slumped on the ground; his left arm
quivering as the priest kneeled, muttering quiet words of prayer.  Inside
Merri boiled; she felt like shouting,  -�he needs cardiac massage.  Don
-(TM)t just kneel there, help him -� She had run across the churchyard,
scattering small stones that flew through the still air.  All the while her
mother was a full yard behind her screaming.  As she bent over the prone
body of her father Merri could hear their friend and neighbour Jack Filey
speaking desperately in hushed tones to his phone.  But the heart attack
was too big, the ambulance too slow.  Merri -(TM)s life also ended in a way
on that summer -(TM)s day, as her mother, who was never strong, went
spiralling into a decline and Merri was slowly sucked into her whirlpool of
illness and despair, and so she was gradually pulled her away from all she
knew.  It was twelve years before her mother finally shuffled off her
mortal coil leaving Merry a lone survivor, blinking on a sunlit beach with
an ocean of experience before her yet to be explored.

   Rebuilding had been slow, it had taken her months to build a small
circle of friends, first flower arranging at church, then the swimming
club, and finally the biggest hurdle of all, this job at PDQ.  Mess broke
into Merri -(TM)s reverie,  -�I could certainly use a lower temperature
myself.  Any chance Dizzy -(TM)s going to turn the ac back on? -�

    -�I doubt it; he -(TM)s keen on this contract -�

   It was a slow day for the creatives, sometimes they whizzed, ideas
tumbling from them faster than storm waves on a winter shore.  Today the
ideas were lake water lapping on an idling rowing boat.  At eleven o
-(TM)clock a meeting was called.  Dizzy ran the whole gamut of despair, his
team had deserted him, the contract was as unattainable as a desert mirage.
Fortunately for Merri a caller at the door necessitated her to leave at
this point.

    -�Hello Marion, you -(TM)re back, I see you -(TM)ve changed into
something more suitable -� said Merri noticing Marion -(TM)s thin summer
dress.

    -�Not for much longer I fear -� replied Marion rather mysteriously, 
-�Bella, let me introduce to my daughter, Isla and this is her boyfriend
Henri -�

   Merri had, ofcourse, recognised Isla from the newspapers,  -�how do you
do -� she greeted them both shaking hands,  -�come to offer some advice? -�

    -�Oh yes -� replied Isla confidently

    -�Well they are all in a meeting, come on through -� Merri said warmly
as she ushered them towards the conference room.  She led them in and
stayed while Marion introduced her daughter and Henri to the small
workforce.

   Merri enquired if anyone needed a cold drink.  This was like asking the
pope if he wanted a service on a Sunday, as the room was hotter than a
volcano.  When she returned a few moments later it was instantly clear
little progress had been made.

    -�Well no -� Henri was telling them animatedly  -�we weren -(TM)t able
to come up with any better slogans, that was one of our problems.  Even 
-~I -(TM)d rather have nothing on than have air con on -(TM) was pinched
from someone else -� The whole room looked dejected, they were getting
nowhere fast.

    -�Look, -� said Isla,  -�I -(TM)m not in advertising, but even I can
see you -(TM)re not going to get anywhere in this atmosphere, it -(TM)s far
too hot -�

    -�Well I could switch the air con back on -� began D-Z.  Merri and the
rest of the staff looked longingly at him, tongues hanging out like puppy
dogs waiting for their master to throw the ball.  Isla on the other hand
gave him to look of death,  -�That would rather defeat the object, don
-(TM)t you think -�

   Isla looked around the room at the worn out faces and beamed, Merri
started to become very worried indeed.  Not as worried as she was a moment
later when Isla told them they should follow her slogan.

    -�My slogan -� Henri reminded her as fear gripped Merri warmly by the
throat.

    -�I suppose we could -� muttered D-Z  -�it would show how serious we
were. -�

   Merri -(TM)s heart stopped beating at this point, surely he didn -(TM)t
mean, he couldn -(TM)t.  She was aware the others were talking, but her
brain wasn -(TM)t processing the words.  It was like a sporting match where
the vision was fine but the sound had been lost.  The conference room was
the field of play and her colleagues the players in the game.  She watched
in a detached way as they ran around the in fury, arms gesticulating in
silent animation, but the sense of occasion was lost on her.  By the time
normal service had been resumed it was all over, the final whistle had been
blown.  The naked office was on.

   Marion turned to Merri  -�you haven -(TM)t said anything, Bella. -�

    -�You don -(TM)t have to join us Em -� Dave told her gently, before
quickly adding  -�Don -(TM)t take that the wrong way, we would love you to
join us, but --.. -�

   There was a general low hum that indicated that agreement of her
colleagues

   Merri knew what they were thinking, dry wizened old spinster, old
fashioned and prim, only naked for a shower.

    -�Tell you what -� Marion told her  -�I will if you will -� Like the
watcher of the skies the whole attention of the room moved away from Merri
and focussed on the new planet in their ken, Marion, who in their minds
marched to the same drummer -(TM)s beat as Merri.

   Someone said  -�In that case count me in -� The whole room -(TM)s
attention swung back to Merri, upon whom the awful realisation was
beginning to dawn.  It had been her voice that spoke those words.

   The silence was broken by Isla who was clearly becoming exasperated by
the whole affair.

    -�Right, we -(TM)ll stay in here and you men can go somewhere else? -�
she looked enquiringly at Dave  -�The gents -� he said.  This drew a drone
of distaste,  -�alright my office -�

    -�I -(TM)ll come and get you when we are ready -� Isla informed them as
they trooped out contemplating the size of their midriffs.  They had barely
closed the door before Isla was naked, but then considering her the amount
of practice she had this should have surprised nobody.  What was a shock to
Merri and the two other girls, Mess and Pow, was the speed at which her
mother joined her in the altogether.  The sight of her all over tan was
both an answer and a wake up call.

    -�Tanlines -� Pow spat out, removing her low cut top, to reveal a pink
push up bra.  Mess had other worries,  -�If only it known I -(TM)d have had
a trim down there -� she confided as she slipped out of her grey pencil
skirt.

   These were the least of Merri -(TM)s worries.  She had no tan to speak
of and her weekly outings to the ladies only swimming days at the Waterloo
centre had taught her the benefit of ensuring no stray hairs peeked out
from the lycra.  Her worries were more in the line of stripping.  Suddenly,
with no warning her mind slipped back to the time before her father died,
when she had aspirations of a normal life.  She remembered quiet days in
the summer, when the house was empty, no sound beyond the ticking of the
clock in the silent hallway.  Those were the days when she had planned for
her liaison with Chris.  She had it all worked out, the meal, the seduction
and the strip before the final act of union.  For days, alone in her
bedroom, curtains closed against the peaking sun, Merri had rehearsed her
routine.  First the plain white blouse, slowly, one button at a time,
starting from the bottom.  Then she paused, her flat white stomach bare,
the outlines of her lacy bra just visible.  Merri stood still for a brief
moment, chin down, looking up.  More of her diaphanous bra was exposed as
she reached to let down her long brown hair.  Free from its band, she shook
it loose, giving her audience a brief glimpse of protruding nipples pushing
out from the fabric of her underwear.  Then, reaching behind her she
unzipped her thin red skirt.  This bought her slim shoulders back,
emphasising her full breasts.  With a flick of her hips she allowed the
skirt to fall to the ground.  Then, she stepped forward, out of her fallen
skirt leaving it and her sandals behind.  The part opened blouse hung well
below her waist, hiding her hips, but the outline of her dark patch of
pubic hair was plainly visible through the lace in her clean, white, high
cut knickers.  Slowly she let the blouse fall from her shoulders to join
the rest of her clothing.  With no pause, just a seductive smile, Merri
reached behind her back to unclasp her bra, this done she dropped her
shoulders to emphasise her cleavage.  Quickly she let it fall releasing her
full, firm breasts with their small cherry nipples.  Turning away, she
looked back at the mirror and, with a lascivious smile she leant forward,
pushing her rounded buttocks towards her audience.  Then with both hands
she slipped her thumbs inside either side of her knickers and slowly rolled
them down her firm thighs.  Standing suddenly with her last item of
clothing held at arms length between her thumb and forefinger she turned to
face the mirror.  Dropping the last of her underwear Merri stepped forward
to the imagined seduction that was destined never to take place.

    -�Are you alright Em? -� asked Pow.  Merri snapped out of her reverie.
Unconsciously she had already begun the long forgotten act, standing before
her colleagues with her blouse open.

    -�Sorry just a bit much to take in -� she said apologetically.

    -�For you and us all, -� said Mess,  -�except of course young Isla -�
Although neither Mess or Pow were too sure about Marion any more.  Merri
switched quickly to her swimming pool routine, folding her clothes neatly
as she undressed.  When she was naked she reached automatically for her
costume, but of course it wasn -(TM)t there, and it was never going to be.
Standing awkwardly, arms by her side she looked at her two colleagues. 
They were alike, pencil thin with sharp breasts pointing accusingly at her.
Their faces held a look that Merri could only translate as astonishment.

    -�What -(TM)s wrong? -� she asked shyly.  She felt intimidated by their
nudity, their bodies part tanned, with long legs and small patches of pubic
hair.

    -�Merri -� said Mess quietly,  -�let down your hair -�

   Merri did as she was told, suddenly realising that everyone was looking
at her.

   Mess spoke for the room.   -�Talk about hiding yourself away, you sure
are one hell of a swan Merri -�

    -�What me? -�

    -�Oh yes, you, I don -(TM)t know why I was worried about trimming the
lawn,  -~cos one thing -(TM)s for certain, nobody -(TM)s going to be
looking at me! -�

    -�I -(TM)m sorry, but I don -(TM)t know what you mean -�

    -�Bella, -� said Marion kindly,  -�you -(TM)re gorgeous, -� she pointed
to a mirror in the corner  -�look at yourself -�

   Merri didn -(TM)t need to look at herself, she already knew what she
looked like.  It was the sight of the rest of the flesh that was new.  With
no reference points beyond the old shrunken women at her swimming classes
she had rather assumed she had an average body, but looking at the two
skinny girls standing shyly before her Merri swiftly revised her opinions.
She had previously seen Mess and Pow as sirens, pulling unsuspecting men
into their, what was now revealed to be not so ample bosoms.  Once stripped
bare of their camouflage, they were diminished, two stick insects next to
Merri -(TM)s queen bee.

   Isla interrupted tersely.  Merri -(TM)s body was nothing to her, she had
Suzie Blackwell for competition.   -�Enough of this preening ladies, I
-(TM)ll go get the chaps -�

   Merri swallowed hard, here she was naked at work, being gawped at by her
equally bare colleagues and now her first naked males were about to be
delivered.  Within seconds the first penis she had ever seen hove into
view. What an odd little appendage she thought.  She knew they could get
bigger, but the mechanism by which such a floppy flaccid object could
become large enough, and stiff enough to fit inside her vagina was
unfathomable.

   For a few moments the employees of the PDQ agency stared as silently as
stout Cortez gazing on the Pacific.  They took it all in, and would
probably have done so for an age if Marion hadn -(TM)t intervened and set
them all to work.

   Merri busied herself with the photocopier which had run out of toner. 
She was the only one in the office who could replace the cartridge without
getting toner all over her clothes.  Today she was all fingers and thumbs,
dropping the cartridge and nearly getting covered in ink.   -~Oh well she
thought, at least it would have wiped off.  One bonus to working in the
nude -(TM) She wondered if there were others, she certainly no longer felt
hot under the collar.

   She took lunch as usual at her desk; except it wasn -(TM)t usual at all
she thought, brushing breadcrumbs from her breasts.  The leather of her
office chair felt smooth and cool on her back, contrasting with the
roughness of the small hand towel she had found in the store room to sit
on. Her phone buzzed just as she was scolding herself for spilling orange
juice on herself.  Dizzy was calling a meeting in the conference room. 
Merri grabbed her towel and unconsciously brushed away some breadcrumbs
that had nestled in her pubic hair.  She headed quickly through the door,
almost bumping into Hiss in her hurry.   -�After you, Em -� he said
politely.  As she walked along the narrow corridor that led to the
conference room she suddenly realised that Hiss had an excellent view of
her bare behind.  Still, she preferred him scrutinising her bottom to the
alternative.

   Shorn of their clothes the ideas had flowed from the creative team. 
Hours ago they were nowhere, now they had a firm outline for a campaign. 
Unsurprising it was firmly founded on nudity.  Merri had to admit it was
slick and fizzed with ideas.

    -�Ok -� Dizzy told them,  -�tidy it up and get it ready for Mr Jones -�
He paused looking sheepishly around his small company,  -�I -(TM)d like Pow
and Mess to do the presentation -� Utter silence filled the room like the
gulfs between the stars  -�Er I know it -(TM)s sexist but, you know --. -�
He would have looked at his shoes if he was wearing any  -�You have to play
to your strengths -�

    -�Yes, you -(TM)re right -� Mess told him,  -�I -(TM)ll need to pop out
to get some stuff first -� she told him

    -�What sort of stuff -� asked a puzzled Hiss

    -�Girlie stuff -� Pow and Mess answered in unison.

   Dizzy cleared his throat, a gentle polite, noise much like a well
brought up toad.   -�I don -(TM)t suppose you could join us Em? -� he
croaked

   Merri beamed,  -�Of course -� she replied.  Mess and Pow nodded.  No
point in leaving your star centre forward on the bench for the big match.

   Miles Jones had never looked forward to a meeting so much in his life.
Usually he kept people waiting.  Being punctual meant you weren -(TM)t busy
enough.  Time was money and unless he was paying for somebody -(TM)s time
he wasted it.  But the opportunity to cast an eye over naked totty changed
everything, if the staff of PDQ were desperate enough to prance around
stark bullock naked to get his attention; he would give them all the time
they wanted.  Not that he was interested in the bollocks bit, Dizzy and his
similarly named arty farty boys could prance around in the nuddy till their
hairy balls froze off for all he cared, but there were a couple of foxy
girls working there, and he wouldn -(TM)t mind seeing what was inside their
knickers.  He remembered them well, long legs and stilettos, short skirts
so you could almost see their bums.  Tight cut low blouses with plenty of
cleavage on display.  He rubbed his hands together with glee at the thought
of those puppies let loose.  Oh yes, today was going to be a good day he
thought to himself as he rang the door bell.

   The door was answered by a stunning brunette who was wearing the attire
he liked best.  Absolutely sweet FA.  Where did that fatuous moron Dizzy
find this babe Miles thought to himself?  The last time he was here he was
greeted by that frumpy secretary of his, all plaid pleated skirt and ribbed
blouse buttoned up to the neck, hair tied back in a Mary Poppins bun, and
shoes too sensible for a nun.  This was a great improvement he thought as
his eyes darted up and down her firm flesh.  She stood with her long legs
slightly apart, one hand on her perfect hip while the other idly rubbed her
back.  He drooled as her full, firm pert breasts rose and fell in time with
her breathing, His throat was dry and he almost swooned, eyes roaming up
her firm legs as sturdy and perfectly formed as an alabaster statue.  She
had kept her pubic hair, he liked that in a woman, and this specimen before
him was undoubtedly a woman.  He stood and admired her perfect curls,
purring like a tom cat as he gazed at the thicker darker hair that nearly,
but not quite, covered the twin swellings that led to her vagina.  It
seemed like an age to him, although in reality it was only a few seconds
that he stood in the doorway grinning inanely at her body.  Finally he met
this heavenly creature -(TM)s smiling brown eyes.  Then he really got a
shock, a foot on the live rail jolt, for the Aphrodite standing naked
before him was that frumpy secretary.  In that instant, as their eyes met,
Merri knew the contract was won.

   That evening Merri floated home on a tide of champagne.  After the deal
had been signed, Dizzy had insisted that they all went out for a
celebratory meal.  Merri didn -(TM)t usually mix socially with the others,
preferring to retreat to the solitude of her quiet house with its calm,
familiar rhythms.  But how often do you spend time naked with people?  It
had changed her perspective, engendering a deep trust.  With these new
bonds she felt she could venture a little further from the safety of the
shore.

   Their discussion was all on their day and the adventure they had faced.
Pow and Miss felt they had taken most of the blows, standing naked at the
screen, both as thin as rakes, with long legs accentuated by the high heels
they hastily purchased that afternoon.  Their cosmetic worries were also
solved.  Both now sported all over tans as even as Marion Shaw -(TM)s, but
with a slight tinge of orange.  Fortunately Marion had gone home,
preventing any opportunity for comparison.  Their concern -(TM)s over
having a few hairs out of place had been dealt with too, although to Merri
-(TM)s eyes they had used a combine harvester in place of a pair of garden
secateurs, and both their vulvas had stood out like twin scars on their
flat featureless torsos.

   Poor Mr Jones didn -(TM)t know where to look, his eyes were flitting
everywhere, he appeared to be desperately trying to concentrate on the
screen, but the presence of all that naked flesh made it so hard for him.
Mess and Pow laughed heartily when Merri told them this.

    -�Listen, Em the only thing he was concentrating on was the swelling in
his pants -� Pow told her bluntly.

    -�And frankly -� continued Mess,  -�you were the main distraction -�

   Merri could feel the heat in her face, she had never considered herself
as an object of attraction, but here she was sitting with her two co
workers, both of whom again oozed a sensuality that had already acquired
much attention from a few fellow diners.  And they were telling her she was
the sex symbol.

   Before she could pursue this line of thought further Merri -(TM)s bus
had arrived at her stop.  Thanking the driver as was her wont; she alighted
and walked along the familiar summer streets to her comfortable home.  Her
cat, Eric greeted her with all the haughty disdain of his species.  Merri
filled his bowl with milk before getting herself a cool glass of water. 
The champagne, coupled with the intense heat that hung sullenly in the air
of the closed house induced a great weariness.  Shedding her clothes for
the second time that day Merri indulged herself in a long cool shower. 
Suitably refreshed she reached for the robe that usually hung behind the
door.  Uncharacteristically she had forgotten to put it there, so she
wrapped her towel around her body before heading towards her bedroom. 
Suddenly she stopped in her tracks.  What was she doing?  She had spent the
whole afternoon stark naked in front of her colleagues and now she was
covering herself to walk from her bathroom to her bedroom in an empty
house. Removing the towel she folded it carefully and hung it on the towel
rail.  Then gingerly, and bizarrely, for the first time in her life, she
stepped onto the landing of her house with no clothes on.  She tiptoed
towards her bedroom, as if in fear of being caught.  She caught herself
again, what was she thinking, tomorrow she was going to spend the whole day
naked at work, what was the point of getting dressed now.  The house was
swelteringly warm, and completely empty.  Pulling herself together she
walked down the stairs and along the hallway Just before she reached the
lounge she caught a glimpse of herself in the full length mirror by the
front door, and finally, she allowed herself to see what Miles Jones, Mess
and Pow and all the others had seen.

    -�Oh my, Merri look at you -� she told herself.  After an hour watching
television Merri felt extremely comfortable, for a few moments she had even
forgot she was naked.

    -~Perhaps I -(TM)m a nudist -(TM) she thought, and then laughed at the
notion.  She had no idea what that really meant.  There was only one way to
find out.  Switching on her computer she typed it into her search engine.
She was very surprised to find there was a nudist, or naturist facility
within three miles, and amazingly her bus home had passed by the gates. 
Merri had always assumed the Sandydunes Sun Club was a health farm.  Now
she knew otherwise it was so obvious, the high hedges, the gate set well
back from the road with its entrance guarded by a security code.

   Its website.  by contrast, was more than welcoming, having detailed
pages for current members as well as those who may just be thinking of
giving it a go.  There was even a quiz to see if you might just be a
naturist.  Merri giggled to herself as she looked at the questions.

   The only time I -(TM)m naked is in the bath with the door firmly locked.
That would have been a yes this morning, but now, she dropped her gaze and
smiled.

   Next question, nobody would want to stare at that ugly carcass of mine.
Well she had pretty good evidence for ticking the box marked no.

   The rest of the questions were about the feel of the sun and the breeze
on your bare body, and the pleasure of skinny dipping.  Nothing, however,
about working in the buff.  Well, she could do nothing about skinny
dipping, but the feel of the sun and the breeze was a definite possibility.
Before she could change her mind and back out, Merri opened the patio doors
and stepped out into her garden.  There was no danger of others seeing her
bare body, but what if they did?  That cat was well and truly out of the
bag anyway.   -~That -(TM)s settled, -(TM) she thought,  -~I can tick
another two yes boxes -(TM)

    -�Oh what the hell -� she muttered as she sat back down in front of the
computer,  -�What are you doing Merri? -�

   But there it was in big letters, nagging at her,  -~Give it a go, we
want you to join us -(TM) Merri read on, and realised that they didn -(TM)t
want you if you were single and male, but if you were female there wasn
-(TM)t even a waiting list.  She looked down at her body, that until today
she had hidden away in unflattering clothing.  Now here she was, a
butterfly shorn of its cocoon, sitting naked in her empty house, with a
full day of naked work ahead, where new clients -(TM) eyes would be free to
roam over her bare skin.

   She smiled again as she turned back to the keyboard.  Quickly now,
before she could recant she typed her email address into the contact box.
And so, with a few clicks of a computer mouse Emaline Mirabelle Conway left
that lonely life behind.



   Brian sat at his desk miserably watching silver drops of rain roll down
the office window.  The hot weather had finally broken a week ago and after
two grey days filled with a silent drizzle summer seemed like a dream now.
Isla had gone to the North to stay with Henri -(TM)s family.  He hoped she
had kept her clothes on, but he had his doubts.  At least she was off his
hands and if she was wreaking naked havoc, then it was Henri -(TM)s problem
now.  Isla -(TM)s mother was as naked as ever at home, but now the nights
were turning chilly Brian felt could legitimately claim it was too cold to
join her inflagrante.  Fortunately she didn -(TM)t seem to mind and
pottered around quite happily in the nude while her fully clothed husband
admired the view.

   The last few weeks had been a stormy, metaphorically speaking, and rough
seas had battered the good ship Brian Shaw, firstly the force ten that was
Isla and her reluctantly naked boyfriend, followed by the scend of nude
working in the offices of PDQ.  Brian -(TM)s timbers shivered at the memory
but at least now he was back on an even keel and sailing happily through
much calmer waters with smiling waves smacking against the prow.  And so it
was until about half past eleven when the kraken awoke.

    -�Ho-ho -� called John to nobody in particular,  -�they -(TM)ve caught
the naked angel -�

   The monster Brain always feared lay in wait for him rose up from the
depths and wrapped its tentacles around his chest like iron bands.

    -�Oh really -� replied Jan casually,  -�I thought she was a myth -�

    -�Absolutely not, she was reported to the police this morning by
somebody called Bob Standing who had seen her in the street -�

   The waters around Brian were boiling and frothing as he felt himself
drawn down into cold depths of despair.  Bob Standing lived across the road
from him!

    -�How do they know it was the Naked Angel? -� asked Jan with as much
contempt as she could muster.

    -�Same street as before, Belvoir Avenue, where Brian lives -� Jan
-(TM)s distain drained away as both of Brian -(TM)s colleagues looked
pointedly towards him.  Not hat he noticed as he was too busy sucking in
oxygen to feed his beating heart.

    -�You must know her Brian, Linda Frost? -�

   Brian gulped, a goldfish breaching the putrid surfacein a stagnant bowl.
The pressure eased on his chest, and just as a drowning sailor suddenly
finding a life vest he popped up to the surface.  Gratefully he sucked in
oxygen.

    -�Yes -� he squeaked weakly, as if he had been fed helium instaed, 
-�she lives next door -�

   John laughed,  -�Would you believe it?  All that time and you never knew
-�

   This brief interlude was all Brain needed to recover, the waters had
subsided now and he was able to answer calmly.

    -�I thought that chef said he couldn -(TM)t remember -�

    -�True, -� replied John thoughtfully,  -�but that doesn -(TM)t mean it
didn -(TM)t happen -� Brian, who up until now had been certain it did
happen, and that his wife was the naked angel reconsidered.   -�How did
they find out it was Linda -�

    -�Look here -� said Jon turning his screen around,  -�he was looking
out the window, saw her and got a few pictures. -�

   Brian looked at the photographs.  Linda -(TM)s naked body glowed a
whiter shade of pale in the harsh light of the camera flash.  The first
snap, however, could have been anyone, but the second was a close up of her
face, twisted in a look of shock at the sudden starburst of light.  Brian
was filled with an immense sense of relief.  He was instantly ashamed, but
that could have been Marion, or worst of all himself.  John was reading on.

    -�Linda Frost, thirty seven --..she looks good for her age, don -(TM)t
you think? -� Brain looked at his neighbour while Jan looked to the
heavens,  -�you -(TM)re as big a pervert as that Dick Standing -� she told
him.

    -�Bob Standing, Jan, pay attention will you -� He corrected her before
continuing.   -�Mrs Frost was interviewed by the police, but as nobody had
complained about her bizarre night time habits they decided not to bring
charges. -�

    -�Mr Frost claimed he had no idea of his wife -(TM)s nudist ramblings.
He told reporters their neighbour -(TM)s naked habits had led her astray -�

   The kraken rose like a lioness from the dry savannah grass once more,
tentacles dripping cold seawater as it reached to drag him down into the
cold dark depths.

    -�That was a principled protest -� Jan told John firmly.  With a sudden
release and surge of elation Brian broke free from his malaise, shaking off
the monster completely.

    -�I don -(TM)t think Isla had anything to do with this -� he said
defensively.

   John changed tack.   -�She must have walked past your house -� he said
to Brian.

    -�Who? -� Brian was genuinely confused now, even so he felt the trap,
sensing the beast that lurked below his little boat, circling, waiting for
its chance.

    -�The naked neighbour -�

    -�Well I suppose so -�

    -�So you must have seen her -�

   Brian became indignant  -�I don -(TM)t spend all night looking out of
the window, unlike my neighbour -� he added, feeling the undercurrent
dragging him down.  For lurking in his mind was the dreadful fact that on
another night that Dick Standing -(TM)s evil little camera could have
caught him and Marion, tripping across the road together in the altogether.

    -�You -(TM)re not telling me that you have lived next door to the naked
angel for sixth months and had no idea. -�

   Brian shook his head, of course he hadn -(TM)t thought the mythical
naked angel had been living next door, he -(TM)d been damn certain she
-(TM)d sleeping next him, for some of the night at least.  This revelation
of Linda the divine was something to digest, a large big piece of gristle
that lay heavy on his stomach.

   Jan, however, had other matters on her agenda and turned on John.

    -�You seem remarkably interested in all of this.  You -(TM)re not
thinking of trying it yourself are you? -�

    -�Certainly not -� replied John quickly, far too quickly for Jan, who
turned and with a raised eyebrow struck deep  -�the lady doth protest too
much, methinks -�

    -�What -(TM)s that supposed to mean -� snapped John suddenly on the
defernsive.

    -�You -(TM)re not a closet nudist are you? -� Jan asked him with a
wicked smile.

    -�Absolutely not!  You wouldn -(TM)t catch me doing something as sordid
as that -�

    -� For somebody so disgusted with nudity you seem to take a great deal
of interest in it -�

   They bickered on and on for some time, like two evenly matched armies
fighting over the same blasted piece of heath.  First one advanced, only to
be stopped by a determined rearguard, which was followed by a sharp
offensive that railed futilely at a sternly held redoubt.  Safely to one
side of battle with the crisis over Brian got back to some work, as he fell
into the familiar rhythm of his fingers tippy tappy typing on his keyboard
he felt the kraken drop back into the abyss, leaving him at peace, for now.
But he knew it was there, deep down, waiting and watching.

   That evening after a stressful drive home Brian approached Belvoir
Avenue with a heavy heart.  He was determined once and for all to have it
out with Marion.  These midnight walks had to stop, after all what if Dick
had photographed her, in her glory clothes.  As he tuned right he peered
along the road bathed in a coppery sun that brushed the street with loving
sepia tones.  Brian had expected to be greeted by a press pack hounding
Linda -(TM)s gate, baying for blood,but all was quiet and still.  The world
having looked once, now turned away, the beam of its relentless desire for
scandal focused on some new indiscretion.

   Brian entered the kitchen full of strident purpose, intent on righting
his wayward wife who as usual, was as naked as a jaybird.  What was
unusual, and put him completely off his stride, was her naked companion. 
They both looked at him completely unabashed.  The new nude was small with
large pendulous breasts.  Clearly these were too heavy for her slender
frame as she was resting them on the kitchen table.  She smiled at Brian
invoking a small flicker of recognition.  Has he met her before?  He would
surely remember those mammaries, unless of course they were in their
holsters when he had seen them last.

    -�Brian, this is Julie, a friend of Isla -(TM)s -�

   That would explain the nudity, but he felt sure Isla hadn -(TM)t
introduced them.  Julie rose to her feet exposing a freshly shaven haven.
Her breasts swayed like Galilieo -(TM)s chandelier as she held out her
hand.

    -�We -(TM)ve met before -� she told him,  -�I came here to look into
the naked angel story -�

    -�Ah right -� he replied as panic rose in his throat.  His autonomic
response to any mention of the naked angel.

   He shook her hand, setting up divine oscillations in those breasts.  She
smiled as she sat down. -� Perhaps you didn -(TM)t recognise me without my
clothes on? -�.  The oldest joke in the world, and she knew it.

    -�Well it does beg the question as to why you are in the altogether -�

   Marion interrupted,  -�I told you Brian.  You never listen, do you. 
Julie has been with Isla on her protests; she spent a day working nude with
us at PDQ -�

   Brian winced at the thought of Marion naked at work.  He was always
astonished that that bare fact had escaped the public -(TM)s attention. 
Now he was looking at the reason in all her glory.

    -�Well don -(TM)t just stand there Brian, we have guest and you are not
following the dress code -�

   Brian gulped and then as he was about to slope sadly off, like an
admonished dog, tail between his legs he was saved by the bell.

   Ding dong,  -�I -(TM)ll get that -� he said and before anyone could move
he was gone.

   He opened the door to find his neighbour, Linda, the erstwhile naked
angel standing on the step.  On one hand she looked awful.  Her face was
pale and drawn, her eyes red and puffy from crying and her hair greasy and
lifeless.  On the other hand Brain had never seen her looking so good,
mainly because up until this moment he had never seen her without clothing.



   He allowed his eyes to fall from hers.  Today was the day for new
breasts, first the large and now the small.  His eyes paused in their
divine descant as he admired Linda -(TM)s puffy little nipples.  Having
drunk his fill at that particular table he continued his exploration down
through a flat freckle specked stomach with its deep navel, and onwards
forever south towards the triangular patch of deep black pubic hair that
thickened towards the hidden entrance to her vagina.  Again he paused at
this base camp before setting out onward down her long thin legs until he
reached her painted toenails.  With no more flesh to view his astonished
eyes bounced back up like a perverted rubber ball taking in a second
glorious view before stopping at the sight of her husband Kev at the end of
his red brick drive.

   Linda cleared her throat and in a small voice said  -�I am standing her
naked because I want to know I am a slut who does not deserve to wear any
clothing.  I have no modesty and I want everyone to look at my bare flesh
and -- -- -�

   At this point the astonished Brain was roughly pushed to one side, and
Marion, who thankfully had found a baggy dress, grabbed Linda -(TM)s hand
and dragged into the hall.  Kev made a move, but he was too late, Marion
slammed the door in his face.  The doorbell ding donged maniacally to no
effect  -�Sod off Kevin -� shouted Marion through the letter box.

   Meanwhile Julie Lewis was caught on the horns of a dilemma.  Clearly
something important was going down and her journalistic instinct told her
to find out what it was and to do that right away.  Holding her back was
the very human instinct that insisted she put some clothes on first.  Not
for the first time the journalist won and with only her trusty pen and wire
wound notebook to cover her modesty Julie stepped into the hall to find the
naked angel sobbing on Marion -(TM)s shoulder.

    -�It -(TM)s ok, there, there -� said Marion soothingly as if Linda was
a two year old who had lost her favourite doll.  Marion reached for a coat,
 -�put this on -� Julie was so busy scribbling on her pad she never thought
that in a brief moment she would have been the only one naked in the
hallway.

    -�No, no -� screamed Linda pushing the coat away,  -�I must never wear
clothes again -�

    -�What? -� exclaimed Marion over the noise of the ringing doorbell. 
She turned to her husband,  -�Go outside and talk to that moron Brian, and
find out what this is all about -�

    -�I can -(TM)t open the door, he -(TM)ll burst in -�

    -�Then go out the back way -�

    -�Ah, yes -� he muttered  -�Excuse me -� he said apologetically to the
naked woman blocking the entrance to the kitchen.  Suddenly Linda was aware
of Julie -(TM)s presence.

    -�Who -(TM)s she? -� she demanded

    -�Friend of Isla -(TM)s -�

    -�Why -(TM)s she writing everything down? -�

    -�She -(TM)s a journalist -�

    -�What, I -(TM)m not having anything in the paper I -(TM)m in enough
trouble as it is -�

   Marion couldn -(TM)t see how Linda could possibly in any deeper than she
was at the moment.  She was up to her neck in a riptide that was still on
the flood

    -�It -(TM)s OK -� said Julie soothingly;  -�I -(TM)m on your side -�

    -�How do I know that -� Marion couldn -(TM)t blame Linda for being
suspicious.

    -�I -(TM)m naked for a start -� Julie replied quickly.  That stopped
Linda like a mouse in the path of a raging bull elephant.   -�I -(TM)m a
friend of Isla, I -(TM)ve been on protests with her, naked.  I wrote the
sympathetic articles that appeared in the Mercury -�

    -�So why are you here naked Linda? -� asked Marion

    -�I am a slut and a whore who does not does not deserve to wear
clothing.  I have exposed my naked body --.. -�

    -�Yes yes, I got that bit.  But why are you doing this?  Is Kev forcing
you -�

   This brought Linda back to tears again.  Marion offered her a
handkerchief from her pocket.

    -�Oh I -(TM)m forgetting my manners -� Marion said as Linda sniffed.  
-�If you won -(TM)t get dressed than I must join you -� and without further
ado Marion shucked her dress.   -�There, that -(TM)s better.  Now, let
-(TM)s sit down and talk this through -�

   Haltingly with many pauses for sniffs and choking sobs Linda related her
story to the sympathetic Marion and Julie who had finally found her
recorder and its tiny little solid state notebook took on the daunting task
of saving the whole tragedy of Shakespearian proportions for posterity.

   Naturally her husband had not been over the moon to find out that his
wife went for midnight walks through the locality in her birthday suit. 
Neither was the manner of his discovery of this little known fact to his
liking.  So when the world weary police had finished with Linda he had
started.  Firstly he shredded all her clothes with a wicked knife.  This
act was founded upon the simple logic that if she walked around naked she
didn -(TM)t need any clothes.  Then as he rubbed his fingers along the
knife blade he ordered her to strip.  Silently in dumb shock Linda had
complied watching numbly as her husband tore each discarded item into
little strips before her tear filled eyes.

    -�This is how you will stay, bitch -� he had screamed  -�unless you
want a divorce, and then you will never see my son again -� The threat
sliced through Linda like the knife in his hand and she fell to the floor
begging, pleading with her husband.  She -(TM)d do anything she told him,
but please don -(TM)t cut her off from her child.  He -(TM)d lifted her up
by her hair, and literally spat the words in her face  -�Just remember you
-(TM)re an unfit mother, no judge in the land would allow you to come
within a mile of my son -� He -(TM)d left her then to shout obscenities at
the press pack gathered outside the door.  It was after an hour of sobbing
that she finally ventured out of the bedroom.  Despite the many hours she
had spent naked alone, or in the company of Marion she now felt very
nervous and very conscious of her nudity.  She found Kevin pacing the
kitchen.  Linda ventured a timid smile,  -�Fix my dinner slut -� he shouted
at her.   -�Bring it to me when it is ready -� he told her as he pushed
roughly past her.  She winced as the table edge dug into her bare buttocks.
He had forced her to stand naked in the corner while he eat, ordering her
to fetch drinks and extra food.  She had obeyed humbly, waiting for the
mood to subside.  But it didn -(TM)t, her husband paced the room like a
caged animal, occasionally stopping so scream in her face, spittle
splashing her eyes and mixing with her tears.  She wanted to run but feared
his anger would grow.

    -�What do you want from me Kevin? -� she pleaded falling to her knees
pawing at his legs.  He kicked roughly in the chest.  Linda lay there on
the carpet sobbing while he ranted on and on.  She was an unfit mother no
less than a whore, and that was how he was going to treat her.  From now
on, she would live naked.  Should they have visitors she would stay naked
and wait on them, fulfilling their every desire.  She would clean the
house, cook the meals wash his clothes in the nude.   -�You should be
grateful to me cow -� he screamed  -�I -(TM)m saving you from the work
involved in washing by keeping you bare arsed -� Of course she was free to
leave anytime she wanted, but without her clothes.  At the end of this
tirade Kevin sent his wife stitchless to the kitchen to wait his further
bidding.

   At half past five her husband kicked open the kitchen door.  Linda stood
quivering like a leaf in a downpour.  He was red in the face and stood
stock still fists clenched.

    -�Do you know what I have just watched.  Well do you bitch -� Linda
shook her head wearily.   -�The local news; and do you know whose picture
they showed -� She swallowed hard and nodded slowly

    -�Some naked whore walking along our street, and you know what, she
looked just like the harlot in front of me. -� Linda clasped her hand to
her forehead  -�I -(TM)m sorry Kevin, I -(TM)m so sorry, I never thought -�

   He cut her off  -�Do you think they all saw, the neighbours I mean.  Do
you think all of them know what you look like with no clothes on? -�

   She didn -(TM)t know what to say,  -�I -(TM)m so sorry -�

    -�Sorry -� he screamed his voice almost unrecognisable,  -�not as sorry
as you will be -� He grabbed her roughly by the hand and dragged her
towards the front door.

    -�No Kevin, please -� she pleaded.

    -�Just in case any of the neighbours missed the news let us show them
what they missed -� he growled through gritted teeth as he pushed her into
the street.

   Linda was in a blind panic now as she stood on her front path exposed
for all to see.  She leaded forward, head down, one hand covering her
breasts and the other clasped tightly over her vagina.   -�Don -(TM)t act
all coy you brazen hussy, you were letting it all hang out last night -� He
dropped his voice and in a menacing tone told her hold her arms by her
side.

    -�Now let -(TM)s go and visit Brain and Marion -� he told her with a
smile,  -�let them see you for what you really are.  Kevin held open the
gate and Linda stepped out, her bare feet very conscious of the cold
pavement.  The windows of the houses stared down on her.  Was anyone there,
looking out at her?  She dared not look to see.  Thankfully there was the
street was as bare as she was for the short journey to her friend and
neighbour -(TM)s door.

    -�Ring the bell bitch, and when they open let them have a good look
before you tell the type of woman you really are -�

   Linda stood in front of the green door shaking in fear and shock, hoping
with all her heart that it would be Marion who answered.

   Kevin -(TM)s rage had receded by the time Brian found him sitting in his
front garden idly dead heading his roses.

    -�Hi mate -� Kevin looked up at Brian, his face expressionless.

    -�Why did she do it Brian? -� he asked without preamble  -�What is the
point of walking around the streets o the nude -�

   Brian scratched his head  -�Dunno -� Even though ne had done so himself,
he wasn -(TM)t exactly sure why he allowed Marion to drag him off through
that warm summer -(TM)s night.

    -�I feel so betrayed, all these months she -(TM)s being doing this and
I didn -(TM)t know.  People must think I -(TM)m a mug -�

    -�Oh come on Kevin -� cajoled Brian  -�once you are asleep how are you
expected to find out -� That set them both thinking.  How often did their
respective wives take the midnight air in their birthday suits?  -�What I
-(TM)d like to know, Brian continued  -�is what the hell Dick Standing was
doing staring out of his window at three o -(TM)clock in the morning ,
camera in hand -�

   Kevin paused; he looked at his hand which contained geranium seed that
he plucked from the plants growing on the verge.  It was as fine as dust.
With one finger he pushed them into one of the folds of his palm, one of
his lifelines.  He sighed, a sudden exhalation that spread the seeds into
the welcoming earth

    -�Good point Brian, perhaps we should have a word -� Brian was inclined
to agree, was Dick peering through the cracks in the curtains with his
telephoto lens, what sort of pictures were squirreled away on his hard
drive.  He was a certain as the fate of a Christmas turkey that there were
many, many picture of his daughter in the nude saved on Dick -(TM)s
computer.  But as they were freely available all over the internet he could
hardly complain

    -�Later Kev, let -(TM)s sort this out first -�

    -�There -(TM)s nothing to sort out Brian, the bitch got what was coming
to her.  What they doing in there anyway -�

    -�Having powwow -�

    -�They can chat all they like, she -(TM)s got to take her punishment -�

    -�Don -(TM)t you think you -(TM)re being a trifle harsh Kev -�

    -�Easy for you to say, what if it was you whose wife was running around
the streets in the buff.  What would you do? -�

    -�I said nothing to her -� Brian winced, he -(TM)d let the secret he
had held for so long slip.  It didn -(TM)t go unnoticed, Kevin looked at
him, a deep piercing look that turned to understanding and sympathy.

    -�Oh yeah Isla -� Brian hadn -(TM)t realised he -(TM)d been holding his
breath.  He sighed, able to breathe again  -�Yes, that wasn -(TM)t easy I
can tell you -�  -�But did you feel betrayed, that -(TM)s the worst thing
for me.  Linda betrayed me.  Why?  Why would she do a thing like that? -�

   Brian knew why, the feeling of the air all over your skin, the thrill of
the dare, the certain knowledge of the shame that capture would bring, the
extremes of the fear of being seen and recognised and the elation of safe
return.  Oh yes he had felt all that, so knew well Linda -(TM)s reasons.

    -�No idea mate -� he told Kevin



    -�We need to sort your husband out -� said Marion in a very business
like way.  Linda had just admitted to Julie that she was the Naked Angel.
Julie was so pleased that she had finally got the woman she had hunted for
so long that she ignored he glaring holes in Linda -(TM)s story.  One thing
was sure as rain on a bank holiday, Marion was not going to point them out.

    -�We have him by the balls -� Julie told the clearly puzzled Linda

    -�How?  It -(TM)s me that was walking the streets in the nude -�

    -�True -� Marion told her,  -�but in forcing you to knock on the door
and say the things you did he has revealed himself as cruel, and most
certainly not fit to be a father. -�

    -�Oh no, he -(TM)s a good father, it really is all my fault -� Linda
broke into tears again.

    -�Look Linda -� Julie began  -�this how we have to play it if we are
going to get Kevin to back down -�

    -�Oh I see -� she said with a sniff fumbling for a handkerchief in the
pockets of the clothes she wasn -(TM)t wearing.  Marion went and found her
a box of tissues.  Privately she was quite pleased that Linda had been
caught as she was now off the hook.  There would be no suspicion of her
being the Naked Angel, and she could carry on with her midnight airings for
if somebody caught a fleeting glimpse of a bare body on a clear starry
night, well they would think it was Linda.  Marion had no sympathy, if
Linda had been careless enough to be caught that was her problem.  When you
took a midnight stroll in the buff you took a risk and lived with the
consequences if you were seen.

    -�You look all out Linda, why don -(TM)t have a quick shower and I
-(TM)ll find something for you to put on.  Then we -(TM)ll get Kevin in -�

    -�Okay -- -- but I -(TM)m not too sure about getting dressed.  That may
be a red rag to a bull. -�

    -�That -(TM)s fine by me -� said Marion who had plans for Kevin. 
Julie, however, gulped and floundered like a fish on the deck of a rusty
trawler.   -�It -(TM)s okay -� Marion said kindly,  -�you don -(TM)t need
to be here -�

   The woman in Julie agreed, nothing looked better to her in that moment
than the clothes hanging on the back of the door.  The journalist in her
was not so sure, being naked was a small price to pay for being in on the
kill.  Once again the acid smell of the newsprint won..  -�That -(TM)s
fine, I -(TM)ll stay and keep you company -�

    -�What -(TM)s happening  -� asked Brian who had just reappeared through
the back door.

    -�Kevin has behaved abominably towards Linda, he plans on keeping her
nude -� his bare naked wife explained primly.

    -�Well he is more than just a trifle annoyed -� Brian replied  -�And
with some reason -�

   Marion placed her hands firmly on her ample hips.   -�Oh and there
-(TM)s something wrong with walking around as our maker intended -� Julie
Lewis couldn -(TM)t help but think that, although Marion might have a
point, it didn -(TM)t necessarily extend to her present state of exposure.
At least she was in the majority, an advantage that increased with the
return of a refreshed Linda.  Brian thought she looked much better now, the
lank hair was still wet but had a body to it, her face had lost some of the
care lines and her bare body glowed in the subdued light in the kitchen.

    -�I -(TM)m ready now -� she said  -�please bring in my husband -�



   Left alone to mooch once more in the front garden staring at the green
door of chez Shaw, Kevin -(TM)s mood blackened.  What were the two witches
up to in there?  His contempt spread out from his perfidious wife to all of
her sex.  Had they not all been responsible for the fall?  And should they
all not be forced to pay?  Wanton daughters of Eve!  He -(TM)d speak to
Brain, he should force his wife to be naked at all times too, that -(TM)s
what women needed, the slap of firm discipline.  The creak of the opening
door broke into his angry manifesto.

    -�Come in -� Brian told him,  -�I think you should be prepared for a
bit of a shock -�

    -�I -(TM)ve had more than a bit of a shock Brian, I don -(TM)t think
anything could surprise me now -�

   But it did, as soon as he entered the kitchen his jaw dropped towards
the patterned tiles and his legs froze as still as a bird stained statue.
He had read about the medical phenomenon of lucid dreams, where realty was
mixed with fantasy.  That was the only explanation for there, flanking his
naked wife, were two bare bookends.  One he recognised, well he knew the
face, the sturdy breasts with their long pink nipples were something new,
as was the hairy vagina above the heavy thighs that had been last seen
forcing their way out of a very unfashionable pair of shorts.  Now here
they were again freed from their shackles taking on a different
perspective. Kevin had to admit that on the whole Marion looked much better
out her clothes than in, and pretty good for her age too, he thought
charitably.

   If Marion opened the debate for universal female nudity then the little
hottie at the end closed it, won the vote before moving onto the
valedictory vote of thanks.  Huge plump melon shaped mammaries jutted
firmly from her chest, casting a shadow on a nice flat stomach and a smooth
hairless vagina.  Had he looked Kevin would have appreciated her pretty
face and long curly black hair, but his eyes never strayed higher than her
neck.

   Marion waited while Kevin drank his fill, then she smiled, not a nice
smile, it was a vicious smile, tipped with contempt and menace.  But then
Kevin wasn -(TM)t looking at Marion -(TM)s face either.

    -�I think you -(TM)ve had a good enough look, Kev -� she said evenly, 
-�Now let -(TM)s all sit down. -�

   Kevin and Brian sat one side of the table while three pairs of breasts
lined up opposite them, six pert nipples pointing accusingly at Linda
-(TM)s husband.  Brian sat passively wringing his hands beneath the table
out of sight of the women.  He was afraid, very afraid.  Kevin, however,
still not sure if he was awake or not, drooled like a pubescent boy in a
nudist camp.

    -�Kevin, your behaviour today has been disgraceful -� Marion told him
bluntly.   -�This stops now -� She sounded like a strict headmistress
dressing down a small boy, except Kevin was a grown man and it was Marion
who was dressed down.   -�It has got to stop -�

    -�Wait a minute -� he said, realising that this was no dream, and wasn
-(TM)t he was the one wronged against  -�I didn -(TM)t start this, Linda
did.  You wouldn -(TM)t catch me wandering the streets naked in the middle
of the night -�

    -�Nor me -� replied Julie, as Marion looked at Brain and Brian looked
straight back at his wife.  Neither of them daring to breathe,  -�but that
doesn -(TM)t excuse the way you have treated your wife -�

   Kevin finally managed to drag his eyes away from Julie -(TM)s
magnificent pair of breasts and their flat pale brown nipples.   -�Who the
hell are you anyway and why are you here? -�

    -�This is Julie, she -(TM)s a friend of Isla -(TM)s.  She just stopped
by for a chat -�

    -�That figures -�

    -�How? -�

    -�That explains why you are all sitting here in the buff.  This is all
your daughter -(TM)s fault -� he said looking firmly at Marion,  -�running
around in the nicy naky noo -�

    -~No it -(TM)s not -(TM) thought Brian, staring fixedly at his wife
too. Calm under fire Marion continued.

    -�We -(TM)re not here to talk about Isla, Kevin; we are discussing you
and Linda -�

    -�It -(TM)s none of your business -� he said bluntly

    -�But you made it our business by forcing her to turn up naked at our
front door -�

    -�I was just visiting, -� he replied trying to sound nonchalant  -�and
Linda was wearing her normal attire for strolling around the street. -� He
spat out the last part of the sentence with such venom that Linda winced.

   Marion continued as if he had not spoken  -�and then she announced
herself as a slut --..her words or yours? -�

    -�So what -� Kevin decided to brazen it out, after all Marion was just
another shameless, naked whorebitch.

    -�I think you should know that any divorce lawyer worth his salt would
have you out of that house and give custody of your son to your wife with
no access -�

   Kevin stared at Julie, this time he looked deep into her eyes.  He saw
no fear there at all.  Cautious now he asked  -�What are you, some kind of
naked lawyer? -�

    -�No -� she told him,  -�I -(TM)m a naked reporter -�

   That, thought Kevin, was much worse.  Like an Antarctic glacier sliding
inexorably towards the deep blue sea he began to realise he was in serious
trouble, and had been for some time.

    -�And I -(TM)ve just listened to Linda -(TM)s story.  I believe her and
I -(TM)m sure all my readers will too -�

   It was over, too late now Kevin realised he was past the tipping point.
An ocean of cold fear flushed all the anger from Kevin in less than a
second.  What would people think of him, what would he have though, reading
such an article about another man?  He looked at Julie in the certain
knowledge that anyone who would sit there stark naked in support of Linda
would not present his side of the case.  The article would have more spin
than a fairground carousel.

    -�It would make a good series, several articles over a month I think -�
Julie told him, smiling sweetly.

   Broken now, Kevin held his head in his hands in defeat  -�Oh my God, -�
he muttered quietly,  -�what have I done. -� He looked at his naked wife. 
-�Can you ever forgive me? -� Reaching across the table he gently took her
hand.   -�I -(TM)m so sorry -� he told her.

   Close to tears Linda replied  -�I -(TM)m sorry too Kev, I shouldn -(TM)t
have -�

    -�But why, love, why did you do it?  What could possess you to walk
around in the nude? -�

    -�I don -(TM)t know, it -(TM)s like a drug I just can -(TM)t stop -�

    -�You need help -� he told her.

   Marion who had been listening to this with a mixture of pleasure and
contempt interrupted.  It was time to put an end to such talk.  There was
one fact she knew above all others and that was that she, Marion, the true
naked angel didn -(TM)t need any help to stop walking the neighbourhood in
just her shoes.  She had no intention of giving up her night time actives
which were in her view were entirely wholesome and frankly nobody else
-(TM)s business.  In fact, she considered herself to be a pillar of the
community for if she hadn -(TM)t been taking an air bath that chilly spring
night Tomas O -(TM)Sullivan would be singing with real angels in the
heavenly chorus.

   She stamped on Kevin -(TM)s opinion as a small boy on an ant. -�There
-(TM)s nothing wrong with nudity, we -(TM)re all quite happy this side of
the table -� she told her neighbour haughtily

   Kevin looked at her, and asked the question that had been gnawing away
at his brain for some time. -� Why exactly are you naked Marion? -�

   Julie answered for her  -�We -(TM)re dressed like this because Linda had
no clothes and was too scared face you unless she was in the nude -�

    -�We -(TM)re showing solidarity, Kev -� Marion told him, steering away
from that sticky patch.  She pressed on with her attack and smiled as she
drew the knife.   -�Perhaps you should too? -�

   He looked at her with a face as blank as a leaden winter sky.  Then a
stiff wind blew away the fog and a wintery ray of realisation spread itself
all over Kevin -(TM)s face like a twisted shaft of sun.

    -�You mean me, take all my clothes off -� he laughed,  -�I don -(TM)t
think so -�

   As cool as the winter weather Marion slipped the blade between his ribs.
 -�It will make a good story Kev, maybe a series. -�

    -�There -(TM)s no need for that, look I -(TM)m really sorry, but you
have to admit it was a shock -� he sounded contrite as he continued  -�I
-(TM)ll buy you a whole new wardrobe Linda -� He crossed the floor and
kneeled in front of her, a repentant child begging for forgiveness.  He
took her hand  -�Please Linda -�

   She ran her fingers through his hair before replying soothingly  -�It
-(TM)s Ok Kev, we -(TM)ll be Ok now -� She looked at Marion,  -�thanks for
everything -�

   Marion twisted the knife  -�He has to do it Linda, you know it -(TM)s
the only way -�

   Linda held her husband -(TM)s head in her hands.   -�You have to do this
Kevin; it was Marion -(TM)s only condition for helping me.  Believe me, she
will do as she says -�

   Slowly Kevin rose to his feet, knees knocking, he was a defeated man and
he knew it.  He sighed  -�Ok, but I -(TM)m not getting undressed here -�

    -�Take him into the hall Brain -� Marion commanded.

    -�Come on mate, -� Brian said a friendly hand on his shoulder,  -�tell
you what -� he continued magnanimously,  -�I can -(TM)t let you do it
alone, I -(TM)ll join you -�

   Kevin almost swooned,  -�Brian, you are a true friend, but you don
-(TM)t have to -�

   Brian held up a hand,  -�No, I insist, it -(TM)s the least I can do -�
he said with all the sincerity he could muster.  He smiled at Marion, 
-�you don -(TM)t object do you dear? -�

   His wife gave him a stern look,  -�no dear, it -(TM)s very magnanimous
of you -� she replied with more than a hint of sarcasm.  Linda was clearly
taken in by Brian -(TM)s unashamed flannel and smiled gratefully at him;
Julie Lewis who was more aware of the dress code in the Shaw household was
clearly having a hard time suppressing a fit of giggles.  She had her face
more or less under control, but a very appealing rhythmic vibration in her
pendulous breasts betrayed her.

   Clearly happy with himself and beaming from ear to ear Brian led Kevin
out of the room to begin a new chapter of his life.





   Marion was late home from PDQ.  She was extremely satisfied with
herself. It had been a warm sunny autumnal day and the office had been hot
enough for a fully nude afternoon.

    -�Hi Brian -� she called as she closed the door.  She -(TM)d only had
them on for the half hour journey home, but Marion felt no attachment to
her clothes so off they came.  Brian was reading the evening paper in the
lounge.   -�There are two letters for you in the hall -� ha called.

   Not strictly true as one was addressed to both of them.  She sauntered
into the lounge.   -�Look Brian a wedding invitation -�

   He looked puzzled,  -�Who do we know who is getting married? -�

    -�Merri, the secretary at PDQ -�

    -�I suppose that will need a new outfit -� he complained grumpily

    -�I don -(TM)t think so, this one will do -� she replied

    -�I don -(TM)t understand -�

    -�It -(TM)s a clothing optional wedding -� she paused before driving in
another nail  -�at a nudist club -�

    -�What, you -(TM)re joking, give that here -� he snatched the
invitation.

   Marion smirked at his discomfort as she opened the second letter.  It
too was an invitation.  Her blood ran cold as she read it.  Fortunately
Brian was too wrapped up in his own dilemma with Merri -(TM)s wedding to
notice.

    -�I -(TM)ll just make a start on cooking dinner shall I? -� she said
and retired to the kitchen.



   An unseasonably warm autumn night, hot and sweaty, undoubtedly summer
-(TM)s last throw of the dice.  Brian thrashed about under the duvet as
once again he roamed naked through his work.  For his wife, who had
actually done this, it was a dream come true.  Fro Brain it was nightmare.
-�So you -(TM)re the naked angel are you -� John poured scorn on him as Jan
sat lasciviously on his lap stroking his hair.   -�Don -(TM)t be ridiculous
that was my neighbour -�

    -�So why have you come to work in the nude? -� he asked with a pitying
glance at Brian -(TM)s nether regions.  -�I -(TM)m going to a wedding after
work -� the dreaming Brian replied desperately.

    -�Where -(TM)s your suit -� asked John as Jan started to blow
seductively on his neck.

    -�I -(TM)m wearing it -�

    -�That -(TM)s not a wedding suit, that -(TM)s a birthday suit, you
-(TM)re not going to a birthday are you -� Jan giggled as she licked John
-(TM)s ear.

    -�It -(TM)s at a nudist resort -� Brian said in a small voice as Jan
and Jon leered at him.

    -�So you -(TM)re a nudist are you?  Running around in the woods in the
rudey nudey -�

    -�No, no, it -(TM)s not me it -(TM)s a friend of my wife, no, no -�

   Brian woke with a start, drenched in sweat.  He reached to Marion for
comfort but she wasn -(TM)t there.  He had fallen straight from a bad dream
into a waking nightmare.  Leaping out of bed he raced to the window and
looked out.  The trees at the bottom of the garden had lost some of their
leaves leaving a clear view of part of the lane.  Two figures, much barer
than the tree branches slipped past.  Brain raced for the stairs, and then
stopped at a sudden thought.  Dick Standing what if --..  He dashed into
Isla -(TM)s empty bedroom at the front of the house, cursing as he stubbed
his bare toe on a discarded hairdryer.  Carefully parting the curtains he
peeked out at the Standing residence.  All seem quiet, he breathed a
heartfelt sigh of relief and was about to hunt down the elusive Marion when
he caught a movement from the corner of his eye.  Dick Standing had become
bolder and had relocated to the cover of a bush in his front garden for a
better shot.  He lay there as still as a sniper waiting for a careless
victim to stray into his sights.

   Brain hurtled from the room faster than a cartoon character with a bomb
and dashed down the stairs.  The sudden light hurt his eyes as he burst
through the kitchen door en route to the garden.  The sight of Marion
sitting calmly at the table brought him to a sudden halt.

   Marion was just as surprised as Brian.  Fortunately his elephantine
descent of the stairs had given her time to hide the invitation card before
her husband arrived.  It was clear however that Brian had other things on
his mind.

    -�Thank God, Marion, I thought you were outside -�

    -�And why should I be outside -�

    -�I just saw two nudes walking along the lane -�

    -�And you thought -�

    -�Well yes after all we have --.. -�

   Her mood brightened  -�You fancy another trip, I see you -(TM)re dressed
for it -�

   In his hurry Brain had forgotten to put any clothes on.

    -�Didn -(TM)t you hear me Marion.  There are two naked people in the
lane -�

   She smiled, how things can change.   -�Linda and Kevin.  She told me
about it.  I think we should stay inside tonight, they -(TM)ll want their
privacy -�

    -�Well they won -(TM)t get it.  Dick standing is in his front garden,
flash charged and camera ready -�

    -�What -� exclaimed Marion  -�Show me -�

   Brain admired the expanse of his wife -(TM)s bottom as she peered out of
the curtains in his daughter -(TM)s empty bedroom.

    -�Get the camera Brian, we -(TM)ll give him a spoonful of his own
medicine -�

   Five minutes later he was back  -�Sorry -� he whispered  -�I couldn
-(TM)t find it -� He shoved a robe at his naked wife  -�put this on, we don
-(TM)t want him taking photos back do we -�

    -�Good point -� she said wrapping it around her ample bosom on
carefully opening the window.   -�Just stay still a moment -� she
whispered. The camera flash lit up the street like lightning, which was
quickly followed by thunder from Dick -(TM)s garden as he threw himself to
into a laurel bush.  Marion hid behind the curtains and checked the camera
memory.   -�Got him, poised and ready to shoot, wait till Julie Lewis gets
this -�



   But Julie Lewis never got to see the photos of Dick Standing skulking in
the bushes like a twitcher waiting for a rare bird.  This was due to Linda,
who got to see the picture first, and she had other ideas.

    -�We have him now -� she said as she clapped her hands with glee.  They
were sitting in her kitchen basking in the glow of the central heating,
which wasn -(TM)t really required if you were prepared to wear some
clothes.

    -�We need to confront him, if Gemma sees this he will be done for. 
Come on -�

    -�What right now -� Marion complained,  -�I -(TM)ll have to go back and
get some clothes on -�

    -�Oh just put your coat on, you -(TM)ll be fine -� Linda told her
firmly,  -�that -(TM)s all I -(TM)m planning on wearing.  We -(TM)ll only
be a tick -�

   And so clad only in shoes and a coat Marion trotted across the road
after a strident Linda who was already rapping earnestly on Dick Standing
-(TM)s door.

   When he answered, Bob -(TM)s flabby face broke into an evil grin.   -�O
ho, my naked neighbour -�

    -�Can we come in, Bob, we -(TM)ve something to show you -�

    -�No thanks, I -(TM)ve already seen all you -(TM)ve got to offer, Linda
-� he replied chirpily.

    -�You haven -(TM)t seen what I -(TM)ve got -� Marion told him.

   Bob bit his lip to stop himself advising her that her bare form was no
mystery to him and that she needed to be more careful when closing her
curtains a night.

    -�It -(TM)s about flashing, in a way -�

    -�I, er, I -(TM)m sorry, I don -(TM)t understand. -� He replied,
understanding very well why these two harpies were at his door.

    -�Of course you do Bob -� Linda said curtly as she pushed past him, 
-�we -(TM)ve a photo to show you -�

   Dick raced after Linda,  -�Now come back here Linda Frost, you can
-(TM)t barge in here just like that -�

   Marion followed them into the Standing -(TM)s finely decorated living
room to find Linda standing in front of the ornate fire place, one arm
stretched languidly across the wooden mantel, while her left hand fingered
the buttons on her coat.   -�Gemma in Bob? -� she asked peremptorily.  Dick
shook his head.

    -�Pity; never mind we can show her the picture later.  Show Bob the
snap you took last night Marion -�

   Marion held the camera up.  Bob took it from her and squinted at the
small screen.  -�I can -(TM)t see anything here, what -(TM)s it supposed to
be? -�

    -�Really, Bob.  Your eyesight must be going.  You know what they say,
it makes you go blind -� replied Linda with heavy sarcasm.   -�Surely you
recognise your front garden and that portly figure of a man trying to cover
himself with a bush?  Ah well; perhaps we -(TM)ll wait for Gemma to come
back, maybe she -(TM)ll see someone she knows poised with his camera ready
to shoot -�

    -�Oh dear -� Dick said  -�I appear to have just deleted the picture.  I
-(TM)m so sorry -� He handed the camera back to Marion, who began to laugh.

    -�Oh dear -� mimicked Linda  -�I -(TM)ve just pressed send on my email
to Gemma.  How stupid do you think we are Bob -�

    -�Stupid enough to go wandering the streets in the nude at night -� he
snapped back.

    -�Now, now Bob.  Careful what you say -� Marion told him,  -�Isla has a
journalist friend who would be very interested in this picture -� she
paused,  -�in fact you may have met her, she printed the picture of Linda,
you know the one you took when you just happened to wake up, and just
happened to have looked out of the window, and just happened to have your
camera ready.  I -(TM)m sure she -(TM)d love to know more about your dirty
little night time habits -�

   Dick Standing stood silent, his round face expressionless.   -�I think
we need some more pictures don -(TM)t you, Bob? -� she told him as she
walked over to him,  -�Just you and me together -� Linda said putting her
arm around his shoulder,  -�come on Bob smile for the camera -� Dick
Standing scowld as he pushed her away.   -�Ah -� she said  -�I forgot, you
only take pictures of me in my birthday suit.  Silly me -� And with that
she dropped her coat.  When they viewed the picture later, Dick -(TM)s
rotund face bore exactly the same look of utter shock it showed that
previous night.

    -�Oh come on Bob, why are you so shocked, after all you -(TM)ve seen it
all before -� Linda told him as she stood there, hands on hips, pointy
breasts jutting out.  Marion moved carefully so she could picture her stark
naked friend -(TM)s full frontal body, and include a reflection of Bob
-(TM)s gawping face in the mirror above the fireplace.

    -�How about some pictures with you Marion? -� said Linda quickly.

    -�Oh, I don -(TM)t know -� she began.

    -�Bet he -(TM)s got pictures of you in the nude too, squirreled away on
his little hard drive.  Peek-a-boo at Marion through the curtains, did you
Bob, bet you got Isla too -�

    -�No -� he replied indignantly, but Marion could see the truth in his
puffy, tired eyes.

    -�Liar -� Marion told him.  Even so, there was no way she was going to
give him the pleasure of perusing her bare body.  But Marion -(TM)s bare
body had other ideas and before her sensible brain had any inkling of what
was happening she was stepping out of her coat leaving it puddled at her
feet on the pale green carpet.  Bob nearly choked on his tongue as he tried
to speak.  Linda giggled, and, grabbing the camera from Marion proceeded to
snap way.  The depth of the water beneath him began to seep into Bob
Standing -(TM)s consciousness.He made a grab for Linda, and more
importantly the camera.  She skipped from his grasp and ran for the stairs.
Up she bounded, laughing raucously with bare buttocks quivering as Bob
raced after her.  Marion followed at a more sedate pace.  At the top of the
stairs, Linda paused and turned, presenting Dick with an eyeful her newly
trimmed jet black pubic hair.  He lunged for the camera but Linda was too
quick, she tossed it to Marion and she was gone.  Dick turned and began to
descend towards Marion only to freeze at the sound of Linda -(TM)s voice
raised in triumph.   -�You -(TM)ve left your computer on Bob, let -(TM)s
see what you -(TM)ve got saved! -�

   Turning again he scampered up the stairs into a small bedroom at the
front of the house.  As she reached the top of the stairs Marion saw Bob
desperately trying to switch the machine off.

    -�In here Marion -� hissed Linda.  Naked as the day she was born Marion
stepped into her neighbours -(TM), Bob and Gemma Standing -(TM)s, bedroom
to find Linda lying on the bed, legs wide apart revealing the inner secrets
of her vagina for all to see.   -�Quick, take a snap -� she told her
friend. Marion took the picture just in time, as an instant later Dick came
rushing through the door,  -�Nooooo -� he shouted as her reached for the
camera.

   But he was off balance and fell right on top of Linda.  It was too good
an opportunity to miss and Marion took the incriminating photo.  Bob shot
up and raced for Marion, but she was gone, breasts bouncing as she took the
stairs two at a time.

    -�Come back Bob, we haven -(TM)t finished, you can -(TM)t just leave me
like this, naked and alone in your bed -� Linda called as she ran after
them.  Marion stopped at the foot of the stairs and threw the camera past
Bob to Linda who caught it deftly and then stopped.  Wheezing from exertion
Dick turned towards her.  He held his hand out more in hope than
expectation.  Hope springs eternal, but not for Dick Standing that autumn
morning.  Linda stood there as bare as a penny half way down his stairs,
her jet black pubic mound in line of sight with his eyes.  She held the
camera at arms length.

    -�This what you want, Bob, or is there something else that catches your
eye? -� And with a wicked smile she tossed the camera back to Marion by the
door.  Suddenly Dick -(TM)s mood brightened, he had Linda trapped on the
stairs, and although Marion was free to escape with the camera, she would
not be able to retrieve her coat in time.  He was betting she wasn -(TM)t
keen on crossing Belvior Avenue in the altogether.

   While he was thinking Linda was acting.

    -�Stand still Bob -� she told him  -�or I -(TM)ll drop it -� Bob spun
around to face Linda who was leaning over the banisters.  He had to admire
the effect of gravity on her breasts as they swayed in a very appealing
manner above the patterned tiles that covered the floor of the hall.  Lust,
however was shunted into the back seat of his car when he caught site of
Gemma -(TM)s favourite black and gold porcelain vase that Linda held in her
hands.  He lunged for the stairs to tackle her, only to be forced into a
desperate change of direction as Linda let go of his wife -(TM)s treasured
possession.  There was a deadening crunch as Bob landed heavily on the
floor.  His squeal of pain turned to a sigh of relief as his outstretched
hands clasped the vase.

   All of this gave Linda the time to skip past him towards the front door
where Marion waited with camera and the vital coats.  They slammed the door
behind them just as Bob was crawling awkwardly to his feet.  There was no
damage to the vase, but judging from the creaking of Bob -(TM)s kneecaps
they were in need some of some repair.

   Marion had hid behind the very laurel bush that Bob had used for cover
the previous evening.

    -�I think we may have upset him -� she told Linda as she put her coat
on.

    -�I -(TM)m damn certain we did, let -(TM)s get these photos safely
stored on the computer -� Linda told Marion as she headed for the street,
only to find her friend dragging at her arm.

    -�Put your coat on Linda -�

    -�No time for that, He -(TM)ll be out in a jiffy -�

    -�You can -(TM)t go wandering across the street in buff, what will the
neighbours think? -�

    -�I -(TM)ve already been paraded around the neighbourhood stark naked
by my husband, Marion; besides we are the neighbours -�

    -�Do you want anyone seeing you come from Dick Standing -(TM)s house in
the all together?  What might they think? -�

   Linda's expression took on the appearance of a small child finding out
that a Brussels sprout is not the delicious titbit she had been led to
believe.

    -�Excellent point -� said Linda putting on her coat.  The delay was
nearly costly, as Bob came bursting out of his front door at that very
moment, only to trip over Marion -(TM)s carelessly stretched out foot. 
There was another sickening crunch as his already damaged knees had a close
encounter with the concrete path.

   Laughing like two schoolgirls who had just got away with sandbagging the
school bully Marion and Linda ran for home.  They were just catching their
breath in the hallway when the doorbell rang.  This was followed by an
urgent rapping.  The letterbox was poked open and a pair of dark, piggy
eyes peered in.

    -�I want that camera -� Dick shouted.

    -�Stop peeking, you dirty little man -� scolded Linda  -�I might have
had no clothes on -� And with that she took off her coat, threw back her
shoulders, and pushed her pelvis forward in a seductive pose.

    -�Give me the camera, so I can delete the pictures -�

    -�Too late -� called Marion who stood to one side out of Dick -(TM)s
sight,  -�I -(TM)ve just uploaded them to my websafe -�

   Dick banged on the door.  Linda hooked up the security chain and opened
it, making sure that Dick had a good view of her bare body.

    -�Here -(TM)s the deal, Bob -� she told him,  -�I know you have a hard
drive full of pictures of me in the nude, and snaps of Marion and Isla, and
I know nothing is going to stop you taking more.  So you can take as many
pictures of us with no clothes on as you want.  But -� she paused, looked
at Marion and smiled,  -�but, if one photograph of any of us appears in
print or on the web, two things are going to happen.  One, those pictures
of me on your bed are being sent to Gemma, and two, the picture of you in
the garden with the camera goes to Marion -(TM)s journalist friend -�

   Now there was silence.  Bob Standing had finally met his Waterloo, and
slunk quietly away sulk in his own St Helena.  Linda watched him all the
way to his front door, before closing hers.

    -�Did you really have time to upload the photos? -� she asked.

    -�No.  I lied -� replied Marion,  -�Let -(TM)s go and look at them -�

    -�Oh my -� said Linda as she viewed herself spread across the Standing
-(TM)s marital bed,  -�I -(TM)m a trifle overexposed in that picture, and I
-(TM)m not talking about the lighting -� She roared at her own joke.

    -�Fancy a walk tonight, Marion?  Give old Dick a thrill.  He -(TM)ll be
out there with his camera, I bet -�

    -�I -(TM)m sure he will.  But I think we should leave it for a week,
let him shiver in his front garden with nothing to show for it. -�

   Linda rubbed the palms of her hands together,  -�Oh yes, I like the
sound of that -� They continued to wade their way through the surprisingly
large amount of pictures they had taken.

    -�God, I look like a slut in that one -� Linda remarked.

    -�Well you -(TM)re stark naked, leaning over the stairs, and the camera
is focused right up your front backside -� Marion pointed out,  -�not much
chance of looking anything else really.  Oh my -� she exclaimed  -�I don
-(TM)t look much better myself -�

    -�Tell you what, -� Linda pointed out sying a slight swelling in Bob's
grubby jeans  -�Old Dick Standing is living up to his name in that picture
-�

   Marion was none too keen on being the object of Bob Standing -(TM)s
sexual attractions so she decided to change the subject.

    -�What about a proper walk? -�

    -�What do you mean? -�

    -�A proper walk, in the country, in the daylight -�

    -�I don -(TM)t know -� replied Linda with little enthusiasm.

    -�Nude of course -�

   Linda brightened  -�On the other hand. -� She stopped and thought.  
-�Do you think the boys would be up for it? -�

    -�Brian wouldn -(TM)t be keen -� Marion knew this for an
understatement.

    -�Kev would go if Brain was doing it -�

    -�I -(TM)ve an idea.  If you tell Kevin that Brian is keen. -� Marion
paused.   -�No better still tell him it was his idea, and then I -(TM)ll
tell Brian it was Kev -(TM)s brainchild -�

    -�That -(TM)ll work -� replied Linda with a mischievous grin,  -�now
where shall we go? -�

    -�I know just the place, quiet, with woods to hide in.  Have you got a
map? -�



   Marion drove the through the deserted Monday evening streets of Nelson.
This was the city -(TM)s happy time.  All the day time people workers had
drained away home, leaving the quiet few enjoying the bars and late night
shops in relative solitude.  The increasingly loud, aggressively drunken
night time revellers had yet to appear.  They were still busy pre-loading
at home as they preened themselves in front of the bathroom mirror before
climbing into their bright, tight short dresses or half opened
multicoloured shirts trapped in the illusion they were living in a warm
tropical paradise.

   Marion -(TM)s knowledge of these bright young things, who, in her day
would have been called  -~the in crowd` was based on a highly
unrepresentative sample of one.  To wit Isla, who one evening Marion had
found ironing the small dress that had launched a thousand strips.  Isla
was not quite naked, her modesty was preserved by some low class jewellery
and a pair of high heeled sling back shoes that gave her daughter the look
aspired to by many a high class Parisian whore.   -�Hi Mum, -� She said
without turning around.

    -�On your way out? -� asked Marion, resisiting the urge to say  -�I
hope you are not going out dressed like that young lady? -�

    -�I -(TM)m meeting Charlie and Alice at eight.  We -(TM)re going
clubbing -�

   Isla carefully hung the dress to air before crossing to the fridge and
pulling out a bottle of Rose.

    -�Fancy a starter, Mum -� she asked.

   Oh what the hell thought Marion,  -�Why not -� she replied with a smile.

   Isla poured two glasses, and handed one to her mother.  Her shoes
clacked as she crossed the tiled floor to the chair next to the table.  She
sat carefully, crossing her legs.  Isla inspected her daughter critically,
too much make up she thought to herself, always a fault of the young, it
made her look tarty.  A small sip of the wine halted the evaluation as
Marion spluttered violently,  -�Good God -� she exclaimed  -�what is in
this, meths?  It -(TM)s certainly the right colour -�

   Suddenly startled by her mother -(TM)s outburst, Isla knocked her own
glass over, spilling wine onto her bare midriff.  Marion watched the wine
dribble down towards her daughter -(TM)s fine patch of curly pubic hair.  
-�Lucky I didn -(TM)t have the dress on -� she told her mother sternly as
she wiped herself carefully with some paper towel.  She refilled her glass
and tasted the rose,  -�It -(TM)s fine mum, you just need to acquire the
taste -�

    -�Hmm -� muttered Marion as she carefully took another nip.  It didn
-(TM)t get better on a second visit.  She diplomatically put the glass on
the table resolving not to touch another drop.  Student life had hardened
Isla -(TM)s stomach and she made short work of the rest of the bottle. 
Marion said nothing, after all she was technically and adult and able to
make her own decisions, and downing a whole bottle of wine before going out
clubbing was fairly normal when placed next to Isla -(TM)s habit of
parading naked through a shopping centre.

   Isla checked her watch,  -�must fly -� she told her mother as she
reached for her dress.  The very dress that Marion had bought her for
Christmas, the garment to blame for Isla -(TM)s current state of undress.
Now she was a chlorophyll soaked green warrior Isla seemed to have no
scruples wearing it.  Marion watched as she carefully pulled it over her
head and then carefully smoothed out the creases that had gathered around
her hips.

    -�Wait a minute young lady -� she exclaimed,  -�you are not planning to
go out without any underwear? -�

    -�Mum -� she said firmly,  -�if I wear anything beneath this dress it
shows.  I bet you didn -(TM)t think of that that before you bought it. 
Anyway I -(TM)ll wager there will not be a soul there that hasn -(TM)t seen
a photo of me nude, so what -(TM)s the point of wearing any knickers -�

   And with that she was gone in a fog of perfume leaving Marion to reflect
that as you sow so shall you reap.  Isla found the truth in this homily
herself later in the evening, as the oh so carefully pressed pink dress
turned up in the washing bag the following morning covered in vomit.

   A salutary lesson to all thought Marion as she drove through the
deserted town.  Autumn was fully in charge of the weather now and she didn
-(TM)t expect many of those bright young things would be out and about
tonight for the incoming tide had sucked an enveloping fog in from the sea
and Nelson had vanished into its cold clammy arms.  The headlights of her
little purple car were worse than useless.  Fortunately Brian had invested
in one of those irritatingly bossy satellite devices, otherwise Marion may
well have become utterly lost just a few miles from home.

    -�You have arrived at your destination. -� the kindly, but firm female
voice informed her from its comfortable perch on the windscreen.  The voice
irritated Marion, and she had told Brian on many an occasion.  There were
other voices available but Marion could never find a way to change them. 
She spent ages tinkering with the damn thing, going through indescribably
irritating menus to find a better choice.  No sooner had she thought she
had reset the vocals than the annoyingly irrational piece of electronic
trash reset it self.  There was nothing more guaranteed to spoil her day
that that bossy woman telling her to  -�turn left here -�.  She made a
mental note to speak firmly to Brain about this when he returned.  In fact
Marion had mastered of the tiny machine months ago, and every time she
selected a new voice she had saved the settings correctly.  It was just
that as soon as Brian noticed the change he reset the SatNav.  He had
picked this voice deliberately because it sounded just like the way Marion
spoke to him when she was giving him directions.  It delighted him that
Marion didn -(TM)t recognise the similarity and it was a source of immense
pleasure to know that the SatNav was bullying his wife in the same
authoritative tones she had used on him for years.

   Promising herself yet again to change to a different voice for the
return Marion parked and turned off the engine.  A sudden silence dropped
onto the car.  She peered out of the windows and checked the rear view
mirror.  Good, the street appeared to be deserted.  A small sigh escaped
her lips, as, not for the first time, Marion wondered if this was a step
too far.  But she was committed now, and knew in her heart of hearts that
it was far too late too turn back.  She had planned this meticulously,
researching her route, the parking place, and most importantly, waiting
until Brian was away on business.

   Isla, of course, was back at university where she, and her little green
troop were once again causing havoc.  Marion had assumed that now the
weather was turning colder her daughter would stop parading around in her
birthday suit and this had been the case until the university turned the
heating on.  That immediately triggered further protests which initially
had involved the Green team turning up to lectures in coats and scarves
asking for the heating to be turned off.  Needless to say this protest had
little effect.  So with impeccable logic Isla -(TM)s band of merry men
started to attend lectures naked.  In the whole history of Canterbury
University there had never been a one hundred percent attendance at a nine
o -(TM)clock lecture.  Until now.  Hangovers from the previous late night
were a small price to pay for the sight of Susie Blackmore sitting primly
in the front row, legs crossed with a notepad in her bare lap.  The
lecturer had the greatest of difficulty conveying the finer details of the
Plantagenets while Susie -(TM)s perfect breasts oscillated in time to her
note taking.  When he was able to drag his eyes away they fell on the Julie
-(TM)s cherry nipples pointing straight towards him.  The incoherence of
his delivery went unnoticed to the rest of the students cramming into the
lecture hall.  He could have been reading the chemical contents off the
back of a pack of chocolate hobnobs for all the attention they gave him. 
Even the girls in the audience were distracted, as Susie had finally
relented and Henri and the rest of the boys, crusties included, were
allowed to take part.  Fortunately, from Marion -(TM)s point of view,
although the majority of the undergraduates studying Medieval History may
not have agreed, the University quickly caved in and a compromise was
reached on the heating.

   Isla had been thoroughly pleased with herself as she related her latest
triumph to her mother.   -�Well at lest it -(TM)s over, now -� Marion told
her daughter thankfully.

    -�Oh no Mum, we -(TM)re going back on the streets to get public
buildings to reduce their heading -�

   Marion groaned to herself as she replied through gritted teeth  -�That
-(TM)s nice dear -� It was all her fault she thought to herself, all Marion
had wanted was the opportunity to go naked at home without censure.  A
naked family was the acme of her ambition, not a naked society at large.

    -~Too late now -(TM) she thought, as she locked the car door, and,
shivering despite her long coat, Marion began the short walk towards her
real destination.  The thick fog swallowed the sharp clicking noise of the
heels of the shoes she had taken so long to choose.  The street lamps
bloomed like large yellow flowers suspended in the foggy sky, leading her
towards the milky pool of light spilling from La Caprise.  She fingered the
embossed card in her coat pocket, resisting the urge to take it out and
read it one more time.  There was no need, she had read it over and over
since it arrived on that fateful day.  She knew it by heart.

   Mr Tomas O -(TM)Sullivan would like to invite Mrs Marion Shaw to dinner
at La Caprise where she will be the only guest.  Dress code -----none. 
RSVP

   Just when she thought she was home free, with Linda exposed, in all
senses of the word, as the Naked Angel, this had to happen.  Barely had she
arrived at a time where she felt she could breathe again, and this
invitation had arrived.  Marion cursed her luck, but there was no point,
she was a hostage to ill fortune, a Good Samaritan who found that the dog
she had saved had just turned around and bit her ankles, hard.

   Too late for regrets now Marion Shaw, the true naked angel, thought as
she tapped gingerly upon the glass door of the restaurant and waited.  She
could not see in as the blinds were drawn, some crumb of comfort she
thought.

   After thirty seconds that seemed like an hour the door opened and there
he stood, the man who should be dead, Nelson -(TM)s own Lazarus, Thomas O
-(TM)Sullivan.

    -�Welcome, welcome dear lady, please to come in -� Why a man with an
Irish name should speak with an Italian accent in a French restaurant was
an incomprehensible puzzle that Marion found to be of complete disinterest
at this point in time.

    -�Thank you.  Most kind -� she replied slipping through the door.

    -�May I take your coat -� he asked quietly.  Marion looked back at the
glass door and the plate glass windows.

   Tomas smiled,  -�Have no fears lady, nobody can see in, I have checked.
No one will know you were here tonight -�

   Marion smiled, but said nothing.  After a brief hesitation she slid the
coat from her shoulders and handed it to Tomas.  His eyes popped,  -�Ah
dear lady, you have come just as I remember you -�

   Embarrassed for a moment she stood as still as a statue while Tomas ran
his eyes down her naked form.  Suddenly realising what he was doing, and
that his guest was very aware of his scrutiny, it was his turn became ill
at ease.

    -�Please -� his fully clothed arm pointed towards a table in the centre
of the room.

   Marion -(TM)s discomfort fled as she crossed the floor.  In a sudden and
surprising conclusion, she realised that this was what she lived for, being
completely naked in everyday places.  Situations others visit only in their
nightmares were Marion -(TM)s reason d -(TM)etre.  As Tomas led her to a
large table, covered in crisp white linen, with silver cutlery shining in
the light of a single candle Marion felt more alive than she had since,
well yesterday evening when she took a midnight stroll along memory lane.
As she sailed magnificently across the restaurant floor resplendent in all
her glory she felt like a naked Magellan, stoutly heading into a brave new
world filled with anticipation of new lands to discover and own, with just
the hint of dread that she may fall off the edge of the world.  Marion felt
the same sense of thrill spiced with fear as she had on that fragrant night
when she had first set a bare foot in the garden to be rapidly followed by
her equally bare body to bathe in the midnight air.

   Tomas held the chair for.   -�Thank you -� she said sitting on the
covered chair.  She felt the momentary chill of the wooden back as he
handed her the menu.

    -�I -(TM)ll leave you some time to choose -�

    -�No.  Please sit down -� Marion told him firmly,  -�There -(TM)s much
I want to ask you -�

   Tomas tilted his head to one side quizzically.

    -�Well, really there -(TM)s just one thing -�

    -�Oh -� he enquired.

    -�Why? -� she said

    -�That, dear lady is something I could ask of you.  Why were you in
that alleyway on a very cold night with no clothes on? -�

    -�Oh it -(TM)s just something I do -� she replied breezily.

    -�And not just you either -�

   She shot him a look.   -�Oh, you mean Linda -�

   He smiled the unfathomable smile of the sphinx.  Worrying.  Did he know
more?

    -�So why isn -(TM)t Linda here instead of me? -� She was fishing now.

   That inscrutable smile again.   -�Because she -(TM)s not my naked angel
-�

   Marion thought back to his comment when she had given him her coat.  
-�How do you know that? -� The words came slowly, for she feared the reply.

    -�How could I forget the body of my naked angel, those magnificent
breasts hanging before my face as you led me back into the light.  I really
thought I was dead you know, and but I saw your genitalia -- --..  Angels
aren -(TM)t supposed  -- -�

   Not liking the way the conversation had turned Marion cut in sharply 
-�yes I know all that, but I thought you couldn -(TM)t remember anything -�

    -�Ah -� he said, the smile back on his face.   -�I lied.  That pesky
journalist.  On and on she went.  I -(TM)m glad your friend has taken the
credit, if that -(TM)s the right way of putting it.  That annoying Miss
Lewis will leave me alone now -�

    -�So you knew all along that Linda wasn -(TM)t the Naked Angel, but
decided to keep quiet about it -�

   Tomas nodded and smiled warmly.

   Marion let out her breath slowly.   -�You should have invited her if you
wanted to maintain the pretence -� Marion told him  -�she -(TM)d have come.
-� She paused,  -�Naked -� Hell she thought, if Julie Lewis could sniff a
story she -(TM)d have come too, even if it meant dressing for the shower.

   Tomas paused before replying  -�If I invited Linda, what excuse would I
have for asking you to come with her -�

    -�Good point -� she told him.

    -�Besides I am seeing her next week -�

   Marion sat up quickly.  Tomas -(TM) attention shifted to her chest which
was performing some interesting vibrations.  Before she could press him
further Tomas asked for her order.

    -�Oh, er -� a flustered Marion clutched the menu.   -�I -(TM)ll have
the warm chicken salad and the sea bass with the sauce -� she told him
finally.

    -�Would madam like some wine -�

    -�Er no, I -(TM)ll stick to water -� Marion said firmly, not wanting to
take anything away from the experience.  She was savouring this, and
besides, she did have the car.  Tomas smiled his enigmatic smile and
vanished to the kitchen.  Marion looked around, the restaurant was small,
seating at most thirty people.  Tomorrow it would be full of life and the
idle chatter of carefree young lovers, coupled with exuberant parties of
work friends.  Marion smiled, wondering who would sit where she sat now, in
the centre of room looking towards the pale yellow light from the street
lamps that leaked through the blinds.  She smiled, for never in their
wildest dreams would anyone think a middle aged woman, somebody they wouldn
-(TM)t look at twice in the street, had sat here wearing a sensible pair of
shoes.

   The door from the kitchen creaked open and Tomas appeared with her salad
and a bottle of sparkling water which he opened with a flourish.  Marion
felt the spray from the escaping fizz across her breasts, her nipples
stiffened in an instant reaction to the cool mist of water that hung in the
air.  Ever solicitous and highly observant of his naked guest Tomas asked
if she was cold.

    -�No -� she replied  -�I -(TM)ll be fine, you -(TM)d be surprised how
your body reacts to the smallest of temperature changes when you are naked
-� There she -(TM)d said it at last; the N word and the spell that hung in
the air was broken.

    -�Not that I mind -� Tomas began,  -�but why did you decide to eat
naked? -�

   Marion looked at him sharply,  -�you put it in the invitation -� she
said, all the warmth drained from her voice.

    -�No I didn -(TM)t -� he replied in a manner of fact way

    -�Yes you -- -� Marion -(TM)s voice tailed off into a long groan.  She
slapped her hand to her forehead.  The words of the invitation were burnt
onto the back of her eyelids.  She had read it over and over again as she
sat, nude of course, in the kitchen in the wee small hours of the morning
when only ghosts and the bare naked females of Belvior Avenue stalked the
pale streets.  She nearly had a seizure of her own when Brian had burst
naked into the kitchen overflowing with news of Dick Standing -(TM)s night
stalking.  Fortunately he was so wrapped up in his own righteous
indignation he never noticed his own nudity let alone the stiff card in his
wife -(TM)s fingers.

    -�Dress code none -� Marion muttered as she looked deep into Tomas O
-(TM)Sullivan -(TM)s brown eyes.   -�You meant I could wear what I wished
and I thought -- -- -- what a fool am I -�

    -�Perhaps -� Tomas said gently  -�you are wearing what you really want
to wear -�

   Marion stared through him into the distance.  Her thoughts churned and
set as fast as reinforced concrete.  She reluctantly realised he was right,
she was nude and very pleased to be so.

    -�You may be right -� she agreed with a rueful smile.

   Tomas smiled and with a shout of  -�Sea Bass -� was gone leaving Marion
alone once again.  Gingerly she stood up and, shyly at first, strolled
around the restaurant.  This to her was heaven, wandering bare through the
closely packed tables, feeling the soft air against her body, the warmth of
a wall heater against her thighs.  Such freedom she thought, as she stood
by the door, just a thin pane of glass between her and the world, a flimsy
blind hiding her bare body from passers by in the street.  Pulling the
curtain slightly she peeked out into the street.  It was as naked as she;
the fog was still down, blanketing her from the prying eyes of the outside
world.

    -�It -(TM)s ready -� Thomas said.  She turned to see him holding two
plates.   -�Do you mind if I eat with you -�

   Marion returned to her seat and spread her serviette across her lap. 
How bizarre she thought as she removed it again.  What was the point; she
was wearing no clothes to stain.  A moment later she understood that the
napkin protected more than clothes as a potion of her perfectly cooked fish
fell from her fork into the hot cream sauce.  Marion winced as it splashed
her groin.  She carefully wiped it from her skin and placed the cloth once
more in her lap.

    -�How did you track me down? -� Marion asked Tomas quietly.

   He took a breath and let it slowly, almost a sigh.   -�After I got out
of hospital I was haunted about that night.  I could have died in that
alleyway.  I would have died but for you -� A calm silence filled the room.
Marion looked at Tomas and smiled.   -�Perhaps I should have died there -�
he continued.  He smiled at Marion -(TM)s frown,  -�No, no dear lady I am
glad to be alive and know how lucky it was that you found me, and was
prepared to help me, given your state of undress. -� He looked down at
Marion -(TM)s bare body.  For the first time in many months Marion found
she was blushing at her exposure.  -�What I am trying to say is that
perhaps it was my fate. -� He paused, his mouth moving as he tried to find
the words.   -�Why did I keep gong back?  I don -(TM)t know.  Perhaps I am
like the eels that thrive in the long straight dark waterways of the
fenlands.  I -(TM)ve read about them, you know.  At some point in their
lives they feel a nagging pull, an ancient call, dragging them down the
rivers into the sea where they undertake an enormous journey.  They cross
the mighty ocean to a small patch of water where they spawn and die.  At
least I think they die, I -(TM)m not too sure of their fate. -� He smiled
at Marion,  -�Since my death, and rebirth, I have been like the eel, and
that alley next to your house is my Sargasso Sea pulling me across the
town. I look into its dark mouth and -- -- -�

    -�What? -� asked Marion encouragingly, wondering all the while if Tomas
really had recovered from his stroke.

    -~I might be stark naked, -(TM) she thought to herself,  -~but at least
I -(TM)m not stark raving bonkers. -(TM)

    -�I feel the dark alleyway wants me, I -(TM)m the one that got away and
that -(TM)s against its rules.  So I stood there in the deep shadows
waiting.  Waiting to see if I will be allowed to continue in this life -�
He sighed and smiled,  -�and then one bible black night it happened, first
your neighbour, as naked as the day she was born.  I thought for a moment
she was you, as she was nude, but I noticed she was not as well endowed. -�
He gestured towards Marion -(TM)s breasts that hung before him in all their
majesty.  She was sitting forward, one hand on her chin.   -�Go on -� she
said quietly.  He had all her attention now.   -�I was about to follow when
I heard voices.  Firstly a man, I couldn -(TM)t make out what he said, but
he wasn -(TM)t comfortable -�

   Marion wasn -(TM)t comfortable either, she squirmed in her seat as the
memory of that awful night in the woods crept into her mind.   -~Say it isn
-(TM)t so -(TM) she prayed to herself.

    -�Then you spoke, how could I forget that voice.   -~Yours -(TM) you
told your husband just before you strode across the road.  I watched you
both and followed you down the back alley -�

   Marion bit her lip as her thoughts ranged through that evening.  Linda
and Tomas out and about, and she was unaware of either of them.  The street
with no name was as busy as the Tokyo subway.  Of one thing she was
completely sure; Brian must never get to know any of this, all hell would
break loose if he did.

    -�And how long ago was this? -� she asked, although she knew damn well
to the nearest second when he -(TM)d caught her.

    -�Some months now -� Thomas admitted  -�I -(TM)ve had a long time to
think on what to do -�

    -�And are you still drawn back to the street with no name -� she asked
quietly.

    -�No, now I have found you that compulsion has left me -�

   Marion thanked whatever gods may be for that small mercy.

    -�But I will be there next week -�

   A sudden squall blew into Marion -(TM)s sunny day.  -�I -(TM)m going to
thank my naked angel. -�

    -�I thought you were thanking me? -�

    -�I am, but Julie Lewis doesn -(TM)t know that.  I -(TM)m going to see
your naked neighbour.  Make a good spread for the paper -�

    -�But you know, and Linda knows, that she isn -(TM)t the naked Angel of
Belvoir Avenue -�

    -�Ha! -� he announced gleefully  -�there -(TM)s the rub, neither Linda
nor Julie know that I know.  Besides there never was a naked angel, it was
just the ramblings of my oxygen starved brain -�

   Marion was beginning to get confused.  Tomas tapped his head and gave
her conspiratorial wink.   -�I remember nothing -� He smiled,  -�your
secret will be safe with me -�

   Marion sighed with relief,  -�If you don -(TM)t mind, I think I may be
out that day -�

    -�Wise move, I -(TM)m not really looking forward to it, myself.  What
possessed your neighbour to admit she was the angel? -�

    -�A tricky situation involving our nosey neighbour, peeping Bob, and
his zoom lens -� she explained.   -�Admitting she was the angel put her in
a better light -�

    -�But she has stolen your Florence Nightingale image -�

    -�I don -(TM)t think Florence Nightingale attended to the wounded and
dying of the Crimean War in the buff.  Mind you, it might have improved
their survival rate.  Or at least they would have died happy -�

   As if someone somewhere had suddenly pressed a switch Tomas changed the
subject.

    -�How did you enjoy the fish? -�

    -�Delightful -� she answered truthfully.

    -�And what would the lady like for desert? -� he asked, solicitously
passing her the menu.

   Marion lent over to pick her handbag to remove her glasses case.  Like a
dreamer lost in a crazy dream, Tomas watched her breasts swaying.  He
marvelled at how she could sit in his restaurant, like any other diner,
perusing the menu, half moon glasses on her nose and not a stitch covering
her fine body.

    -�I think I -(TM)ll have the baked pear -� she told him brightly,
thrusting the menu towards his hand.  She smiled at him as she removed her
glasses and returned them to their hard red case which she closed with a
sudden snap.

    -�I -(TM)ll be about ten minutes, madam -� he replied, suddenly the
professional waiter once more.

    -�Could you direct me to the bathroom -� Marion requested rising to her
feet.  She felt the heat of the candle close to her skin as Tomas pointed
to a door at the back of the room.  She fervently hoped it was heated.

    -�Thank you -� she said and headed off, leaving him to admire her ample
buttocks swaying like a child -(TM)s swing in the summer breeze.

   It wasn -(TM)t the warmest restaurant toilet she had visited, but it
would suffice.  As Marion checked her makeup in the mirror she wondered why
she was bothering.  -�Let -(TM)s face it Marion, -� she told herself, as
she caught sight of her nipples on full alert  -�who -(TM)s going to be
looking at your face. -� She gave herself a wicked grin, winked once and
headed out into the restaurant.  Just to her left she noticed the kitchen
door.

    -�Is it Ok to come in? -� she asked poking her head around the door.

    -�Sure, sure -� Tomas told her,  -�I -(TM)m nearly ready -�

   The kitchen was pristine, stainless steel everywhere.  Marion caught a
glimpse of her reflection.  It was far kinder than the mirror in the
bathroom.  Tomas was bent over a large white rectangular plate.  She
watched as he placed a perfectly cooked pear, upright and slightly offset
from centre.  With commendable concentration considering the nearby
presence of a naked woman he surrounded the pear with an artistic spiral of
sauce.

    -�Not too close -� he warned without looking up.   -�We don -(TM)t want
any spare hairs -�

    -�Oh sorry -� she said running her fingers through her hair.  She
looked at her hand.  Unlike poor Brian none had come loose.

    -�The long ones are easy to spot -� Tomas told her,  -�it -(TM)s the
short and curly ones we have to worry about! -�

   Marion -(TM)s blush started at her face and spread down her chest,
colouring her breasts as bright as that of a robin on a Christmas card.

    -�After you -� he told her, plate in hand and napkin over his arm. 
Marion returned to her table.

    -�I hope you enjoy -� he told her.

    -�Will you not sit with me? -�

    -�I will for coffee.  Have to watch what I eat now the doctors  --.you
know.  Shall I make you some? -�

    -�Yes please -�

   The pear was delicious of course.

    -�How was your meal? -� asked Tomas as he placed a large French press,
a small pot of cream, a bowl of brown rocky sugar and two cups onto the not
so pristine table cloth.

    -�Magnificent -�

    -�A small price for my life I assure you -� he replied.

    -�I did what anybody would have done -�

    -�But you weren -(TM)t wearing what anyone usually wears -� he told
her.

    -�I wasn -(TM)t actually wearing anything -� she commented with a small
laugh.  Tomas laughed too, just enough to be polite.

   A silence fell as he looked her in the eyes, not the breast, not the
groin, but deep into her eyes, as if he was weighing her soul.

    -�You look tired -� he told her

   She smiled  -�Too many late nights -- -- or early mornings. -� She
shrugged.  Too many midnights -�

    -�Why do you do it, Marion? -� he asked.

   She paused and looked at him, saw the sadness in his eyes.   -�The fish
was beautiful, fresh, delicately cooked, but why did you add the sauce -�

   He exhaled briefly, a small snort through his nose.   -�To add spice -�

   Marion raised her eyebrows and looked at him.  She said nothing, she had
made her point.

    -�But surely there are other ways to make life less dull -�

   Marion interrupted  -�My life isn -(TM)t dull, being naked makes it
exciting.  When the story of the naked angel broke, I was the last person
on the street -(TM)s list.  Marion Shaw, staid and conservative; never,
ever.  Clothed I blend into the crowd.  Even you didn -(TM)t notice me -�

    -�Not true.  I recognised you straight away when you crossed the road.
-�

    -�Because I was naked.  You didn -(TM)t pay me any attention when I was
dressed. -�

    -�I -(TM)ve never seen you with clothes on -� he protested.

    -�But you have, I sat at this very table last Wednesday lunchtime -�

    -�Surely, I would have -�

    -�I was with friends from work, six of us in all, a couple of tall thin
exuberant blondes in the shortest skirts you have ever seen.  And you
noticed them I can tell you.  The blonde is straight from the bottle by the
way, believe me, I -(TM)ve seen the evidence.  I sat next to a nondescript
woman with severe hair.  Between us were two long thin streaks of manhood,
in shiny suits and pink socks.  You even took our orders. -�

   He paused for a moment before continuing  -�Ah yes, I remember the table
now; the girls told me they were celebrating a successful business deal. -�
He looked mortified as he tried to recall Marion.

    -�I was wearing a dark blue business suit.  I -(TM)m not a creative,
just a part time accountant.  Dull, you see -�

   Marion smiled, it was a complete lie but it was fun to see him flounder
like a beached fish.  Could he really believe that the staff of PDQ would
ever venture into this restaurant?  Not that there was anything wrong with
it in her eyes, but advertising executives hunted a different prairie, one
full of steel and glass, where modern art stared down from pale pastel
walls.

    -�I -(TM)m sorry, we were busy and --. -�

   Marion let out the line and tossed him back into the sea  -�It -(TM)s
Ok, but I think I -(TM)ve made my point. -�

   Then she hooked him again, and tugged hard at the rod.   -�Of course if
you had come to the office you would have had no trouble recognising me -�

    -�Of course, I was just busy in the restaurant, believe me it -(TM)s
manic at lunch, the time is just a blur, Had I been in the office I would
definitely recognised the woman who saved my life. -� He blustered.

    -�Of course you would, -� Marion smiled indulgently,  -�after all I
would have been wearing my lifesaving outfit -�

   Tomas -(TM) eyes were on stalks -� I don -(TM)t understand -�

   Marion gazed at him and even non committal stare.  She watched the truth
spread across his face like the dawn  -�But surely -� he began.

   She cut him off.   -�Yes, it -(TM)s a naked office -� He opened his
mouth and gulped, no words would come.   -�Look, if I was a free fall
parachutist would you be saying this?  No.  If I went scuba diving as a
hobby?  Again no -�

   Tomas backed down, and tried to change the subject.   -�So how did your
little group of nudists  --. -� He was struggling for words now.

   Marion interrupted again -� Get together?  We didn -(TM)t, I started out
my own, they had no idea about me until -- --. -�

    -�you rescued me -� Tomas completed her sentence.

    -�Oh no, my family knew about my nakedness by then -�

    -�How did they take that news?

    -�I didn -(TM)t exactly sit them down and tell them -�

    -�Oh? -� he said, head to one side, enquiry all over his face like the
measles.

   Marion squirmed in her seat, not so easy with a bare behind.

    -�Well, I set my daughter up.  I bought her a new dress for Christmas.
I knew it would rub against her Eco warrior principles so I pretended to
throw a tantrum and stripped off in front of them in a fit of righteous
indignation.  You should have seen my husband -(TM)s face.  I had trouble
not laughing. -� She paused, slowly sucking in her breath before continuing
soberly  -�mind you it backfired because the next time I saw Isla she was
stark naked too, and that ultimately led to the air con protests and now
the whole world has seen her in the nude -�

    -�And your husband?  He had no inkling of what was going on? -�

    -�Mmm, I -(TM)m not sure about that, I thought I had been pretty
careful, but I -(TM)ve a sneaky feeling he knew. -�

    -�And is he happy with your unusual living arrangements? -�

    -�Oh yes and no -� Marion continued giving Tomas a dirty look,  -�He
-(TM)s happy for me to be naked at home, not so happy elsewhere.  He -(TM)d
blow a thirty amp fuse if he knew where I was now -�

    -�I assumed that as he was as keen as mustard since he was out and
about with you that night -�

   Marion interrupted,  -�The one and only night --..  although I have a
plan.  I should say we have a plan, as Linda is up for it too -�

    -�And how did you convert her -� Tomas asked with a curiosity that
burnt brighter than a six year old boy seeing his first dinosaur.

    -�I didn -(TM)t, she converted me --..so she thinks -�

   Tomas shook his head trying to force out his woolly thoughts.  He was
truly lost now.

    -�The story of the Naked Angel spurred her on to try being naked
inside, and then outside of the house. -� This time Tomas did understand. 
-�I guess she tried and got to like it. -� Tomas started to shake his head
again.

    -�Don -(TM)t you shake your head at me Tomas O -(TM)Sullivan, you
should try it yourself -�

   This suggestion was followed by a coughing fit of monumental
proportions.

   Marion began again  -�Once she had tried and got to like it, she
suggested to me that I might give it a go.  So very reluctantly, and after
much persuasion I agreed to try being naked for a short while.  I spent a
long time prevaricating and expressing non existent misgivings before
reluctantly stripping off one warm summer -(TM)s day.  After a suitable
period of embarrassment I grudgingly admitted to Linda that I did quite
enjoy it and suggested we tried it again -�

   Tomas rocked back and fore in his chair at Marion -(TM)s irony.

    -�And working naked? -� he asked as this was the most incredulous of
all in his mind.  -�Oh that was Isla and her protests -� She explained how
she had manoeuvred the staff of PDQ out of their clothing,  -�getting
advertising execs out of their clothes is a bit like shooting fish in a
barrel. -� She told him.   -�Maybe we could have a nude lunch here
sometime, I -(TM)m sure they would be up for it -�

    -�Er well, I -(TM)m not so sure -�

   Neither was Marion.  PDQ would never dine here.  Dining naked, however,
was a distinct possibility, she -(TM)d have to find a way for one of the
girls to come up with idea.

    -�So you are nudists, you and your family? -�

   Marion considered this suggestion, for it was a matter upon which she
had given much thought.

    -�There are two kinds of nudist.  The first kind are people who belong
to a club and hang around naked with like minded people.  My friend Merry
is one of those.  The second kind are people who go nude on holiday at the
beach. -�

    -�So which type of nudist are you? -� Tomas asked not unreasonably.

    -�I -(TM)m the third kind -� Marion replied smartly.

    -�I see -� said Tomas in a voice that clearly showed he didn -(TM)t see
at all.  Marion refused to elaborate.

   Tomas looked at her intently; she was sitting there wearing shoes and a
watch, not forgetting a string of pearls that increased her outfit by fifty
percent.  She looked as calm and cool as you like.  She leant forward and
rested her heavy breasts on the edge of the table.  For once Tomas looked
away from this display to gaze into her eyes, as grey and still as the
midwinter sea; they held a far away look.  Not for the fist time Tomas
thought to himself that, not only was Marion stark naked, she was also
stark raving mad.

   Marion for her part was wondering what to do next, the meal was over,
she didn -(TM)t think she would be asked to pay for it, and was damned if
she was going to.  So they both sat there in a circle of silence waiting
for some sign from the other.

   Eventually Marion cracked,  -�Well thank you for a wonderful evening, I
have to say the meal was delicious -�

   Tomas bowed his head in acknowledgement.  There was no suggestion of a
bill so Marion got up to go.  The look on Tomas -(TM) face stopped her. 
Had she disappointed him?  Oblivious to her nudity Marion had misread the
look of utter astonishment on his face.  Tomas could barely believe the
sight before him, for not a foot from his wide eyes, was the sight that had
woken him from the dead in that dark alleyway all those months ago.  Once
again he was looking straight at the definitive proof of Marion -(TM)s lack
of angelic powers.  Eyes wide open; he was staring right at the hidden
crack in Marion -(TM)s pubic mound.  He could barely miss it, nestling
crinkly pinkly within its little furry coat.

   Oblivious to his scrutiny Marion asked Tomas if the fog had lifted. 
Suddenly snapping his gaze from his Naked Angel -(TM)s proof of her
worldliness, Tomas climbed out of his chair and crossed to the door. 
Pulling the bind slightly to one side he peeked out.   -�Worse if anything
-� he told her.

    -�I fancy a little walk before I go home -� she told him,  -�Care to
accompany me -�

    -�Ok -� he told her  -�I -(TM)ll get our coats -�

   Marion looked around the restaurant, the empty tables and chairs, the
pastel walls with colourful silk screens of local landmarks.  It had
certainly been an experience, she thought.  When Tomas returned he had
already donned a warm winter jacket and scarf.  Ever the gentleman he held
out Marion -(TM)s for her.  His eyes bulged when she told him it was quite
warm out and she didn -(TM)t need it yet.

    -�Come on -� she told him,  -�You can carry it, just in case I need it
-�.  Marion turned on her heel, and a without a moment -(TM)s doubt, strode
out of the restaurant door into the foggy street.  She gasped as the cold
moist air hit her.  This was what she lived for, the chill of the evening,
the thrill of the exposure.

   Behind her Tomas was muttering as he locked the door to La Caprise.  
-�Are you sure about this? -� he asked hesitantly as he stood shivering
clutching Marion -(TM)s coat as if it were the last parachute on a plunging
plane.

    -�Absolutely -� she replied, feeling more alive than ever.   -�Come on,
let -(TM)s go -� And so, without once looking back, the third kind of
nudist strode confidently into the smothering mist, heading towards
Trafalgar Square.
   The End