By Timothy Lantz

As I sat down and began to type this e-mail a very curious conversation began between Ozymandias, my somewhat heavy-set feline companion, and myself.

"What exactly are you doing?" Asked the cat.

"I'm writing a letter of introduction, or rather, an e-mail of introduction as it were."

"And precisely what do you expect to gain from such folly?" His question, punctuated with a yawn, still managed to retain its condescending tone.

"The acquaintance of a most wondrous and enchanting young woman," I replied.

"Bah, you're wasting your time. What would she, or anyone else for that matter, see in you."

"Ozymandias, what a horribly unfair question. Why I have a considerable many things to offer."

"Name two," he purred.

"Well, for starters, I'm creative."

"Uh huh, you and every other web developer. Making your 'house page' thinking yourself clever, with your amateur fiction and so-called 'art.' A real creative person would've at least had a movie deal by now."

I gave him a stern look and briefly considered putting him out for the night, but alas it was only afternoon.

"Well? Go on. Let's hear number two."

"Alright, two. I'm…" It was then that it suddenly dawned on me. He was right. I wasn't special. I was just like every other frustrated artist wannabe, desperately trying to reach for something, anything, beyond my grasp. Perhaps this beautiful vision of a woman on the screen before me was just another attempt to escape the mundane existence I had managed to carve out for myself in this world.

"Well?"

"Not now Ozymandias. I'm no longer so eager to chase dreams." With a sigh of resignation, I rose from the computer and wandered off in search of some new books to help me escape the confines of my life.

Ozymandias watched me depart the room and then gracefully leaped onto the desk. Briefly, he sat there transfixed by the image of the young woman on the screen, his tail swishing.

"She is very beautiful," he thought as his paws gently struck the keyboard.