I recently received this message from a person who will remain nameless:

"It's a lovely story on your blog. Very touching. But, truthfully, I'd kind of like it to stop touching me now. It's nothing, just a personal space thing. I mean, it was fine at first, but the story needs to know when enough is enough. Could you please ask it? But nicely, I don't want to hurt its feelings."

My answer:

No. No, I cannot ask my story to stop touching you. If you ask it yourself then maybe it will stop and perhaps actually start to learn when to stop touching people. I agree that the story is a bit much, but the only way it can grow is through honest interaction--honest interaction that cannot take place if people aren't up-front and honest with it. You may hurt its feelings, but you'll also give it a gift worth far more than politeness.

In other news, there's a bear on the loose!!!