Excerpts from 'The Army Field Guide… (A to Z)'

Summary: Amongst the Officers of the Very Distinguished Borogravian Army a battered volume can be found stuffed ready to hand in the top of packs, or folded into greatcoat pockets. It has proved invaluable in any number of scenarios, providing advice and occasionally life-saving manoeuvres when faced with an enemy of intelligence. This is not that slightly foxed tome. This is something completely different.

Disclaimer: Terry Pratchett owns the characters and the world they live on. Author is grateful for all the brilliant books and makes no claim of ownership in any way.

Author Note: There will be 26 of these eventually. They will be published in individual chapters, partly to ensure they don't run into each other with an overload of drabbling, partly because they don't occur in any kind of chorological order but instead jump around all over the place. But in truth it's mainly due to the fact U, X and some other annoying letters are really hard to complete and I'll be a Monkey's Uncle before I wait around for the final inspiration. I apologise if this overloads anyone's alert system.

~X~

The Army Field Guide to Abominations, Assessment of: (100 words.)

"Enchanting..."

"Hmm?" Lazy lashes fluttered up.

"I forget sometimes," Mal paused, a delicate fingertip tracing the curve of a collarbone. "In all the hurly burly and light hearted banter I somehow forget just how beautiful you are…"

She hovered over the medallion, nestling in the hollow of a throat.

"…And then you smile and it takes my breath away, every time."

"Mal?" She couldn't be drunk surely, they'd not left the room for the last three hours and all she'd imbibed before that were the usual four espressos.

Clear eyes met Polly's in the late afternoon sunlight.

"Perfect… simply perfect."

~X~