suggests she drink some water.

downs a glass of water and hiccups again. "That didn't work...hic!"

"Did you try holding your breath?" She recalls having the hiccups quite often as a child.

holds her breath as long as she can, but still hiccups unhappily.

kneels down by the girl and stares at her to try and calculate the best solution. "How about..we talk about something else so you can forget

about your hiccups?"

"Hic. Okay."

"Um...lets see, shall I tell you a story?" she was suddenly verging into big sister/mother mode, immediately viewing Wy as a child.

nods eagerly. "Yes, please. I do like stories."

smiles glad shes found some common ground with the girl. "Alright, what kind of story would you like?"

seriously for a moment. "Hic..how about a love story?"

Blushes at the idea of having to tell a love story, as her normal inclination would be to have two boys, but she can't do that here can she?

"Um, lets then, what will our main character's name be..."

"...hmm, how about Poland? I met a really cool guy named Poland the other day..."

"P-Poland?" she giggles. The more she thinks about it, Poland is a perfect main character. "Alright, once upon a time there was a fabulous

princess named Poland. Princess Poland loved the color pink, and she loved her pony named...um Petunia."

"Oh! That's just like the Poland I met!"

"Ha, yeah, probably just a coincidence." she smiled, trying not blow her cover. "So anyway, Princess Poland lived in a Ginooooouuuuurmous

castle, but there was a problem with the castle."

eyes wide, now completely into the story. "What was the problem?!"

"Her castle was completely gray." she said gravely. "All boring, washed out cement. It was so boring the servants would fall asleep whenever

they say the wall. It was, as Princess Poland said, 'totally un-fabulous'."

Liz an incredulous look. "But, Poland would never let that happen!"

"No, but you see, the castle was so huge, that there was not enough paint to cover it. Not that that would stop Poland though." she grinned.

smiles. "Now, that sounds like Poland..."

"Poland decided, he must consult a fairy, or some other fabulous being that could conjure him so much pink paint, it could cover his entire

castle." she paused for breath.

"And, then what happened?"

"And so, Poland had to set out, on an important quest of course. The quest to find a paint maker. So Poland headed to the north where he's

heard there's a Snow fairy living."

"And then?"

"And so he reached the Snow fairy's palace, and it was a glistening ice crystal. The fairy had three servants, and the smallest one led

Poland to the Fairy's throne." she paused again, for dramatic effect.

eyes wide, tugs on Liz's sleeve. "But, what happened then?!"

patted the adorable girl's head and continued. "And then, at the Fairy's throne, Poland asked, in a casual manor, if he could get 1000

buckets or pink paint. The Fairy, with her icy gray eyes, looked at him in a cold sort of way. For you see, there was one thing, that

Princess Poland had not counted on."

gasps in horror. "What was it?"

turned grave again. "The one thing he had not counted on, was the beautiful Snow Fairy, was in fact...." she looked right into the young

girl's eyes, "A WITCH!!"

screams in terror, and cowers at Liz's feet.

"And so," she continued hastily, patting the child to remind her it was alright. "The wicked witch locked Princess Poland up in a horrible

tower, a tower without light, sound, or life."

trembles like a leaf. "Then, what happened?"

smiled sweetly at the scared girl. "Well, when a Princess is locked in a tower, someone has to come save her, don't you think?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Right, so who do you think would come to save a princess?"

"Umm... a boyfriend? A brother? Oh, I know, a knight!"

"Yes, exactly! A brave knight had to come to Princess Poland's rescue! Except, the strange thing was, this Knight wasn't all that brave."

looks rather skeptical. "What?! Then how did he save Poland?"

"Well, he wasn't a very brave Knight, but he was a very kind Knight, so even though he was very scared, he courageously climbed the tower

and broke the evil spell cast upon it."

"And then did they fall in love and live happily ever after?"

"Well, sort of, Knight Lithuania was able to find a store with all the pink paint Princess Poland could ever want, and as a reward Poland

gave Lithuania half of his kingdom." she leaned in and whispered in the girl's ear. "But you know what I think?"

"Hmm?"

"I think they both secretly like each other." she smiled, and winked at the girl.

"NO WAY! I GOT THE EXACT SAME IMPRESSION!"

laughs "You see!! And hey, what do you know," she pointed at the girl. "Your hiccups are gone!"

eyes wide she breaks into a grin. "You're right!"

Pats the girls head. "See, there you are, you just needed to stop thinking about those pesky things."

smiles up at Liz. "Thanks!"

"You're welcome dear, any time." she's grown quite attached to Wy and hopes to see her again, perhaps someday her small nation will grow...