“Miss?”

“Yes, pet?”

“May I please think?”

The woman laughed, so beautiful and genuine. It was a sound that would always fill the girlpet with pleasure, knowing that she was pleased and happy.

“Oh, pet, how long did it take to make that question?”

“A half hour,” the girlpet answered automatically. Indeed, she had been drifting thoughtlessly on the floor before the woman, when the concept floated into her mind, and she let it come to the surface and to her lips. She kept getting distracted by the feet on her back and her own mindless…….

“Well, you certainly may not think right now,” came the words, and they whited our her thoughts again, “but I do find it acceptable to ask.”

“Yes, Miss,” she droned, and returned further into blankness and obedience.