Story Branch
Once
bitten,
twice
shy.
That's
what
my
mother
always
used
to
say
anyway.
She
had
a
way
of
turning
life's
hard
lessons
into
bite-sized
wisdom,
neatly
packaged
for
my
young
mind.
It
was
a
rainy
afternoon
when
I
first
truly
understood
what
she
meant.
[p]
I
was
standing
in
the
dimly
lit
living
room,
the