For a blind date, it had really turned out well. We'd gone out to a movie, had dinner afterward and I'd returned her safe and sound to her brother's apartment where she was spening the weekend.

"Well, it's been nice, Loyal" her brother ws saying. "My wife and I are getting sleepy so I guess we will be going to bed now." I had almost resigned myself to a good night kiss and a long drive home when I suddenly got this brilliant idea.

"The couch makes out into a bed, right?" I asked her brother.

"Uh.......yeah. It's where my sister will be sleeping tonight." he replied.

"How about I sleep on the couch with your sister and drive home in the morning?" I asked with the most innocent voice I could manage on the spur of the moment.

"This is my sister you are talking about." her brother said ominnously. "You ain't sleeping with my sister under MY roof."

"We could 'bundle' " I said hopefully.

I went on to explain what 'bundling' was. A board or some other sort of partition would be placed between the young man and woman and, while they might be able to hold hands or even share a kiss, nothing further would be possible.

The sister looked interested, the wife looked amused, but the brother was doubtful as could be.

As the wife began to make the couch into a bed, I continued with my desperate plea.

"The leaf to the kitchen table" I said. We could prop the leaf up with pillows on each side and it would partition the two of us just fine. All of us would get a great night's sleep and I wouldn't fall asleep driving home, wreak my car and maybe br paralyzed for the rest of my life." I was obviously clutching at straws at this point.

"It sounds like fun, Don." Cindy told her brother. "I won't let Loyal get too fresh and I'm sure he will be a gentleman about it." I sat there, doing my very best to look like an alterboy while the brother considered the matter.

"OK, I guess we could try it, but remember.........I'm a light sleeper and I'll be checking on you two all during the night."

So that's what we did. The couch/bed was partioned in half, Don's sister went into the bedroom to put on pajamas and I used the bathroom to put on a pair of Don's pajamas. Under Don's watchful and somewhat dubious gaze, his sister and I climbed into our respective sides of the bed.

I made a big show of yawning and turning my back to the partition and Cindy did the same. A few minutes passed and she and I finally heard the bedroom door close. Cindy and I both turned toward the partition at the same time.

"AHA!" It was Don. He hadn't gone into the bedroom after all.

"I knew I couldn't trust you two."

"Don" I said indignitly. "I was just going to tell her goodnight. You must really have a dirty mind."

"Yeah, Don." Cindy told him. "We weren't gonna do anything. Just say goodnight is all."

Don stood there uncertainly for a moment, then said. "Ok, but I'll be listening in the bedroom. We both watched as he walked into the bedroom and closed the door.

The door hadn't been closed ten seconds before we were kissing. Propped up on our elbows to kiss over the partition wasn't all that easy to do, so I was trying to slide the partition down to the foot of the bed when Don's door opened and he walked back into the living room.

"Need a glas of water." he announced as he walked by the couch. I swear, it must have taken him ten minutes to break out some ice cubes, pour and drink that ^#$#$@$&&*^%$# glass of water.

When the bedroom again closed behind him, I propped myself up on my elbows and looked over the bundling board.

"Cindy?" I whispered. There was no reply.

"Psssst! Hey, Cindy." I whispered more loudly.

There was no answer. Cindy was sound asleep.

Well, that's about it. Cindy slept soundly all night. She even snored a little just before dawn. It was the worst night's sleep I can recall ever having. Or NOT having might be a better way of describing it. Take my word for it, folks. Bundling ain't near as much fun as it's made out to be in history books.