corset

It is New Orleans, the Mardi Gras. Costumed people everywhere. One of them, dressed as Catwoman in a shiny black skintight latex body suit, struts haughtily through the swarming crowds, teetering skillfully on her high heeled boots. The suit is a close duplicate of the one worn by Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns: complete with mask and a shiny black leather corset over the suit. She has an angry look in her eye--the look of a woman who has met an unexpected obstacle, but who knows she will overcome it shortly.

Many years ago, there lived in Haarlem, one of the principal cities in Holland, a sunny-haired girl with a gentle disposition. Her father was a sluicer, a very important position. It was his job to open and close the sluice gates as then need arises. It is also a very hard job, for water pressure must be maintained at all time. Should one sluice gate break, the angry waters of the sea would overwhelm further sluice gates and overflow the dikes. As most of Holland is below sea level, such an event would be catastrophic.