Only suggesting the Victorian solution. They were notorious for padding everything from bosoms to novels. LOL

I have yet to read anything of yours in which every single word was not necessary. I think you will probably just have to bite your pen, so to speak, and let it be the length it wants to be. That is what you have said to me and been right.

I like the skeleton as a user-pic, too. It, for some reason, resonates with me.