On rainy days, there would be squiggly lines of dead worms scattered all over it. It was like the muddy trenches of Normandy or some such place. Except with worms, of course. But this year This year theres a line of trees Someone said that the person who lived in the house on the other side planted them ages ago because they didnt want to look at and listen to all us kids. Were not that bad looking. Maybe they didnt want to see the dreary defeated worms. But the trees have so much scope for the imagination theyve grown quite a lot and today the sun is out. Theres a little squirrel out therewonder if hes gathering food for his family What if a hawk swooped in right now and just snapped him up by the scruff of his neck His poor family would all cry little acorny tears. Acorny tears I smile, but not enough to give away that Im doing working on homework. Refocusing on a patch of sky, I wonder if Ill ever get to see water precisely that shade of blue, besides in the pictures in magazines that lie around the house. One day Ill travel the world, exploring nooks and crannies. Obsolete nooks and crannies. Wait, not obsolete, ah, the other word. Ob, ob, ob Well, anyway, in some wayside bookstore or coffee shop, I was bound to meet some beautiful, young, foreign man with a passion for books and a heart for music and hell sweep me off my feet and well see Paris and the Taj Mahal and New Zealand and Pst Sam StupidDanielle Duvick.