1: the trees were bent over like her mother sometimes the bells rang on their own-- but no one would admit it five pieces of his heart lay on the oak floor she picked up one, two, three and then stopped suddenly stop watches are all she ever wanted for christmas. and she got them. amen his jeans wore him as he tipped his dusty hat. the ladiesfanned themselves faster. roses flew out of her nose. a lilac bush blossomed around her left eye. three petal teeth dropped to the ground.
2: the blueberries made him sick. she was so happy she wished on a tulip not knowing it was supposed to be a dead dandelion gorgeous! oh gorgeous! ooooooh, yeah. smack it down slow, shelby. and the small mountain of wrappers left them wondering why everything had to be so very sick its the recipe for disaster, not love on that tattered notecard. "forget it" he said to the closed door. it was awhile before he walked away.
3: her hair always looked like morning her tiny fingers held onto his collar bone she had never known how soft a bone could be that's my toe you just stepped on polar bear skin wrapped around her shoulders-- a thing she never imagined would touch her skin. but that was only the beginning. tick tock tickety tock went the big brown bear fuzzy spanked the clock --tick tock tickety tock if you don't stop looking at her you'll turn to sand and everyone will be sorry. and sandy.
4: donko sat up straight he could feel that his shirt was no longer yellow a carpet ride of bicycles, kites and mad men that's what was promised to the children one late night that's just the fool in all of us. talking bullshit and asking foreverything he fed his father grapes, he never thought twice until he saw the look in his mother's eyes that october night don't pick up the gate! it's broken. leave it. as it should be. too many visitors coming by to stare. a hawk came through the blue moon bloody beak, broken claws and one eye determined to keep flying.