Norah Watched Him, Serious And Utterly Absorbed

He Fished In His Pocket For His Keys And Instead Pulled Out The Last Geode, Gray And Smooth, Earth-shaped. He Held It, Warming In His Palm, Thinking Of All Mysteries The World Contained: Layers Of Stone, Concealed Beneath The Flesh Of Earth And Grass; These Dull Rocks, With Their Glimmering Hidden Hearts.

...and The Distance Between Them, Millimeters Only, The Space Of A Breath, Opened Up And Deepened, Became A Cavern At Whose Edge He Stood.

Though Lexington Is Not A Small Town, It Sometimes Feels Like One, With Circles Of Acquaintance Overlapping Once, Then Again; The Person You Meet By Chance At The Library Or The Pool May Turn Out To Be The Best Friend Of Your Down-the-street Neighbor. Maybe Thats Why People Are So Friendly Here, So Willing To Be Unhurried.

She Had Died At Age Twelve, And By Now She Was Nothing But The Memory Of Love-- Nothing, Now, But Bones.

Twin Threads Ran Through Her: Fear And Excitement.