Take 1 (utter inspiration fail)
Crows gather where…
Derek dove into the room face first. The door swung back against the wall with a crash as he skidded across the floor on his stomach. Paper cranes blew off the tables
“Ouch.” I winced.
“Derek, you moron, if you’ve crumpled any of those, I will break your nose again.” Huni said but her eyes never left the pink square of paper between her hands.
Take 2
Crows gather where the saints fall
All Agnes wanted for her birthday was a picnic in the woods. With ice cream and lemonade and peanut butter raspberry jam sandwiches and dill pickles and cake. It didn’t seem like too much to ask for for her one and only sixth birthday.
Six was ages older than five. Six year olds could go to sleep away camp and play on baseball teams. Six meant riding the long yellow bus, a matching lunchbox and backpack, and spelling bees.
S-U-P-E-R-C-A-L-I-
Agnes pulled the Velcro straps tight. She wiggled her feet and scrutinized the sparkly pink runners. Were they on the right feet?
F-R-A-G-I-L-I-S-T-I-C
She stood up and jumped up and down a couple times. They felt alright but she’d been wrong before. “You are lucky you don’t have shoes.” Agnes told Gus. She blew a kiss at him through the bars but he was entranced by the carrot from lunch.
E-X-P-E-A-L-I-
She held both her arms out for balance going down the stairs, hopping over every third step. After all, you can never be too careful about monsters. Every jump shook her hat off balance until, as she hit the landing, it tumbled off and hung from its ribbon. Hmmm… Agnes squinted against the sun and dusties. Eight steps went from the landing to the floor. She bent her knees and stretched out her arms.
D-O-C-I-O-U-S
But she didn’t float like the sun-dusties. Her knees hit the floor first, then her chin but her tongue hurt the worst where it caught between her teeth. Poop!
“Agnes!” Footsteps and worry noises came whirling down the long hallway. “What were you doing?”
“Falling.” Agnes blinked back tears. Blood was welling up on one of her knees. She hoped this wouldn’t ruin her picnic plans. Mama had already made the sandwiches and cake but it would spoil everything to eat them inside at a table.
And she really really wanted to show Mama and Dadda the sparkly gate by the willow tree. Then they could tell her why it was sometimes invisible and couldn’t be rained on and smelled like vanilla without being baked.
And whether it was okay to ride a unicorn when he invites you to tea.
