Strays, First Edition: A Thought Once Uttered Is Untrue

1. She dreamt, a room. A puzzle. Hovered above concrete gray air heavy as a swamp. There were gossamer tentacles of string and she gathered them into a bunch. She pulled. The room fell together.

2. No time to think for walking.

3. The world was ending, I thought. Outside the tulips stood too still. Inside there were three of us: the woman in the yellow dress who was still silent,the old woman with a face like a dumpling, and me.

4. I want to map you out.

5. The orange of streetlamps bursting in the held breath of the fog and the heartbeats of ceiling fans on the top floors of distant buildings.