kitchen a half hour later.
“Yes, Mom? Want to hear a song? I’ve got ‘Oh Susannah’ almost figured out. At least, the first part of it.” The absolute best thing was that, unlike the harmonica, he could sing along with the accordion. That meant he could make twice as much music at once.
“Not right now. But you know what I was thinking. I’ll bet that your music would sound even nicer if you played it outdoors.”
“Okay, Mom.” Torchie carried his accordion outside. What a great idea. The sun seemed to be smiling at him, just waiting for a song.
He discovered he liked to stand in the yard near the kitchen so his mom could still enjoy the music. But she’d started keeping the window closed, even though the weather was getting warmer. When he asked her about it, she explained that she liked it really hot in the kitchen so it was easier to cook stuff.To help her hear better, he moved closer to the window. That way, she wouldn’t miss any of his music.
Soon after that, his mom had told him, “It doesn’t seem right that I’m the only one enjoying this. Music is meant to be shared. I’ll bet some of our neighbors would like to hear how well you’re playing.”
“That’s a great idea.” Torchie had gone up the street to Mrs. Muller’s house. He knocked on her door and waited for her to come to the porch. Then he played his best song for her.
“Want to hear another?” he asked.
“Why, Philip, I think your music is so beautiful, you should share it with lots of people. I’d feel selfish if you just played for me.”
So he’d gone to the next house on the block, and then the next. Everyone loved his music so much, they told him he really needed to share it with other people. Some of them even gave him rides to houses far down the road. People in Yertzville really did love their neighbors and look out for them.
As far as Torchie could tell, they also traveled quite a bit. A lot of folks didn’t seem to be home when he knocked, even if their lights were on and their cars were in the driveway. It didn’t matter. Torchie was even happy playing for himself.
lucky has left
the building
“ PHILLY,” LUCKY SAID .
“What?” the nurse asked.
“I gotta go to Philadelphia,” Lucky told her. He hated cities. There was lost stuff all over the place, calling out to him. Walking down a city street was like sticking his head into a room with a thousand televisions. But it didn’t matter how much he hated cities. He had to go to Philadelphia. That was the strongest voice. The one that almost drowned out all the others. That was the voice that knew him.
“Easy there,” the nurse said, smiling at him as she held out his medicine.
Lucky gulped down the pills, not even bothering with water, then fell back on the bed as the wonderful numbness flowed through his mind, smothering all of the voices. They were still there, but they didn’t seem to matter.
“Lucky,” they whispered, calling him by a nickname that was pathetically inaccurate. He’d never had any real luck, except for meeting the guys. Thanks to them, a normal life had seemed possible after he’d left Edgeview. As he drifted into thecomfort of nothingness, he saw the moment when it had all come apart.
At first, school hadn’t been bad. He did okay in his classes and even made a couple friends. He thought he’d escaped his past. Until early last February, when they’d moved to the new building. That’s when it all went horribly wrong.
As the door to his room closed, he heard the nurse say, “Doctor, I think we’ve made a breakthrough. He talked to me. He actually made sense.”
“That’s encouraging. What did he say?”
“He wants to go to Philadelphia.”
cheater discovers that
poker is a contact sport
THE FIRST PUNCH knocked Cheater to the floor. Flashes of pain mixed in his mind with flashes of panic and scattered fragments of the laws of motion. Good old Newtonian physics. Equal and opposite reactions. A body at rest.
“Yes, Mom? Want to hear a song? I’ve got ‘Oh Susannah’ almost figured out. At least, the first part of it.” The absolute best thing was that, unlike the harmonica, he could sing along with the accordion. That meant he could make twice as much music at once.
“Not right now. But you know what I was thinking. I’ll bet that your music would sound even nicer if you played it outdoors.”
“Okay, Mom.” Torchie carried his accordion outside. What a great idea. The sun seemed to be smiling at him, just waiting for a song.
He discovered he liked to stand in the yard near the kitchen so his mom could still enjoy the music. But she’d started keeping the window closed, even though the weather was getting warmer. When he asked her about it, she explained that she liked it really hot in the kitchen so it was easier to cook stuff.To help her hear better, he moved closer to the window. That way, she wouldn’t miss any of his music.
Soon after that, his mom had told him, “It doesn’t seem right that I’m the only one enjoying this. Music is meant to be shared. I’ll bet some of our neighbors would like to hear how well you’re playing.”
“That’s a great idea.” Torchie had gone up the street to Mrs. Muller’s house. He knocked on her door and waited for her to come to the porch. Then he played his best song for her.
“Want to hear another?” he asked.
“Why, Philip, I think your music is so beautiful, you should share it with lots of people. I’d feel selfish if you just played for me.”
So he’d gone to the next house on the block, and then the next. Everyone loved his music so much, they told him he really needed to share it with other people. Some of them even gave him rides to houses far down the road. People in Yertzville really did love their neighbors and look out for them.
As far as Torchie could tell, they also traveled quite a bit. A lot of folks didn’t seem to be home when he knocked, even if their lights were on and their cars were in the driveway. It didn’t matter. Torchie was even happy playing for himself.
lucky has left
the building
“ PHILLY,” LUCKY SAID .
“What?” the nurse asked.
“I gotta go to Philadelphia,” Lucky told her. He hated cities. There was lost stuff all over the place, calling out to him. Walking down a city street was like sticking his head into a room with a thousand televisions. But it didn’t matter how much he hated cities. He had to go to Philadelphia. That was the strongest voice. The one that almost drowned out all the others. That was the voice that knew him.
“Easy there,” the nurse said, smiling at him as she held out his medicine.
Lucky gulped down the pills, not even bothering with water, then fell back on the bed as the wonderful numbness flowed through his mind, smothering all of the voices. They were still there, but they didn’t seem to matter.
“Lucky,” they whispered, calling him by a nickname that was pathetically inaccurate. He’d never had any real luck, except for meeting the guys. Thanks to them, a normal life had seemed possible after he’d left Edgeview. As he drifted into thecomfort of nothingness, he saw the moment when it had all come apart.
At first, school hadn’t been bad. He did okay in his classes and even made a couple friends. He thought he’d escaped his past. Until early last February, when they’d moved to the new building. That’s when it all went horribly wrong.
As the door to his room closed, he heard the nurse say, “Doctor, I think we’ve made a breakthrough. He talked to me. He actually made sense.”
“That’s encouraging. What did he say?”
“He wants to go to Philadelphia.”
cheater discovers that
poker is a contact sport
THE FIRST PUNCH knocked Cheater to the floor. Flashes of pain mixed in his mind with flashes of panic and scattered fragments of the laws of motion. Good old Newtonian physics. Equal and opposite reactions. A body at rest.
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