‘ cute, a charmer —-  ’  her back laid on the ground, focus set into the night sky and she laughed. did she know what they say about crossroads? of course, she did ——- did she believe the stories??? of course she did. was she about to talk to this stranger all about it? no. of course not. ‘ must’ve gotten left off the syllabus. okay then stranger, why don’t you tell me all they say?

’

_{‘ i’ve been called worse before. ’    then again, he would have been called worse simply by existing. waking up in the morning would have amounted to the exact same thing in his mind, ‘     then again, things change – especially round these parts. just don’t see people like you out here,    ’   he mused. ‘ at least these days that have no clue in the world what lurks around these parts.   ’}