i. a castle full of blue fire, so warm the skin falls off. you knock, the knuckles peel. you walk into the devil's living room and on the coffee table is the latest edition of "heaven and hell", showing signs of use—some dog-eared pages, a small stain on page 59. volume 3021 number 3. no one welcomes you home.
ii. edgar presses his fingers against the countertop. he hasn't touched his cup of coffee but it smells sweet with a tinge of dirt. he is pushing words out of his throat without saying anything, rolling a little ball of dung around and hiding it in his pocket.
iii. sometimes on walks home, the sun shines a certain way through the branches of the trees. sometimes, but not this time. all the leaves are swaying. the air is chilly and out on Mr. Joe's lawn are toys that his grandchildren, aged 2 and 4, forgot to pick up from yesterday.
iv. Shelby and her younger brother planted two tomato plants side by side. they filled two pots with potting soil from Home Depot and shook the packet of seeds gently. their smooth little fingers poked the wet earth, rolled it around, patted it back down. no tomatoes came for Shelby. "that's okay," he said, "i'll give you mine."
v. Mami slips onto the porch when everyone is asleep. she opens up the miniature wooden house and has a late night snack with the fireflies. in the morning, Abigail believes in magic.