She said: "Men? You wanta know about Men? I'll tell you about Men. I've known a lot of them, you know? Can't live with them. Can't live without them. They can be sweet as sugar and then the next minute be like a stone. They got to have what they want and they want it all time. Wears a girl out, I'm telling you. You see a man coming into the room and they got a big old smile on there face, you better look out cause the next thing you know, they'll be on top of you. Just that fast. You see? Men can't help themselves. They just made that way. You see? Men think with their balls. Yes! It's true. They think with their balls and the worse part is that what their balls are telling them they think it's true. That's how they get into trouble. Poor things. They just can't help themselves. It's not their fault, I guess. They just made that way."

Stumble It!

He said: "We waited in the forest. We had no where else to go where they might find us. If they found us, they would kill us all. The children would die first. They would make certain that we witnessed that. They they would kill the woman, and lastly, us. We were used to being in the wooded, old, forests. Many of our people had lived a long time among the trees and vines. It was cool in the forest and we could be hidden there where we could see them coming for us if that was what they were bent on doing. We had lost our homes, most of us, so the forest was our new homes, where we hoped to find mercy and where we set about to make a new life. And we waited for a sign; a sign to let us know that we were where we were supposed to be so that we would know when it would come; when our liberation would come."

Stumble It!

She said: It was just a matter of time before they found me. I knew that I could not run forever; that one day they would be there, waiting for me. I always knew that. Knowing that made me strong. I did not leave tracks in the snow. I did not breathe if I knew that they were near by. I could wait for days until they gave up and went somewhere else. This is how I lived. They is how many more of us have been able to live in this world. We are there, but you don't see us, and we like it that way. We are the past, blending into the future. We are who you are.

Stumble It!

It was as expected. It was a turning away. It was like a footprint in the snow. It was shelter on a rainy day. It was like the breath you take in before being surprised by a friend. It was like waiting for an answer. It was like being there. It was the end of a day and the sun was setting and the world, for a little while, was at peace as the bus turned a corner and disappeared. It was after the heat of the day and before the shadows begin to vanish. It was another day that would be followed by another day. It was like silence. It was there, then it was gone.

Stumble It!

He said: "It was like what I think Hell must be like. Everything was on fire. The sky was fire and everything that I could see was on fire. I could feel the heat on me. It felt like sheets of fire covering me. It was hard to see because of the fire, even though there wasn't a lot of smoke. It was all just fire. I don't think any of us knew what started it. It had been dry for a few months so no one was very surprised when the fire started. What was a bit of a surprise was how fast everything burned. After the fire started it took on a life of it's own. It became like a living thing. We could not contain it. We could not tell it where to go. It had it's own will. All we could do was watch and try to stay out of it's way. All we could do was watch as it burned up everything that we had. All we could do was to try to stay away from the flames and let it take what it wanted. That's all we could do."

Stumble It!

She said: "Well, you know, it's really a guy thing. Only men and boys go Ga-Ga over a car. I don't think women care one way or another. For woman, a car is a car. But that's not how men feel about it. Their car is a symbol of who they are and where they rank in their world. It's like an extra penis. The men show their cars to other guys and they make a big deal out of getting a new faster, shiny, new car to go "Vrmm, Vrmm" in. It's really so silly, but I'd never tell my husband that. I already know what he would say and it wouldn't be civil. Anyway, as I said, it's different for woman. We are more practical and we are the ones that have to haul groceries and pre-grade and elementary schoolers around in. For us, it's a tool to help us get the job done. That's it. When the thing needs fixing, it goes back to the man. From what I can see about the whole topic, from a woman's point of view, a car is just another skin we put on to go somewhere else. That's the whole story."

Stumble It!

He said: "Oh, I admit it now. I couldn't do that for awhile. I couldn't do much of anything for awhile. I couldn't forgive her for dieing on me like that. I couldn't bare the quiet. I couldn't stand the silence and quiet and the fact that I had to eat alone and that she wasn't there to chat me up and cheer me up and she wasn't there to keep me warm by moving close to me as we slept. I couldn't understand what had happened to our life together. I hated it. I didn't know how to live a life that didn't have her in it. I was quietly dieing with her gone. But, we abide, don't we. We push on somehow. But those days after the funeral were very dark days for me. I didn't know how to push on. I was alone and afraid. Those were dark days of being in darkness. But I learned how to live again somehow. I learned how to live in darkness. Sometimes, I've found, one has to go into darkness in order to find the light. Without know how, that's what a did. I stepped into darkness and waited to find the light."

Stumble It!