toy story

First there was a long darkness. rain water began to fill the light-
bulbs. The earth cooled. The rows of houses look like a line of dead
ants. Inside one of these houses is a small bedroom. Inside the small
bedroom is a small closet. Inside the closet there is a small wooden
chest. The chest begins to move slightly. it rocks once, twice, three
times and then tips spilling a wide array of toys. The teddy bears
blink their large glassy eyes. A stegosaurus rolls off of his back
onto sturdy legs and lets out a tiny roar. The army men find formation.
It is their forward spotter who sees through tiny binoculars the body
of the dead child -thin and yellow-- on the bed.
"what is it sarge?"
"its' god son."
"god?" The men murmur. "is he mad?"
"nope," the sergeant mutters. "just dead."

or

it is just after midnight. a phone rings. she is a mother when she
reaches for the phone but when she puts it down she is something else.
Just then a light blinks on in the closet. The toys rattle to life.
characters spring from the mildewed covers of comic books. a teddy bear
lights a cigarette and calls for quiet.

every day is never the same

the throwing knife whistled as it whirled plunk into the plank.

"nice shot heifer" one man said.
"yup." said another.
"damn." one explained quietly. "i'd hate to be that-there log."

There were tractors standing out from the hill behind them like giraffes in the savannah. One of the men snicked spit into the grass and adjusted his feed cap. The rest of them found time to let their eyes meander over the featureless swell of the yellow wheat-field, or perhaps it was canola. In some versions it is corn. The puffy white clouds who, until now, had been content to be beautiful and commonplace now decided to become something entirely miraculous. The clouds held hands until they had formed a sort of massive crown, the wind fraying the edges out into horsetail rays while the center remained a perfect circle. Unbelievably this went unnoticed. East of the men walked the elephant headed god Ganesh who pierced the faint daytime moon with a golden arrow.

"yup." said Heifer. "That-there log's been split good."