wings against the falling snow, landing a few feet
away from her. She walked toward the bird and
picked it up. It stared into her eyes. She sang to it
and the bird chirped back and then suddenly took
flight and circled around her flying up her dress
and back out and then away. It disappeared into
the sky.
3.
Henry hadn’t seen Evelyn in a couple
of weeks. He would walk by her house, to see if
she was there, but never got too close. One time
some kids got too close and Mr. Porter came out
and smacked them good. Henry didn’t want to be
smacked, but he wanted to see Evelyn. He missed
her. But he didn’t see anyone at the house. No sign
of Mr. Porter and definitely no sign of Evelyn, just
their run-down house, that was littered with rusty
pieces of metal and other junk, all strewn about the
yard and the porch. It almost looked abandoned.
He had sometimes caught glimpses of
spots on her arms or her legs when they were playing.
They looked like they hurt. Henry asked Evelyn
about them one time, but she just ended up crying.
She always seemed scared about her Da, and he
didn’t seem like a very nice guy so Henry figured it
might have been him that did that to her. He tried to
tell his parents, but they told him that it was none
of their business. What if something happened to
her? What if Mr. Porter did something to her? Was
it Henry’s fault for keeping Evelyn out too long . . . .
He stuck his hand in his pocket and gripped
onto his quarter tightly. He had thought about giv-
35