six teams eight 5th-graders each two or three with talent the rest slow, shy, uncoordinated or hating to be there as captain, I played every kid in every game, mixing in the good ones with the non-athletic other teams used their best players every minute of the game, ignoring their feeble teammates, where we played as a team the weak and strong together everyone to the best of their ability and something amazing happened we won the basketball title that year I did

dark ones need to be watched they’re up to something white ones are in a much lazier mood and drift without a care so many things are deceptive like us, who use a smile, the skill of words and other kinds of makeup to hide truth in fact, humans live in the same unpredictable range as dust devils to deadly tornadoes liable to start spinning and spiraling in the middle of a sunny, even spectacular day and you, who must step back, dive for cover or run

the message is always the same – something wants to be with you so badly they can’t contain it then you add fur and paws, wagging tail and wet tongue, bright eyes, and a four-legged shadow that follows yours everywhere if it were a marriage, it would be perfect, loyalty and love so solid they would never part till death and even then they hang around so you can still pet them with the fingers of your heart