by Paul Beckman
Everyone’s getting ready for the party, mom and dad say there should be a reason for a party but neither remember the reason we start parties so we just go about our business and tonight our business is decorating, food, and, then I see it as the last sliver of sun goes behind the ghost hills to the north a tiny sliver of orange breaks through from the east and everyone stops and watches it and can taste the juicy orb, and then little by little it begins to segment like shooting stars, and the residents of Isaac Newtonville smile and jump up and down, not ready to talk or do anything but wait and mind taste the tangerine, when suddenly it segments and begins to fall with only the tangerine silk holding together, then the movie comes on an Issac Newton, founder of our town, laughs, and claps his hands, segments keep splitting into smaller ones until everyone has their taste of tangerine and they sit in crescents around the town bonfire and eat and slurp and smile so happy that tangerine season is upon us and they don’t look forward to the baby season and become morose fearful for the change of seasons.
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