Dandelions for Ray

Mom, are there people on Mars?

No, hon. People haven't been there yet.

Mom!

What, Ray?

Are there canals on Mars?

People used to think so. It turned out not to be true.

Well, if nobody's been there, how do they know?

Oh, hon. Go play outside.

Moooom! Are there dandelions on Mars?

Silly Ray! Mars is a dead planet.

I don't think so.

Don't bang the screen door!

The boy goes running down a twilit street in a small town. Past the garbage-filled ravines where carnival music plays softly all year. Past the tracks where lonesome whistles blow and trains hum their iron thoughts to listening rails. Out into the summer-dark fields where giant dandelions tower overhead and silver canals wind through red dirt toward fantastic cities. Earth shakes flour from her apron and unties the strings of gravity. The boy rises like a kite, effortless, into the realm of golden apples and stars like forever dandelions.

Collection available! Knocking from Inside