s flushed with wind。 With joy。 With
magic。
“Don't cry； Julianna。 I want it to help you； not hurt you。” I wiped the tears from my cheeks and
gave a mighty sniff。 “Thank you； Daddy；” I choked out。
“Thank you。”
I hung the painting across the room from my bed。 It's the first thing I see every morning and
the last thing I see every night。 And now that I can look
at it without crying； I see more than the tree and what being up in its branches meant to me。
I see the day that my view of things around me started changing。
Brawk…Brawk…Brawk！
Eggs scare me。 Chickens； too。 And buddy； you can laugh at that all you want； but I'm being
dead serious here。
It started in the sixth grade with eggs。
And a snake。
And the Baker brothers。
The Baker brothers' names are Matt and Mike； but even now I can't tell you which one's
which。 You never see one without the other。 And even
though they're not twins； they do look and sound pretty much the same； and they're both in
Lyta's class； so maybe one of them got held back。
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Although I can't exactly see a teacher voluntarily having either of those maniacs two years in
a row。
Regardless； Matt and Mike are the ones who taught me that snakes eat eggs。 And when I
say they eat eggs； I'm talking they eat them raw and
shell…on whole。
I probably would've gone my entire life without this little bit of reptilian trivia if it hadn't been
for Lyta。 Lyta had this major…league thing for
Skyler Brown； who lives about three blocks down； and every chance she got； she went down
there to hang out while he practiced the drums。 Well；
boom…boom…whap； what did I