Stone Junction

by Jim Dodge

She told the arresting officer she was an orphan of the moon, and told the judge that she didn't recognize the court's authority to make decisions about her life.

`You ain't gonna send him to school? There's nothing he's gonna learn there but how to get along with other kids under completely weird conditions.

There's all kinds of things you just have to figure out for yourself. That's half the fun of being alive.'

Shortly after Daniel's fifth birthday, Annalee sat down with him and outlined the possible benefits and disadvantages of attending school as carefully as she could. She left the choice to Daniel. It only took him a moment. `Naw,' he said, `school sounds shitty.'

The delicacy of Sandra XY's art stemmed from her commitment to nonviolent means, a conviction somewhat lost on Daniel. His only examples of violence had been supplied by nature and he was neither attracted nor repelled. Violence was a fact of life. When he pressed the point, Sandra XY said, `Fine. As long as you eat what you kill.'

I would rather inspire mystery than horror in the beholder's eye, and heart, and soul. That is my choice. If you don't respect it, you are not a friend.'

`One who has a man's wings and a woman's also is the womb of matter.'