The Toad and The Roach

Part 1 (not that its the chronological first part, it just showed up first)

"And then I looked to my left and saw a squirrel with rabbit ears. He looked at me, cocked his head to the side and said, 'Pardon me, kind boy, but would you happen to have the time?' But when I told him, 'I have all the time in the world!,' he laid his ears back in a very unkind fashion, swished his tail, and scurried off in the opposite direction of the moon."

Part Two

It was raining. I sat under a pine tree. The sky was mostly gray, with bits of dark blue here and there. The thunder had passed over and was off to the east. A few drops made it through my roof. There was no breeze.

I thought of nothing. I sat. There was no reason to think. I wasn't waiting either. I sat. I smelled the rain, the tree, the wet dirt. I became a rock.

The rain passed. Sunlight began to warm the boughs of my house. As it warmed up, the smells changed. Birds began to chirp.

(insert Part One)

Part Three

Walking home, watching the dust cloud up and fall down around my feet, I reflected on my day. Calm. Connected. Quiet. The flowers in front of the cabin greeted me with smiles, their faces washed clean by the rain. I picked some mint to hang in the open window. The door opened silently, the room offering a cavelike solidarity. I began to make dinner.