“Leaves danced sadly with the wind, waving goodbye.”

“Parker stared at the bare branches along Saint Marks Place as they swayed with the wind, reaching for one another, and longed for the warmth of a million little leaves and their multicolored smiles.”

“Parker, I'm old," She said matter-of-factly. "I get away with these things." She continued to wave and smile wildly. "People treat me like an idiot so I'm allowed to act like one from time to time. It's one of the perks.”

“Even with the windows up she could smell the thick, spiky aroma of cut grass and the distant hum of a lawnmower somewhere down the street. It was a sad hum, though, like the buzzing of a bee that had lost the desire to make honey.”

“In a brief, surreal moment, she could see the young man he used to be in his smile.”

“She didn’t quite know how to translate faces; so she wondered about Jerry, but that’s all she could do.”

“She sat on the stoop alone, gazing up at an infinite sky as it held her and pushed her away all at once.”