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1 " She was one of those exceptional children who do still spend time outside, in solitude. In her case nature represented beauty - and refuge. " It's so peaceful out there and the air smells so good. I mean, it's polluted, but not as much as the city air. For me, it's completely different there," she said. " It's like you're free when you go out there. It's your own time. Sometimes I go there when I'm mad - and then, just with the peacefulness, I'm better. I can come back home happy, and my mom doesn't even know why." The she described her special part of the woods. " I had a place. There was a big waterfall and a creek on one side of it. I'd dug a big hole there, and sometimes I'd take a tent back there, or a blanket, and just lie down in the hole, and look up at the trees and sky. Sometimes I'd fall asleep back there. I just felt free; it was like my place, and I could do what I wanted, with nobody to stop me. I used to go down there almost every day." The young poet's face flushed. Her voice thickened. " And then they just cut the woods down. It was like they cut down part of me. "
2 " Few of us could speak the other's language, but all of us had by now discovered the lodge's unique 'outside toilet'…which transcended all national barriers. The lodge owner wouldn't let you use it unless you promised to lock yourself in with a special key. Everybody thought this odd, but they understood his concern once inside. The loo was just two parallel blocks of wood laid either side of a big hole in the floor. You went in, squatted down on the blocks, felt the gust of chill air wafting up your nether regions, looked through legs, and watched the bottom fall out of your world for a sheer drop of two thousand feet! The reason for locking the door was obvious. Any unwitting interloper who swung it inwards when you were squatting over that hole was certain to knock you off your perch and straight down it. And that would be a one-way trip to oblivion. With your trousers round your ankles "
3 " I have a big hole in my heart," I said. " But it'll close over." I don't want to sound all Dr. Phil," she said. " But don't let the scab seal the pain in, okay?" That's good advice," I said. " I hope I can manage it. "
4 " I'm afraid it's not nonsense," Genghis said, shaking his turbaned head and continuing his story. " As I was saying before the little girl interrupted me, the baby didn't dash off with the other orphans. She just sat there like a sack of flour. So I walked over to her and gave her a kick to get her moving." " Excellent idea!" Nero said. " What a wonderful story this is! And then what happened?" " Well, at first it seemed like I'd kicked a big hole in the baby," Genghis said, his eyes shining, " which seemed lucky, because Sunny was a terrible athlete and it would have been a blessing to put her out of her misery." Nero clapped his hands. " I know just what you mean, Genghis," he said. " She's a terrible secretary as well." " But she did all that stapling," Mr. Remora protested. " Shut up and let the coach finish his story," Nero said." But when I looked down," Genghis continued, " I saw that I hadn't kicked a hole in a baby. I'd kicked a hole in a bag of flour! I'd been tricked!" " That's terrible!" Nero cried. "
5 " I've had broken bones and cuts and dashes and tears from movies, but when I was five, my mom put the biscuits up high so we wouldn't be helping ourselves. So, one day I asked to stand up on a chair to get a biscuit, and it fell, and the corner of the chair went right into the side of my eye, and it made a big hole in there. "
