"I'm going in with you" she said. She was chewing down on the butt of an unlit cigarette, a nervous habit. It crushed between her molars like a wet crayon resisting itself. Her hands were shoved in the pockets of her jacket. Scowling, "It's not that I'm afraid, or that I don't want to make the deal. All I said was that I don't feel comfortable in there. I just needed you to know that. But it's not a big deal, really."

"You've got some nerve coming all the way down here with me just to make me worry about you. We talked about this. We don't have anyone else we can pick up from. We agreed it was worth it. And now you're getting cold feet on me?"

"I never fucking said that!" Cass was already in a bad mood. The fact that Roland was blowing things out of proportion (again) was making things worse. They had shared a lot of special moments that summer but these days they could both feel themselves becoming more and more uptight. "But I mean...now…

Pine which has seeded heavily and which has never been thinned out is sometimes referred to in forestry as doghair pine. The trees grow very closely together. They are mostly very thin and as numerous as dog hair. If one plans to manage the stand of trees as a tree farm, thinning is best management practice. The standard monoculture method would be to thin out trees to make tractor width roads for maintenance. The removed trees may sometimes be used or sold as…

So last night's dream involved a lot of running around and dark caverns and secret passages and rising waters, and I've lost most of it, but what I remember is this:

The last part had me and my dad trying to exit out the front door of the building, and -- oh no, my passport's expired! The guy guarding the door is wearing a Nazi SS uniform, so he must be strict. So I have to go and get my passport re-stamped with my own blood as ink, and then I run out of the doors…