The argument over, she picks and pulls at the dead leaves and petals of the potted geranium, "Sometimes it just won't let go."

       "Can't be because you're pulling too hard."

       "No," she says, "I don't force it."

       "It won't come anyway, if it's not ready."

       "Oh, I wouldn't hurt it."

       "Not intentionally, anyway," he says.

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about the author: 

Will's Impudent Reply to the Question: Tell us About Yourself?  

       Another aspiring scribe hailing from the Great Northern Kingdom of Cape Breton, I am nimble and I am quick.

       Brother once saw a photo of our great-grandfather with Winston Churchill, both smoking cigars, both making "V" signs.

       Father embodied the Zen koan "Can't get blood from a stone" while riding steel horses.

       Mother speaks Quebec-patois.  

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