it was getting cold in the old house beside the abandoned highway.
ima joker, seated in the enormous stuffed armchair in the middle of the room, stared at the cold dark fireplace.
we should build a fire, he announced for the third time .
with what? meiinda nightingale asked acerbicly.
do you know how? sally turk aded.
ima glanced at quintessential robinson as if for help, but quintessential, seated on the floor below the cracked window, ignored him.
good question, ima replied wearily to sally.
they lapsed into silence.
outside, a dog barked.
it did not sound like a very big dog.
i wish that was a wolf and it howled, ima said.
why? sally asked.
it would make things a little more dramatic.
nobody responded.
after a while, quintessential got up, stretched, and went out the front door.
where is he going? melinda asked.
nobody answered.
is he coming back? sally asked.
you ask too many questions , ima pronounced.
meliinda looked over at sally.
sally and melinda wondered if ima was going t o get up and follow quintessential.
but he made no move to do so.
he continued to stare at the cold fireplace.
the minutes crawled by.
quintessential did not return.
finally they heard a car coming down the highway.
that had better be koji, ima announced.
melinda laughed.
what if it is not? sally asked.
