13/02/2026 18:33

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I had my back to those coming up the lawn. I couldn't tell them all that Mona had told me -- the story of the strange child, that it had been a mutation, that it had been taken away.           7               CHILDHOOD FOR ME INVOLVED two distinct polarities -- being with Goblin, and listening to adults talk. Then Big Ramona said,             That Patsy, she's a liar.

’             'And you think I'm the one,' she asked, 'who needs the understanding?’             'I don't know, Aunt Queen.             I sat back in the easy chair and closed my eyes. He followed me, and when I glanced over to him, when I slipped my left arm around him, I saw that he had become my duplicate in clothing again. Her room had just been redone in golden yellow taffeta, and we were at the small round table against the back windows of the house at which she frequently took her meals.