A FuneralAs I neared the ragged gap in the fence I noticed men using picks and shovels to dig out the stumps left over by the telephone-pole sized trees that had been so violently broken off. The work looked impossibly large and dangerous and the men had hardly freed one stump yet. I stopped and stared at the work. The broken trees were more than a foot across and the men lacked levers and machines There had to be an easier way. And then I had an idea. “Gypsy,” I said aloud. “If you can hear me. Please have those two snufflers we saved come and fix the fence.”
I didn’t hear anything and didn’t expect to. But then in the far distance I heard one clear bark. Sooner than I expected, behind me there was the sound of heavy feet coming toward me through the forest. I turned to watch but didn’t
