- Your grandmother tells you there's history in these mountains; your parents tell you there's history in these mountains; your teacher ells you there's history in these mountains. When you were still young, you'd ask them about it. You're grown now, and now you know better than to ask. There's history in the mountains, you tell your children.
- The mountains watch, the mountains wait; you don't know what for. You hope you never find out. You do what you need to so you don't break down on the winding mountain roads at night. Better you don't find out what's out there.
- You pretend you don't see the lights in the windows of the old abandoned pre-war factories. What they get up to is none of your business.
---
- The shifting shadows you see in the desert sand are just a mirage, you tell yourself. You're just tired. Better they be mirages than what you know they are. Better they don't know that you know they're there.
- You don't touch the animal skulls that appear in places they shouldn't. They aren't yours, they aren't anybody's. You leave them be, and ignore how they disappear the next day. This land was never yours, and it's better to not interfere with the workings of those it does belong to.
- The howling you hear in the night belongs to the coyotes, the mountain lions, the wolves the government reintroduced that the ranchers complain about. You know that even the mountain lions don't sound that human. You make sure your windows and doors are locked.
Here's your kid in return for the babe you gave me Surge!
- The mountains watch, the mountains wait; you don't know what for. You hope you never find out. You do what you need to so you don't break down on the winding mountain roads at night. Better you don't find out what's out there.
- You pretend you don't see the lights in the windows of the old abandoned pre-war factories. What they get up to is none of your business.
---
- The shifting shadows you see in the desert sand are just a mirage, you tell yourself. You're just tired. Better they be mirages than what you know they are. Better they don't know that you know they're there.
- You don't touch the animal skulls that appear in places they shouldn't. They aren't yours, they aren't anybody's. You leave them be, and ignore how they disappear the next day. This land was never yours, and it's better to not interfere with the workings of those it does belong to.
- The howling you hear in the night belongs to the coyotes, the mountain lions, the wolves the government reintroduced that the ranchers complain about. You know that even the mountain lions don't sound that human. You make sure your windows and doors are locked.
Here's your kid in return for the babe you gave me Surge!
