In the stutter-flashes of light, the clouds look like huge transparent brains filled with bad thoughts.

He removed his unvaluable valuables and dumped his shirt, pants, and skivvies into a letter slot.

Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.

Like some dogs: kick them once and they never trust you again, no matter how nice you are to them.

a cloud-congested caul that is alternately red, orange, vermilion, purple. Sometimes the clouds break apart in great, slow rafts, letting through beams of innocent yellow sunlight that are bitterly nostalgic for the summer that has gone by.

I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12 - Jesus, did you?

At its most basic we are discussing a learned skill (writing), but do we not agree that sometimes the most basic skills can create things far beyond our expectations? We are talking about tools and carpentry, about words and style... but as we move along, you'd do well to remember that we are also talking about magic.