Deception was an inherent trait of intelligent beings. Even his love, in her ample ardor, would weave him a guilty lie for his own good. And he treasured her just as well for those tales he was sure she'd already spun.

♫ Climbed that roost, alighted right there. Made mush of his head for the onlooker bears.A two-pronger her prize, a meat most rare. Do-gooders will pay. Do-gooders will fear. ♫

She could have rambled with all the fervor of a woman who had loved one entity for longer than most races live, and with the inviolable, unquestioned certainty found in dementia. There were references dated and sealed with meticulous care which she would have enthusiastically opened with the mirth of one proclaiming a lifetime of honors and awards. But that singular event was freshly disturbed; its pores still drifted on the faint zephyr of remembrance.

Two coconuts dropped beside him. Each went about its death throes with a slight bounce and languorous crawl then fell still.