“Look; there’s no mystery here.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“And it’s just as true now as it was then.”
“There’s no mystery here?”
“There’s no mystery here.”
“Then explain to me why you’re acting like-”
“Like?”
“..Like you’re hiding something from me.”
“I’m not hiding anything from you.”
“You’re sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re not?”
“I’m not.”
“You’re not.”
“Indeed. I am in fact sure of one thing, and I am sure you are hiding something.”
“What are ya; Joe Hardy? I’m not hiding anything!”
“From me.”
“From you.”
“But you admit you’re hiding something.”
“Not from you.”
“Then who?”
“What?”
“You admit to hiding something, not from me, so what is it and from who?”
“Whom.”
“What?”
“Whom. It would be from whom.”
“Stop trying to deflect with your thing about grammar. *Who* and *what* are you hiding, and *why*-”
“Do you *ever* shut up?”
“Only with the proper incentive.”
The plum tree stands in the winter, one of the Four Gentlemen, to remind us that even in the cold, we can still blossom.
“Look; there’s no mystery here.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“And it’s just as true now as it was then.”
“There’s no mystery here?”
“There’s no mystery here.”
“Then explain to me why you’re acting like-”
“Like?”
“..Like you’re hiding something from me.”
“I’m not hiding anything from you.”
“You’re sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re not?”
“I’m not.”
“You’re not.”
“Indeed. I am in fact sure of one thing, and I am sure you are hiding something.”
“What are ya; Joe Hardy? I’m not hiding anything!”
“From me.”
“From you.”
“But you admit you’re hiding something.”
“Not from you.”
“Then who?”
“What?”
“You admit to hiding something, not from me, so what is it and from who?”
“Whom.”
“What?”
“Whom. It would be from whom.”
“Stop trying to deflect with your thing about grammar. *Who* and *what* are you hiding, and *why*-”
“Do you *ever* shut up?”
“Only with the proper incentive.”
His hands were as hardy as a kentucky coalminer’s, but on the inside he was a quiet curtain call.