.. there was something else, a deep growl, very faint, like ... almost like a truck. Then it was gone, and there was only the sound of the wind blowin... the snow around outside.Had he imagined it? He probably had, he wanted so badly for someone to come, but Valerie was right, they had to take care of themselves. He listened for a long time, enjoying the warmth of the bed and the way that Val held him in her sleep. He was almost asleep himself when the wind shifted and he heard the sound again.. And I laks it a lot ever since cousin Jeb shewed me how it’s dun.He’s ma favrit cousin. When Pa gits in jail fer something he’s raht here helpin out, specially with Ma at night. He makes her squeal and moan jest lak Pa does. When Ah started mah monthy then Ma had him shew me what that cure fer thet crotch itching were all about. Now Ah practices with ma lil brothers ever since they got their stiffies.Ah have boyfriends too. They takes me tew town and we eat out at the place with them big arches. She rapidly decided that the principle would get over her missing the meeting. Kristen started walking briskly down the deserted hallways towards the exit. Her flight, however, did little to calm her nerves. The howling winds had gone strangely silent and the only sound was the click click click of her shoes on the cold tile floors. The sound echoed eerily through the shadows. It sounded like a ghostly clock counting down in the distance. It was as if time were somehow coming to an end. And. And, the previous day, she’d asked him his name and asked where he was spending Christmas. Odd. The store wasn’t too crowded, and he’d ordered a two-piece dinner box of fried chicken for lunch from the store’s deli. As he got to the counter, he noticed that Renee wasn’t working, as he knew she usually did. But he shrugged it off, paid for his meal and sat down at a booth. Just then, the door to the women’s restroom opened, and Renee came out, and it looked like she’d been crying. She sat down.