- from The Book of Yelps and Growls
Once upon a time there was a Ripping Girl. She worked
in a great factory, twelve miles wide and tall enough
so that they had to have their own stars built. When
something needed ripping they would call her name and
she would come running in her brown shoes and tear
with her teeth and her fingernails at the thing.
She
did not like for people to watch her work.
On her day
off she would sleep. And oh what dreams she had!
Her
dreams came in twelve parts and sang in harmonies and
counter-melodies. When she dreamt in another language
she stayed home from work to translate from
dictionaries what she had dreamt.
These dreams told
her that she must no longer rip and tear, but she
would not give up her job because she liked to have
money and did not know how to do anything else.
In
her city there were not many jobs to be had.