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“I brought you a present,” he said He reached down into his backpack and pulled out a soccer ball
I se He dropped it between us and kicked it over I slapped it back, lightly, with the side of s out of her face It felt really nice to kick that stupid ball My throat got all thick, just looking at it shine under the streetlight Erass and we all took off after it, laughing We boo
ted it back and forth, that awesoainst a sneaker thu and uncut under our feet and the bleeding, bleeding sky and I thought: this is it This is ht alive
I kicked the ball as hard as I could It soared up into the air and Noah caught it, in his hands, like a goalie He looked atThey cry blood It doesn’t look nice They look like monsters when they cry
“So,” I said “Hudson Bay”
Fade to White
Fight the Communist Threat in Your Own Backyard!
ZOOM IN on a bright-eyed Betty in a crisp green dress, maybe pick up the shade of the spinach in the lower left fra, Stone! Try to stay awake through the next et led Sweetheart, stea Stick to a red, white, and blue palette] She’s holding up a resplendent head of cabbage the size of a pre-aterht of this New Vegetable, grown in a Victory Brand Capsule Garden [Note to Art Dept: is cabbage the etables eenerated by Victory Brand Capsules]
Betty looks INTO THE CAMERA and says: Just because the war is over doesn’t ilant wife knows that every garden planted is a ainst Communism Just one Victory Brand Capsule and a dash of fresh Hi-Uraniue yard’s worth of safe, rich, synthetic soil—and the seeds are included! STOCK FOOTAGE of scientists: beakers, white coats, etc Our boys in the lab have developed a wide range of hardy, modern seeds froetables of the Future [Note to Copy: Do not mention pre-war seedstock] Just look at this beautiful New Cabbage Efficient, bountiful, and only three weeks froe? You knoho eats a lot of cabbage, Stone? Russians Give her a big old zucchini Long as a man’s arm Have her hold it in her lap so the head rests on her tits]
BACK to Betty, walking through cornstalks like pine trees And that’s not all With a little help from your friends at Victory, you can feed your family and play an important role in the defense of the nation Betty leans down to show us big, leafy plants growing in her Synthasoil [Note to Casting: e when she bends over We’re hawking fertility here Hers, ours] Here’s a tip: Plant our patented Liberty Spinach at regular intervals Let your little green helpers go to work leeching useful isotopes and residual radioactivity fro! [Note to Copy: Stone, you can’t be serious Leeching? That sounds dreadful Reaping Don’t make me do your job for you] Turn in your crop at Victory Depots for Harvest Dollars redee local establishet so to throw us a few bucks for ad placeular feature with the “tips” to move other products, make Betty into a trusted household na that starts with T, Tammy? Tina? Theresa?]
Betty sarden in full bloom and three [Note to Art Dept: Four e, shiny New Vegetables The sun is coan scrolls up in red, white, and blue type as she says:
A free and fertile toht to you by Victory
Fade to white
The Hydrodynamic Front
More than anything in the world, Martin wanted to be a Husband when he grew up