It seems like our town has closed down these days leading up to the funeral. Old people still sit on their porches and talk, but their conversations aren't sprinkled with laughter anymore. Since the new, little kids haven't played outside, as if their moms are afraid someone might snatch them out of their yards and send them off to war.
Kimberly Willis Holt, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town
coming-of-age, death, friendship, vietnam-war