eat_it raze the man watched the kids on their bicycles. they stopped in front of someone who wasn't kin to any of them. the stranger sat with his back against a tree. his moustache curled up at the sides. it wasn't smiling. neither was the rest of his face. they asked him something. "get the hell away from me," he said. "go ask your dad." they noticed the man noticing them. they rode over to see what he was doing. he was feeding a grey squirrel. the smallest kid asked him what he figured must have been the same question he'd just asked the stranger with the angry moustache. "got any money?" "look at you," the man said. "you're dressed like a rich man. i should be asking you for money. what do you need money for anyway?" "how you say ... manje?" "food?" "he already bought a box of french fries," the tallest kid said. "he ate them all by himself. he wouldn't share with any of us." "look at that squirrel," the kid who ate all the french fries said. "so cute." "you like squirrels?" the man asked. "yeah. we love animals." "you have any pets?" "no. we can't have pets. we'd eat them." they started yelling at each other in a language he didn't understand. they laughed and carved circles around him in the dirt. trying to drive him from the pitted path beneath his feet. they came as close as they could to running him over without touching him. he walked in a straight line until they were gone. he lied down and called out to all the animals who knew him by name. "manje," he said. "manje." 230525 ... nova a grey squirrel jumped on my leg once, brazen little fellow. 230526 ... nova it was trying to eat, too. 230526 what's it to you? who go blather from