Mary stood

Mary stood holding two parcels. They were wrapped in paper.
i got you these, she said.
i don't care, I said. I was sitting crossed-legged not reading the news.
they're wrapped in paper, she said.
i don't care.
they're books.
i don't care.
one of them's bash.
I looked at my shoe. I drew a rectangle on it.
i thought 
you didn't
i thought you like bash, she said.
i like bash, I said.
Mary was standing holding two parcels. She took off her scarf and then her shoes. She took off her watch. She sat down on the floor and put the parcels next to her and she sneezed. Her head shook sides.
who's this? she said shaking. There was music playing.
birmingham tumblers, I said.
who?
the birmingham tumblers.
o. i like this song.
it's a good song
Mary opened her mouth. I made the rectangle into a cube.
what does it mean? she said.
what? I said.
the name. the birm
birmingham tumblers?
yeah.
o, dyou know it's a type of pigeon. dyou know charlie?
who?
charlie bloom.
um.
this is charlie's band.
o. o yeah.
yeah he reckons there's this type of pigeon, native to victoria or something. and they're called, so it's just like inbreeding. it's like dog breeds. they inbreed them over and over till they get the right characteristic.
that's
and there's this type of pigeon, like in bendigo. it's called a birmingham tumbler. and what it does is, it can't fly properly. it goes too far up past the vertical and then it falls and has to try again. like tumbling.
because of the inbreeding?
yeah so if they wanna go from here to here, I said pointing at two places in the air, it does this.
I drew my finger through the air. My finger went up in a curve through the air and back straight down. It did it again and again and each time it was from a higher place in the air. Eventually it reached where I first pointed.
because they can't fly properly, I said.
because of the inbreeding? that's horrible.
i dunno.
that's horrible, Mary said.
it's charlie's band, I said.
Mary made a shape with her face. She was wearing a t-shirt and it had a logo on the front of it. The t-shirt was big and red and I could tell she thought it was really funny. The logo said: PREPARE TO SHOP. It was a new t-shirt.
what're you doing today? she said.
My desk chair swung around. It made me not look at her.
i reckon i'm gonna plant some pumpkin seeds, she said.
I swung a full circle.
yeah, this dude gave me some pumpkin seeds. i reckon i'm gonna plant them, she said.
She nodded. I heard her nodding.
'o i also bought some cheese' she said, standing up.
wait, I said. you were in my dream last night.
i know, she said. you talk in your sleep.

oliver