It Was A White World, Near The End Of It, Broken Up By The Girl In Front Of The Apartment Building.

Lawn chair, feet propped, hive of mailboxes, laundry-day underwear -- her mind drifted over the top of the snowbank.

She'd never seen a freshwater fish before until one was spluttering in front of her door with a sign tied around its neck.

Her name was on it, her real name.