I can’t light no more of your darkness

All my pictures seem to fade to black and white . . .

Had he a chance to do it again, he was certain, very certain, that he would succumb. It was “the magic of the first time” that clung to his mind now, and though fraught with guilt, it had been somehow pure in its sordidness, honest in its awkwardness, innocent in its seriousness. Certainly a thing he could never see again, even if he lived to be three hundred and loved the bravest legion of the greatest empire’s warriors.

Don’t discard me just because you think I mean you harm

Stranded here on the ladder of my life . . .

How could such a thing be evil? How could he have spoiled such—

Horace. Are you and Gideon ready to give your demonstration?

At first it was to have been Edmund—a swarthy boy of raven-colored hair and olive skin who played on the junior varsity basketball team and who confessed to Horace a deep desire to be a black person—with whom Horace was to work on his experiment in plant tropisms for Miss Hedgeson’s ninth-grade biology class. Edmund was much taller than Horace and had, as the old women say, filled out early. His clumsy attempts at black speech and black gestures endeared him to Horace, who had a crush on the boy. At fifteen Edmund had more hair on his body than Horace thought possible. He became obsessed with the dark, mysterious tufts.

Horace? Gideon? Are you ready?

Edmund was incredibly dumb. And though Horace preached and lectured about the growth processes of plants, he could not seem to excite Edmund in the least, nor teach him anything about biology. Edmund was much more interested in Peggy Somers and the Celtics and the new stereo system he had just put in his Camaro. At a very crucial stage in the experiment Edmund decided to opt for the long written report instead of the high-credit experiment, leaving Horace with an elaborate headache.

Horace?

At about the same time that Edmund decided he wanted no part of pea plants, a hungry black snake found its way into Lucius Stone’s barn and gobbled up Gideon’s project on the growth and development of chicken embryos.

Yes, Miss Hedgeson. We’re ready.

In her teacherly wisdom, Miss Hedgeson decided that Gideon and Horace would work well together.