I push the box away with my foot and bring the letter closer. Vannah, I haven’t stopped looking for your star tower. I know every day I’m getting closer. I can feel it. Rusty’s doing good. He does cat things all day. He stares at me while I’m sleeping and while I’m eating and while I’m watching TV. In fact, he pretty much just stares at me all the time. The usual. Your name is still echoing off the levees down in the bottoms. I went there and listened for it the other day, and sure enough, there it was. Savannah Elise Catesby—loud and clear. I wish you didn’t have to leave again. I wish I could have gone with you. And I know you have a boyfriend. But I still just wanted you to know this: One day I met a little girl when I was just a boy. And we spent our days on sawdust piles and teeter-totters. And cherry Popsicles melted into paper airplanes and then late-night movies and then things with wheels.
