Nutty, interesting take. I don't know nearly enough about him, beyond the basics - had he attained that level of eloquence by the time he died?

Yes and no. Yes, he learned how to read and write, and was acclaimed to be "remembering" to speak, instead of learning it for the first time, since he learned so quickly; no, I haven't found any samples of his actual writing, although he did write many letters to Lord Stanhope.

(Stanhope was not so assiduous about writing back.)

That was the main point of my question: how advanced he actually got. I do seem to recall that they autopsied his brain and found something odd - cerebral atrophy? Cortical atrophy?

In any case, a good drabble, there, on an interesting character. (note: just googled and found that it was actually cortical atrophy, and also that DNA tests performed indicated that he really was related to the House of Baden.)

Huh. 100 words first try, so I'm not even going to edit.

The wind catches it and slams it into its frame. But the damaged hinges won't hold it flush, and it sags open again.

She smiles. She likes the harsh sound, although she knows it makes her mother mad. It's keeping the silence at bay. She tried, herself, with chatter and clatter and stomping, but it was cheating, and didn't hold it back properly.

It's nice to have a little distraction, to keep her alert. She wants to be there when her parents wake up, and clean up all the red water the bad man spilt on them before he left.

GAH, ita. Way to write a murder.

Is it my browser, though, or did you intend all yours aprostrophes to be question marks?

edit: never mind, you fixed it.

Thanks!

Is it my browser, though, or did you intend all yours aprostrophes to be question marks?

I compose in Word, for the count, and unless I paste it into a text editor on the way to the posting box, that's what happens. Silly character sets.

It's nice to have a little distraction, to keep her alert. She wants to be there when her parents wake up, and clean up all the red water the bad man spilt on them before he left.

Ah, a grizzly little image. Makes me smile.

Now I need to make myself write, damn it.

That's weird - I compose in Word, as well, and import it directly into here, and it doesn't mess with my apostrophes.

I have to fix all my apostrophes when I copy from Word.

- revisionist

The doors are closed, but the windows are open all the time. No a/c, so the better to let in the desert breezes of monsoon. It smells sweet, some unnamable glimpse of life under the sandy earth, released by last night’s rain.

In the backyard, mamacat prowls. The kittens cry for her. In the house, the dog sniffs the former cat nursery. Out front, rufous hummingbirds wage war on the weaker species. The house finches perch on the feeder like so many sparrows dipped in red wine.

Who says the desert is dead? I step out my doors into paradise.