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bad things did not stick to her. correction: her bad things did not stick to her. our bad things stuck very much to her. if we were hurt, unhappy or otherwise victimized by life, she seemed to know about it, and to care, as soon as we did. but bad things falling on her - unkind words, nasty stares, foot blisters - she seemed unware. i never saw her look in a mirror, never hear her complain. all of her feelings, all of her attentions flowed outward. she had no ego! at the same time, she was entertaining. but, we held back. because she was different. different. we had no one to measure her against. she was unknown territory, unsafe. we were afraid to get too close. also, i think we were all waiting to see her next smile... she had caught-in-headlights eyes, that gave to her a look of perpetual astonishment, so that we found ourselves turning and looking back over our shoulders. wondering what whe were missing. she laughed when there was no joke, she danced when there was no music. she had no friends, yet she was the friendliest person in the whole school. she was elusive, she was today, she was tomorrow. the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. we did not know what to make of her. in our heads, we tried to pin her to a crockboard like a butterfly, but the pin went trough and away she flew [...].