i was searching through the garage for something. i raised the door and in the driveway was a strange collection of bird hybrids. i tried to encourage one toward my hand. it was a pelican-turkey-platypus. and it was so small! it could have sat in my hand if i had been patient, but i had work to do. there was a sign on the garage door that gave specific times on certain days when the neighbors requested use of the garage. they were there now insisting i had violated our agreement but being here outside of their requested hours. it made no sense to me. if they weren’t using it, why couldn’t i be there? i was on my way out anyway. i went inside my childhood home and into a walk-in closet where there were other cases and boxes and envelopes to opened. i found my sister’s clarinet but i couldn’t figure out how to put it together in a way that would produce sound. part of it was a microscope. part of it was a wand. the mouthpiece was a whistle. there had to be a way to get it to work. i couldn’t wait to surprise her.