My phone rang.  It was Marrakesh Fed Ex saying I had a package.

Thank you, I said and I hung up.

I sat there then for a moment, for several moments, the phone

in my hand.

I could hear a bird singing persistantly outside my window.

But I was quiet.

Later, my son called me from Fed Ex.

Mom, can we open it up?  he asked.

No, I replied.  Please don't.

I want to open it myself, I said.

In its sturdy cardboard box, the package feels heavy in my hand.

Like something, maybe, substantial.

Inside is the first copy of my book, Marrakesh by Design.

The kind people at my publisher, Artisan Books, sent it to me

as quickly as they could.

I feel a strange sort of trepidation about opening it.

You see, I'm so hoping for 100 points of light.

Please, oh please...let it be so.

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