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Excerpt from untitled novelette
by Joseph Carroll Lavelle

    Just like most of the girls in her class, Samantha had ten toes- five on each foot. Samantha appreciated her toes for the facility they provided- balance, forward spring, etc.- but there was one toe in particular for which she had an affection that far surpassed her esteem for the other nine.
    This was the little baby pinky toe on her left foot. Samantha thought this toe was the most beautiful toe in all the world. She loved to hold it. She loved to look at it. She loved to hear it cry, "Whee whee whee," all the way home. In the bathtub Samantha would make sure this toe was extra clean. She would put lotion on it before going to bed at night and she would clip and file the toenail three times a week. Samantha had a special vanity filled with nail polish that was reserved especially for her favorite toe.
    One day, through a spontaneous magical event which we may never comprehend, Samantha's favorite toe sprouted tiny little arms and legs and hopped right off Samantha's foot. The little girl was astonished and gaped in awe at her emigrant sub-limb. The toe looked up at her. It was at this time that Samantha noticed a tiny little mouth and a single beautiful green eye establishing a face opposite the toenail.
    "Hello, Samantha," said the toe.
    "Why, hello," returned Samantha. Then, "not to be forward, but may I ask why you've sprung from my foot, to which we've both been quite content to have you attached for the entire tenure of our relationship?"
    "Samantha," answered the toe, "you have given me a wonderful gift. Your love and attention have given me the will and strength to pursue my full potential as an independent entity. You are my best friend and I love you but our relationship has been so one-sided. You have given me so much and I have given you little in return. I am going off into the world to seek my fortune so I might attain the means to care for you in the way you have so kindly cared for me."
    "But, Miss. . . Madame. . . ," stammered Samantha, "Oh, I do apologize but I'm not sure quite what to call you."
    "You can call me Toe Head Teri," Toe Head Teri introduced herself.
    "Oh, Toe Head Teri, how does an independent digit like yourself go about pursuing her fortune?"
    "I shall join a carnival sideshow as a weight guesser. Guess your weight within five pounds, I can. A Cupie Doll if I'm lying."
    "Toe Head Teri, my dear Toe Head Teri," pleaded Samantha, "I love you so and would miss you if you left me. Please take me with you. I want to see the world. I gotta shake off the dust of this one jungle gym town. I feel like I've wasted all my seven years on Japanese cartoons and cereals with marshmallows. I want to live!"
    "It will be a hard life," cautioned Toe Head Teri, "Always on the road. Yesterday's laundry as your only pillow. Day after day with nothing to eat but lima beans and pine nuts. The jeers and the insults of the local folk, 'Get outta town, ya no-good carny! We don't like your kind here.' Are you sure you can handle it?"
    "I'll be O.K. As long as we're together I'll be just fine," Samantha assured her friend.
    And so it was settled Samantha and Toe Head Teri would go off to join the carnival sideshow. Two friends growing up with the country. Samantha's mother and father were concerned that Samantha might miss too much school but Samantha explained that she would learn so much on the road that it would be just like school. The classroom would be small town America. The texts would be the graffiti of gas station bathroom stalls. The lectures would be the mutterings of bus terminal schizophrenics.
    Remembering their own educational experiences in the bus terminals of this great nation, Samantha's parents couldn't argue. They fixed some Sandwiches and put them in a bag with some juice boxes and trail mix, then gave Samantha and Toe Head Teri their blessing and a ride to the state highway, where they'd be sure to find a ride that would get them at least as far as the county line.
    As Samantha and Toe Head Teri Stood on the side of the highway they gazed up at a clear Mid-western sky thick with stars. Samantha could see her favorite constellation. "See that bright star up there, Toe Head Teri? That's Lucinda the Gnat. I discovered her back in my Astronomy days. As long as I can see Lucinda I'll always know which way is Up." It was a comfort to her to know that, wherever their travels may lead, Lucinda would be watching over them.