So long ago that it seems like a dream – I was in a lecture about short stories.

The one thing that stuck in my head meat was a description of a short story called “The Heat Death of the Universe.”  In it, the author alternates between describing a young, newlywed mother and the dismal rules of entropy.  All closed systems tend towards disorder, and you see a parallel between this woman’s sealed life and our universe.  Each tends towards disorder and the end of everything.  It sounded amazing and I knew that I’d have to read it some day.

Years passed and it was never really the most important thing to do, but I would think of that story from time to time.   I noodled around on the New York Public Library’s catalog a week or so ago and I requested it.  The first story is an instant classic, just amazing.  The others are not.  One, “Sheep” is a mish mash of repetitive images of sheep, cowboys, an examination of pastoral images, sheep jumping fences, stories collapsing into each other.  I’ll save you the pain of it and give you the most amazing quote from it.

“Where the wolf feeds well, it will feed again.”

Right there, in a nutshell, is why it is important to right by the littlest folks, to stand up when you see small problems or small bullies, and to fix broken windows.