i shove a couple plates full of pumpkin pie in her direction , and she spins to deliver them . `` how 'bout heading over to the pit ? '' he himself was quite calm , even amused . rain spits sideways through the windows , threatening to turn our floor to mud , and mother jumps up to close the wooden shutters . it is just an after image , a memory , but he looks as powerful now as he did when i was eight . then she turned around and stared at me . 