she tried to make a joke of it , but at the time she 'd felt there was n't enough maple-nut ice cream in the world to see her through this misery . they would have been here earlier , but they called and said something about a diaper emergency . '' i looked up at the tin sign mounted over the front door . `` he must be at the house . '' birds squawk , warble , tweet , and scream all the time , and nobody really pays much attention . seth , as he had stated , did not dance . 