P.M. Delight (Socks XXI)

Rar stayed in the living room while Mom watched Oprah.
A pair of calloused furrowed hands, Dad's, held Rar, rubbing his tender spot. He put Rar on the back of the couch.
Dad put his calloused hands on Mom's shoulders, kneading.
"Ooh, Aah."
A shirt settled atop Rar, blocking his view. He could hear noises. Smacking, slurping, giggling. The couch was moving. What the hell was going on out there.
The shirt was removed from Rar.
Mom's hair was down on one side and she was laughing.
She told Dad that he still had it.
Rar wanted to see it.

On The Mend (Socks XX)

"Ever see Doc again? "
"Nope, but that's the way things work."
Lar and Nick talked all night and into the morning.
Lar learned new words. Purse, wallet, license, and keys just to name a few.
A slightly wrinkled version of the nice lady's hands clipped the excess string from Lar's toe and put him on the counter.
Mom took Rar to the living room turning on Guiding Light. With needle and thread she deftly repaired Rar's toe. Stitching and pulling and tying, it all felt so good to Rar.
The pain nearly gone, he knew he would be healed.

Rescue (Socks XIX)

When water poured in, Doc would float around, laughing and howling, settling in a different place.
One day a white sphere with red stitching bounded in and startled Nick. Next to come in was a long thin arm. The hand felt around, snatched Doc, and pulled him out. The hand came back, grabbed Nick, then finally the sphere.
Nick got put in a pocket with some dimes.
This made Lar laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"Dimes? You hate dimes."
"I got traded for a candy bar right away."
"What's the point?"
"The point is Lar, be careful if you play Hedzurtales."

A Doc In The House (Socks XVIII)

Clunk.
Nick landed on a metal cylinder.
"Ouch."
"Sorry mister."
"That's Doctor, Doctor Pepper."
"Pleased to meet ya, Doc. I'm Nick Cole. How much you worth?" That was the first questions Nick asked anyone that would talk.
"Ten cents, five some places, and nothing other places."
Nick felt baffled , he was always worth five.
Nick tried talking to a shoe and a bottle cap, like most items they were both mute.
Once a smoldering tube dropped in. She talked until her red glow went out. Doc checked her, nothing could be done. They said a prayer for her soul.

Acrobatics (Socks XVII)

Nick liked to play a game called Hedzurtales. He would spin through the air so fast he would get dizzy, involuntary pinging. He tried to imitate the sound, but it wasn't very loud. Then he would land in a palm and quickly move to the back of a hand.
Sometimes he would end up in a different pocket after the game.
Once while playing Hedzurtales, houses going by on one side, cars on the other, Nick hit the thumb instead of the palm. Nick went flying, bouncing. He landed on a piece of metal, falling through one of the holes.

Trading (Socks XVI)

Nick had been lots of places. Bunches of times he had slid down a tunnel, falling into a pile of coins. Immediately, he would hear bumping noises nearby. Nick had the feeling that he had been traded for something. Nick said that Lar couldn't fit through the slot to the tunnel.
Nick got dropped in a tin cup once. Lar thought that sounded fun.
Nick's favorite thing was when a wrinkled hand would place him into a youthful, chubby hand. When that happened, he would be gripped tightly and directly traded for bubble gum.
"That would be cool," Lar said.

The Philosopher (Socks XV)

Much wisdom was gleaned from Nick, man of the world, round flat sage.
According to Nick:
1. Pennies are humble and useful. One can trade them for thoughts, a great value indeed.
2. Quarters, worth 25, never look down on the other coins.
3. Dimes are an enormous pain-in-the-ass.
3a. Being smaller, with a Napoleon Complex they constantly remind nickels of the
value difference.
3b. Dimes are bigots. They scorn pennies because of their color difference.
4. A now rare coin depicts a woman carrying something, Nick thought she carried a sack of
joe- we-ahs.
He didn't know any Bills personally.