Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport

“Out West they have cactus as big as houses.”

Moving feels like a disaster when you think the new place is full of monsters. All those wild rumors about the West made the kid so miserable.

“I'm going to New York. I'm going to live in a hole in the ground.”

The kid in the apartment next door was just as scared of New York. He thought the city was nothing but subways and clouds of smoke.

“I'll look skinny in a big hat.”

Kids build whole worlds out of what they hear from others. He really thought he would have to wear a cowboy hat every single day.

“Everything out West is different.”

It is funny how we assume everywhere else is dangerous. One boy fears the gila monsters while the other fears the heavy traffic.