"He had not heard her coming. Girls were like that. Their shoes never squeaked. No boards whined under the tread. They slunk like cats on padded claws.""It was January the fifth."well, that would be the right date to read this amazing short story, but it's not the best way to start valentine's...
"the end of the party" is so sad, so scary, so desperate, and so engrossing. it's intriguing how much you can express in so few words. see, it doesn't take a bazillion pages for a story to be epic.
the ending came with a bang. somehow i knew WHAT would happen, but HOW it did was shocking. and the image of puzzled peter holding his dead brother... oh my :(