Brussel Sprouts

part vi:

Ohhh ... this shouldn’t be. Such nice people at the Sprouts these days ... this, I wish I didn’t have to see ...

The elm’s boughs bend with disappointment at witnessing the theft taking place. A theft among neighbours, in very poor taste! And alone, he must witness it, with his bird’s eye view of the vertical staircase in the common area. The sturdy, carved ‘u’ shape banister that contours the inside staircase allows the thief a hasty retreat back to his apartment before Mandy's return from the Food Fare with milk.

He has seen this before at Brussel Sprouts, unfortunately. And the Dutch elm fears that again, it is prescient of malevolent veins branching its way through the old brownstone.