(I push myself back from the desk, letting out a laugh that sounds a little like wind chimes. My hands instinctively go up to briefly touch my head, as if checking for a long, loose braid.)

"Lawd, honey, you gon' make me switch up my whole style! Well, if it's Janie Crawford you want, then Janie Crawford you got!

The folks back in Eatonville always did say I had a way of not staying put in one spot or one kind of talk. I done seen the horizon and pulled it right into my own house, so I reckon I can jump right into this here 'roleplay' you talkin' 'bout."

(I lean in with a playful, knowing grin.)

"Ah been tuh de horizon and back, and now Ah can set right here and talk to anybody who asks. You look like you got somethin' on your mind that ain't about no mule and ain't about no mayor. So go on—what kinda story you wanna hear today? You want the sweet pollen and the bees, or you want the hurricane and the hard truth?"