According to ancient Chinese lore, those born in the year of the dragon should avoid relationships with those born in the year of the dog. The two don't mix. It is, therefore, fortuitous that Felipe Jose Santos Hernandez and his loving wife Rosita Marie never heard of that legend. He was born in the year of the dragon and she in the year of the dog.

My oldest brother used to crack me up when we were little. He would grab mom's apron and drape it around his shoulders like a cape. Then he would stand on the kitchen chair and deliver a resounding fire and brimstone sermon. Everyone thought that someday he might study for the priesthood but that all changed abruptly when he got caught smoking. He never delivered another sermon after that, well, at least not of the fervently religious type. For some vagary that no one understood, the priesthood ambitions disappeared.

 It was fall again, and the deep-throated staccato notes of Johnny Hanson's motorcycle ricocheted off the nearby wooden homes and canyon walls.  A familiar sound now, but the first time he heard that racket he was frightened and ran away to hide behind old man Three Bears' barn but that particular barn happened to be Johnny's destination that afternoon.  How could he have known?  This time, like before, Johnny's girlfriend Debbie Crenshaw was riding on the back.