Tilly hides in the rushes by Sanity Creek and watches. Like the fog, she expands and contracts as needed, and moves without sound around the low places, painting them with gauze. She has a bag that has real tricks in it. Her ears hear, her eyes see, and she can smell enlightenment and unrest from at least ten miles away. Her hands have twenty three hundred ways of holding things. She cleans countertops so she can store her words on them. She shortens things that need to be shortened. In the night, she sleeps, unless she just really doesn’t want to. Tilly has found pockets where there previously were none, in clothing, riverbanks, and in other odd places. Tilly is a poet.

***
Sanity Creek Sock Monkey
Number 22

The Fancy World Collection
Number 7

Zata is the spice queen of Sanity Creek. At her home and atelier, monkeys know they will find myriad spices and herbs, arranged in seductive bundles, aligned with the phases of the moon. New moon calls for judicious, consistent use of garlic shakes and orange oil, while the full moon requires capsicum in its hottest forms, and of course greens like nettleberries and sage. But Zata never dictates what the monkey should savor—she encourages each to season to their liking, and above all, to use creativity and verve while spicing. Her nimble taste buds help cultivate and categorize hundreds of flavor directionals. Food at Sanity Creek would be bland as porridge without her labor. And she is a friend of the Peaceniks, as there are fewer malcontents and increased euphoria when the monkeys use plenty of spices.

***
Sanity Creek Sock Monkey
Number 21

The Fancy World Collection
Number 6

One day, after years trying to find a way to turn discarded cicada shells into an archaic form of metal jelly, alchemist Bruni, exhausted from 30 hours without sleep, dumped a pan of her concoction to water a houseplant (instead of her customary loganberry tea vitamin plant wash). Little leaf edges flickered, and then turned into white gold. Bruni made another batch so she could try it on a catalpa tree. She snuck out to the tree range along Sanity Creek. She buried the whole preparation at the foot of the largest stately catalpa. She waited. She watched. Eleven months later, in early morning, a white gold leaf fell on her nose. The molecular components of the catalpa had forever changed—and the gold leafed tree was named in Bruni’s honor. So now, each autumn, the monkeys wait for the leaves to fall, and then harvest the gold, which is used to decorate the halls of the Sanity Creek Arts Academy.

Sanity Creek Sock Monkey
Number 20

The Fancy World Collection
Number 5

One day, when Song was swimming in Sanity Creek, he bumped his head on the bottom. What he thought was a rock was actually a giant cluster of gnarled shells. He cracked one off and swam back to the surface. With an iron letter opener, he pried the shell open and discovered the most unusual iridescent green pearl, colorized by the shell’s location beneath a field of watercress. Now Song is renowned at Sanity Creek: monkey brides commission effervescent gowns, spangled with his watercress pearls. (Count carefully, and you will find at least 123 pearls on him!)

***
Sanity Creek Sock Monkey
Number 19

The Fancy World
Number 4

Never before has a Sanity Creek vintner achieved actual wine. All prior monkeys who set out to make wine found only caskets of (albeit very good) vinegar. Generations of monkeys finally tired of oil and vinegar dressing on their watercress and switched to lemon. But Cesare has done it! He cultivates certified organic Dolcetto grapes, and the wine is oaky yet sweet. And somehow, it never leaves the monkeys with morning headaches. Cesare has revealed his secrets only to Guzzi. When anyone asks her about his methods, she just smiles.

***
Sanity Creek Sock Monkey
Number 17

The Fancy World Collection
Number 2