I'm walking through the hall of the English building on my way home for the night and millions of little kids are swarming all around me. They suddenly disappear into the mysterious dimensions from whence they came. A harried-looking woman arrives out of nowhere and says to me "did you just see a little boy go by?" and I just have to laugh out loud. She looks up at me for the first time and for a moment it could go either way--she could punch me in the head or she could giggle along with me at the absurdity of it all. She laughs, with pleasure. I say "he went that-a-way."

I'm almost to my truck and I see Bartholomew Klakk out of the corner of my eye but I keep my head down because this is the game I like to play (will they say hello if they don't have to is the name of the game) and he is all the way across the street but I hear him calling my name--low at first, then louder until he gets my attention (although he's had it all along). I look up and he's waving happily at me. I say "Hey B-. You're everywhere." And he says, "No, you're everywhere." And we laugh and blush and that is all. The end.