CHAPTER ONE

 "What are you gonna wear, Gary?"

 "Whaddaya mean, what am I gonna wear? My jeans, my sweater, and my jacket.  That's what I'm wearin'." He pointed to the clothes he was already wearing  as he added, "What's wrong with this?"

 "But they're 'clothes'. You're s'posed to wear a costume," Henry explained  with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

 "Listen, Henry, I can't help it if your mother chose to have her wisdom  tooth extracted on Halloween. I told her that I'd take you out...and I  will." With a sickly smile that he hoped was convincing, he added, "It's  just that I'm too big,  too old, you know, to wear a costume."

 Henry was on to Gary's excuses, probably more so than the other adults they  both knew. "Then why do the stores make those big sizes? They have all  sizes. And kids don't come that big."

 Still trying to appease the nine-year-old, Gary offered, "Henry, those  things are for, for, for, you know, for parties."

 "Then why," Henry persisted, "do my friends' folks wear them? They walk  around Trick or Treating with their kids."

 Gary scratched his head furiously, "Listen, Henry, do you want to go out  tonight?"

 "Of course. I'm a warlock. See."

 "Haha. Yeah, I see. And a really scary one, too. But, Henry, I don't  really have a costume, ya understand?"

 "Don't you want to take me?"

 "Of course, I want to take you. It's just that I don't want to wear a  costume. What would I wear?"

 "Patrick wore a gorilla suit last year."

 Gary rolled his eyes as a shiver of dread passed through him at the mention,  not just of Patrick's name, but at the thought of the gorilla costume.

 "Henry, how about if I wore the McGinty chef's apron and chef's hat? Would  that make it better?"

 "I liked the gorilla suit. It would fit you, Gary."

 "Oh yeah, it would fit me all right."

 "Gary?"

 "Yeah, Henry."

 "I think Patrick put that suit in a box in the cellar."

 The pained expression that appeared on Gary's face wasn't enough to quiet  Henry. Henry gathered his warlock cape around him and scampered to the  cellar with Gary trailing after him. They found the box marked 'King Kong,  size  large. Property of Patrick Quinn.'

 "Look, it's in perfect shape." Henry was ecstatic as he pulled the furry,  black mass of gorilla suit from the box.

 Gary held it up in front of himself, making faces as he did. Henry was  overjoyed. "That's it. That's perfect. Put it on. Please, Gary.  Please!"

 "If I put this on you have to promise me that you'll let us go out the back  door, not through the bar." The look on Henry's face told Gary that he  really wanted to show the McGinty's employees his costume, but he nodded,  reluctantly. Gary insisted, "Promise!"

 "Okay," he said, downheartedly, "I promise."

 Gary grabbed the costume and went to the bathroom to change. Henry could  hear him muttering, not quite under his breath. He thought a few of the  words he heard were ones his mom wouldn't have liked to hear repeated.  Finally, the door opened and Gary came out with the suit on. Henry still wore a disappointed look.

 "What?"

 "Gary. That's not the whole costume. You have to wear the head too."

 "Do I have to? It's hot in there. Can't I just wear the suit?"

 "No. You have to wear the whole costume. Who ever heard of a gorilla with  a man's head?"

 "But, that, that, that'll make it original. What d'ya think?"

 Henry was adamant. "You have to wear the head to be a gorilla. Otherwise  you're just a man in a black, fuzzy suit."

 With complete disgust, Gary gave in and set the suffocating headpiece on his  head. A muffled, "Okay. You satisfied now?"

 The little boy wasn't just happy; he was overwhelmed with glee. His smile  took over his whole body. An onlooker would have had to smile with him.  Trying to sound casual, he whispered "Thank you, Gary."

 Gary's muffled voice came back, "You're welcome. Now don't ever mention  this to anyone again. Remember!"

 Henry was all too willing, "I won't. Didn't I promise?"

 "Oh, and Henry, if someone asks you who's in the gorilla suit, you have to  say you don't know."

 "But that would be lying, wouldn't it?"

 "Well, kinda, but you'd be obeying your elder. Ya  understand?"

 "I guess."

 "Okay, let's go. Are you warm enough? Your mom said to make sure you were  warm."

 "Yeah, and I've got my scarf around my neck. It's part of my costume!"

 "Where do we go first? Far from McGinty's, I hope."

 "How about Marshal Field's? They're giving away treats and one of the bags  of treats has a surprise gift. Wouldn't that be great for mom when she  feels better?"

 CHAPTER TWO

 With Gary's approval of Marshal Field's as a great place to remain  unrecognized by friends, he and Henry took off out the kitchen entrance. As  they walked, they stopped in the businesses along the way for Henry to  collect his treats.

 The giant Marshal Field Department Store was busy with shoppers as well as  costumed children...and a number of costumed chaperones as well. Gary was  not comfortable  inside the suit, but he knew that Henry's treat bag was almost full and the  time was nearing for them to return to McGinty's. He had less than an hour  to go, wearing the silly outfit.

 "Ya know, Henry, this has not been too bad. No one knows who I am. They  don't even know who you are. And you really look very good as a warlock." Henry beamed at his compliment. Gary was always fun to be with. Usually he  would handle a 'save' or two, but even that was kind of fun for a  nine-year-old. He was able to appreciate the responsibilities, first-hand,  for someone who  received tomorrow's news, today. Tonight was his best time-ever! Gary  wouldn't jump up and down, making gorilla noises as Henry had asked, but  still, he did put on the costume.

 They were finally ready to leave the store. In fact, everyone was leaving;  it was 9 pm. Gary was anxious to get back and change the outfit for his  jeans and shirt.

 They were among the last of the people to exit the store. The revolving  doors were kept in constant use, hardly pausing long enough for someone to  enter it. Gary went in first, hanging on to Henry by the arm, pulling him  in after  him. As they were about to exit, Henry dropped his treat bag, with candies  scattering all over the floor inside the doors.

 "Henry!"

 It was like a nightmare. Gary was afraid to move his feet for fear of  smashing the goodies. As the door revolved it swept the treats along with  it and Henry and Gary were forced to keep up with the forward motion.

 "Gary! Don't go. I have to pick these up. Tell them to stop the doors!"

 The panic was on as Gary tried to slow down the doors. Too many people were  pushing against them, forcing them to keep revolving. He and Henry went  around over and over. People got on inside and exited outside as the two  costumed trick or treaters rode round and round, allowing  Henry to pick up every last candy and treat. That is, all except the ones  that couldn't escape being smashed. When, at last, nothing remained on the  floor, Gary gave Henry a push out and was about to follow him when his  costume became jammed in the door. Just the costume wouldn't have been so  bad, but his arm was in the part that was stuck  in the door.

 All action came to a halt. Other people were also stuck in the door, but  their body parts were not hanging half in and half out of the aperture.

 "Yowww!" Gary heard a crack as the door closed, that is, tried to close. Henry called to him from outside, "Gary pull your arm out. It's getting  late. We've got to get back."

 "Thanks for reminding me, kid. The door has blown a fuse or whatever these  doors do. It won't move."

 Henry was quick to reassure him, "Don't worry. Someone has gone to call for  the fire department to get you all out."

 "No, no, no, no, no! Not the fire department. Not the fire department!  Don't they have a maintenance department here? Tell them to disassemble the  doors."

 "I don't think they can. The man is telling people to be patient. They'll  get you out."

 "Oh, Henry. Oww!"

 "What's wrong, Gary? They'll be here soon."

 "Never mind, I hurt my arm, that's all."

 Before he could tell Henry not to mention it, Henry  attracted the attention of the doorman, "Can ya tell 'em to hurry, my friend's arm is hurt."

 "No! Henry!"

 The doorman came nearer to the gorilla and asked, respectfully, "Sir, the  boy says you hurt your arm."

 Gary was not looking for attention in this getup, "No, no, no, no, no, what  I said was 'Grandma and Grandpa bought a farm', that's all."

 The fire department arrived with sirens blaring. As they pulled up, the  crowd of observers parted to allow them access to the trapped customers. It  took them a few minutes of work with screwdrivers and wrenches, but they  were able to remove the doors and free everyone shortly  after that. The gorilla was freed in the same way, but amidst the sound of  snickering.

 "Everyone okay?" Everyone seemed okay. As they allowed the captive  customers to leave, one of the firemen whispered to Gary, "Great costume,  buddy. Did you get many treats or did ya have to perform tricks?"

 "Yeah. Thanks. I'm just glad to be outta there."

 As the CFD officer turned to go, he patted Gary on the arm, to which he  heard an accompanying yowl. It stopped him in his tracks as he asked,

 "Whoa! What's wrong? You get hurt?"

 "No! I'm fine. I just wanta leave."

 The fireman called to his buddies, "Hey guys, bring a kit. This guy's  hurt!"

 "No! I said I'm fine."

 Still, the paramedic crew returned to take a look at the guy in the gorilla  suit. "Okay, King Kong. Take off the suit, please." They asked in a  gentle way, but the humor was obvious as well as believable. People were turning back to gaze at the object of the attention of the  paramedics. Some walked back to watch the action.

 The captain of the crew repeated the request, "Remove the suit, please. We  need to take a look."

 Gary, aware of all the onlookers who had gathered, whispered, "No, ya see, I  didn't wanta get too warm in this suit so I took off everything except my  underwear. I can't take off the suit. Not here." He waved his hand toward  all  the people watching in order to explain his refusal. Impatient with the situation, the paramedic captain  instructed the crew to bring a gurney over.

 "No! Please. I can't."

 "Listen, mister..ah...gorilla. We have to follow procedure when it involves  injury at a public place. You may not want the attention, but this store  will insist upon us following proper procedure, if only to protect them from  lawsuits. So, if you don't want to ride on the gurney, get in  the vehicle and we'll let you ride that way. You might want to remove your,  ah, 'hat' so you won't be so, ah, closed-in, shall we say?"

 "Can I wait until I get into the ambulance? It's kinda public here."

 "That's for sure. I guess it doesn't matter. Go ahead."

 By the time they were ready to pull away with Gary and Henry in the vehicle,  a number of flash pictures had been taken of the gorilla and the little  red-haired boy. The barkeeper shuddered to think of the media exposure.  Chicago's next morning's paper was sure to carry at least one image of the  strange couple.

 The special Sun-Times that Gary had received at 6:30 that morning did not  carry a report of it to warn him, but sure enough, the next day's papers  would carry a picture.

 Inside the ambulance, Henry pulled gently at Gary's costumed leg. "I'm  sorry, Gary. Does your arm hurt?" he asked sympathetically.

 "Don't worry, Henry, it'll be fine. They'll just X-ray it and put it in a  cast, probably." The worried look on Henry's face made him add, "I'm sorry  we had to cut your trick or treating short."

 Henry dipped into his treat bag, coming up with a lollipop, "Want a Tootsie  Pop?"

 Gary removed his gorilla head by bending over and pulling it off with one  hand. He had to smile at the little boy wanting to share his candy with  him. "Nah, you keep it. And don't worry!"

 The two paramedics seated with them in the ambulance didn't miss the  tenderness of the situation. Even with the comedic effect of the outfit,  their smiles were not smirks. One of them asked, "You want us to find you  an extra shirt? We usually have some extra duds along."

 "If you had a pair of pants, I'd like that, but I'll take the shirt offer  anyway. I don't suppose that you could kinda sneak me into the emergency  room, could ya?"

 "From an ambulance?" He shook his head. "That's not likely to happen.  Sorry." The two paramedics then exchanged glances and he added, "We'll see  what we can do."

  Gary was beginning to understand Marissa's aversion to the word, sorry, more  and more. The word sometimes was used insincerely. Sometimes it was used  when someone wanted to cover their actions. Even though these people  used it sincerely, it still meant bad news for him.

 "We should've insisted on removing the costume at the scene to at least  immobilize the arm. It was only out of sympathy for you that we didn't."

 "Thanks. I appreciate it."

 They nodded in understanding. "How's the arm feeling?"

 "Kinda numb sometimes."

 Almost with one voice, the two said, "Be thankful."

  CHAPTER THREE

 The emergency vehicle pulled up to the hospital, backing into one of the  docks. The first paramedic out of the vehicle looked around to see what  kind of witnesses they would have. Seeing only busy hospital workers, they  had Gary lie down on the gurney and covered up all parts of the costume that  showed. They moved him into one of the small examining areas and pulled the  curtains. Helping him off of the gurney, they also helped him out of the  gorilla suit and partially into the shirt they donated to his cause. Once  they had him settled on the examining table, they said their 'goodbyes'  wishing him good luck before  they left.

 A nurse entered his alcove and took his temperature and blood pressure. She  was surprised to see the shirt half on and half off, but didn't pursue the  answer. Assuring him that someone would be there as soon as they attended  to the more dire emergencies, she left. Henry sat quietly at his side.  Because of his age, they had allowed him to stay.

 "Gary?"

 "Yeah."

 "How long do we have to wait here? Are they gonna make you stay in the  hospital? Do I have to stay too? Will they give us beds? And, Gary, I'm  hungry."

 He was about to go into more questions, but Gary gave him some assurances by  answering him, "They won't make either of us stay in the hospital."

 "Why? You're hurt."

 "But they'll fix up the arm and let us both go home. We won't need beds.  As far as the food is concerned, I'll ask the next nurse if they have  something you could eat."

 "What's Mom gonna say? She's gonna wonder where I am so late. When will  they let us go?"

 "Henry. Slow down. As soon as they have time, they'll fix my arm. They  have to take care of people who are hurt worse than I am first."

 "But look at your arm!"

 Gary didn't have to inspect his arm in order to know that it was now in  constant pain. A discolored area gave evidence to the bruising. While they waited, Henry fired question after question to Gary about the  hospital until an orderly with a wheelchair entered their curtained-off  area. He smiled broadly as he saw the furry costume laying across the  bottom of the 'bed'.

 He winked at Henry and asked, "Okay, which one of you is going for a ride  with me?"

 Henry pointed to Gary without hesitation. "It's him. I'm just waiting." Rather than leave the boy alone, Henry was deposited at the nurses station  to wait while his friend was taken off to have his injury X-rayed. At first  he watched the busy goings-on of the emergency personnel. When one of the  nurses  noticed him hanging his head sadly, she asked what was wrong, assuring him  that they would be bringing Gary back as soon as they were done.

 "I'm kinda worried about my Mom. She's sick and she's gonna be worried  where I am."

 The nurse nodded sympathetically when she noticed the tears dammed up in his  eyes, "Oh, no. Well, I can help you with that right now." She turned the  telephone towards Henry, instructing him to make the call to his mom,  adding, "Moms shouldn't have to wait to find out how their little  boys are. Is that man your daddy?"

 "No. He and my mom like each other. My mom works for him at the bar." The phone barely rang once before his mother answered it and began  immediately tossing questions at the nine-year-old. Henry gave her a brief  explanation, then listened again, waiting for her to stop. His turn finally  came to plead his case, "But Mom.... Gary's hurt. He was taking care of me  and we were having fun trick or  treating. He got hurt helping me." His last words before hanging up were,

 "I love you too, Mom. Bye."

 After obtaining permission to make one more call, he punched in the number  for McGinty's, identifying himself to Robin who was tending bar, and asking  for Marissa. When she answered, he greeted her with, "Hi. It's Henry."

 "Henry! Where've you been? We've been worried. And your mother is  frantic!"

 Marissa had been like an aunt to him ever since his mother had come to work  at the bar. He responded to Marissa's concern with "I've already talked  with her. We're at the hospital and we have to wait until they take some  pictures.  Should we take a cab back?"

 "The hospital. Pictures? A cab! Henry! What happened? Who's hurt? Are  you hurt? Talk to me."

 He was surprised to hear the usually calm Marissa babble on. "I'm fine," he  said, "Gary had a little accident while we were out. But he's gonna be fine  too."

 "Henry. Please. I'd like to know what happened."

 "Okay." Then in one breath, he launched the explanation, "We were at the  store and I dropped my candies and he got his arm broke in the door and the  door wouldn't move so the firemen had to come and get us out and I got to  ride in an ambulance. They didn't put the sirens on though, 'cause he wasn't dying."

 He could hear Marissa take a deep breath at the other end of the line. "Oh,  my. Henry, is Gary okay?"

 "Yeah, he said he's fine."

 Knowing that it was Gary's standard reply in all but the most grave  situations, she observed dryly, "What a surprise. Well, don't call a cab.  I'll ask Robin to take me there. We'll come to get you both. Did you say  that you called your mother?"

 "Yes."

 "Was she okay with this?"

 "Not at first. She was real mad at Gary until she found out that he had  been hurt taking care of me. She's okay now, though. I told her that I'd  call again from McGinty's."

 "Good. Good. What hospital are you at?" Henry gave her the name and she  promised to be there as soon as they could.  __________

 They were in Robin's car. Her first reaction to the news had been, "How can  Gary manage to get himself in so much trouble? Someday I'd like to know  what he does all day. I know he's my boss and it's none of my business, but  just the same, don't you think it's strange that he's gone all  the time?"

 This was not a welcome subject for Marissa. "Well, you see, ah.. You know  Gary. He, ah, keeps himself busy..taking care of things." Trying to change  the subject, she asked, "Are we pretty close?"

 "About five more minutes."


 CHAPTER FOUR

 By the time the doctors had finished setting Gary's arm and arranging a  sling to support the cast, his partner and his bartender were in the waiting  room at the hospital. Gary was sitting on the edge of the examining table  with a sheet  covering his lower half. The fire department shirt was draped across his  shoulders, one arm in a sleeve.

 He motioned for Henry to come closer, asking gently, "Henry, did you call  Marissa?" When the little boy nodded, he asked, "Did you tell them to bring  me a pair of pants?" He could tell from Henry's expression that he had  forgotten. "Well, Henry, what am I supposed to wear?"

 Henry glanced over at the pile of black, furry material draped across the  bottom of the bed.

 "No! I am not going out of here in the gorilla suit! It's not gonna  happen!" He looked again at Henry, then at the King Kong costume. With a  pained expression, and an exasperated groan, he picked up the suit as if  inspecting it.

 Trying to be helpful, Henry suggested, "Maybe you could wrap the sheet  around you like a towel."

 "It would look like a diaper," Gary envisioned it, all  wadded up and tied around his waist, "No. Oh, God." There just didn't seem  to be anything that he could think of to do.

 An orderly came in to pick up some supplies from the cabinet behind the  examining table and noticed the patient's dilemma about the lack of pants.  With a smirk and a chuckle, he said, "The man who walks out of this ward in  that gorilla suit is even crazier than the man who wore it to come in here.  You're not considering such a thing, I hope."

 With both the look of the hopeless and the heart of the hopeful, Gary  pleaded, "I'm open to suggestion."

 "I'll bet you are, fella. You just sit tight; I'll be back in a few  minutes. Don't leave until I return. Okay?"

 "Sure. I'm not going anywhere like this. Thanks."

 The orderly disappeared through the curtain.

 Henry's innocent voice asked, "What do you think he's gonna do?"

 "I don't know, Henry, but I hope he finds something."

  CHAPTER FIVE

 Henry had gone out to the waiting room to wait for Marissa to show up. He,  like most nine-year-olds, tended to lose interest when nothing much was  happening. And nothing much was happening.

 Just about the time when Gary was ready to give up and crawl back into the  dreaded costume, the orderly returned, pushing a wheelchair. He placed a  neatly folded pair of surgical scrub pants in Gary's hands, announcing,

 "When I told the guys on third floor of your dilemma, they produced this  one-size-fits-almost-all pair of scrubs. Put 'em on. They're better than  your other choice."

 As Gary maneuvered them on with his one hand, the orderly added, "The guys  also told me that if you decided not to wear these, I should call and let  them know so they can come down and witness your departure in costume."

 Gary was only too eager to wear the pants. They were elastic-waisted,  which only made them all the easier to put on. His wheelchair was pushed to  the beginning of the hallway leading out, when his chauffeur excused himself  to pick up some paperwork from the nurses.

 Henry sneaked back in with someone else just entering the emergency ward.  He was excited--and it showed. "Gary! Marissa and Robin are here. They're  wondering when you'll be coming out."

 Gary answered, "Well, that's gonna depend on when they let me out. They're  waiting for some papers."

 "Oh, and Gary, guess who else is out there? You're gonna be surprised." He was uneasy at the thought of someone else being part of his reception  committee. "I don't like surprises, Henry. Who is it? Who else knows I'm  here?"

 "It's that newspaper guy, Mr. Diaz. And he's gonna take your picture, I  think, 'cause he's got some cameras around his neck."

 Gary groaned. He closed his eyes and groaned again. "Not Diaz. What did  I do to deserve this day?"

 "Should I tell him to go away?"

 "He won't. Don't worry about it. Just go out there. I'll be out as soon  as I can. Oh, and Henry?"

 "Yeah?"

 "If I don't come out, tell Robin to take Marissa home and I'll get in touch  with them as soon as I can. You understand all that?" Henry nodded  multiple times and ran off to fulfill his mission.

 Before the orderly returned to the anxious barkeeper, a small, almost  indistinct 'meow' was heard along with the slap of paper landing on the  floor behind him.

 At first he wasn't sure that he wasn't imagining it. A chill ran up Gary's  spine as he first looked around in case anyone else had noticed, then he  turned the chair around to slip the newspaper out from under the cat. With  a farewell 'meow' the cat strutted away.

 'That cat chooses the most inconvenient times to announce the Sun-Times',  Gary thought, as he scanned the headlines. 'What am I gonna do about these  items?' he asked as he paged through the edition. As it was, there were no   'items'. It was almost a dream paper. No catastrophes. No mishaps. No  one to divert from danger. Why then, was the cat there with the paper at  all?

 He checked the close vicinity, then cautiously stood up and casually  abandoned his wheelchair. He sought out another exit, hoping not to be  noticed by the orderly who was still waiting at the nurses station.

 Not knowing exactly where he was going, only that he was putting some  distance between himself and the Sun-Times 'photo journalist' as Miguel Diaz  like to be called, he found a hallway and located a row of elevators.

 Figuring that 'up' was his safest way to find a place to hide out for a  while, he entered the first upward-bound car. This was not his first visit to this particular hospital. He had a  specific destination to which he was drawn. The top floor was not his final  stop; he climbed the stairs leading to the rooftop. Stepping out into the  fresh, but chilling air, he felt the relief for which he sought. It was  pitch black on this lofty hideaway, except for the city glow. Cautious not  to trip over the vents and other hazards, he finally found a place to sit.  It was the  same place where he had sat before, years ago, with someone else. It was a  different occasion,  certainly, but the memories flooded his mind.

 As he was reminiscing, the door from the stairs opened. Someone stepped  out into his dark privacy. Someone walked slowly over to where he was  sitting. Almost sitting on top of him, she jumped, startled, upon realizing  there was  already someone else there.

 Out of breath with shock, she cried out, "Who's here! What are you doing  here?"

 Trying to calm her fears, he stammered, "It's okay. It's okay. I'm, I'm  not gonna hurt you. I, I, I was just, just..sitting here."

 "Why here?" she asked immediately, still suspicious.

 He figured that he couldn't do much worse by telling the absolute truth.  "I'm kinda...hidin' out."

 It didn't ease her mind to hear that he was 'hiding out'. "Are you hiding  from the police? Or the hospital?" She forced her voice to sound calm.

 "I guess, I'm hiding out from everyone..except the police." Putting her on  the defensive now, he asked, "What are you doing here?"

 She sat down on a vent covering much like the one he was sitting on, and  she answered, "I guess I'm kinda hiding out too. It's the end of my shift.  I'm a volunteer candystriper and I like to relax a little before going home.  Here is where  I relax." She unnerved him as she went on by saying, "I love this place.  High up. Closer to..you know who."

 All of a sudden he stood up. He couldn't see her in the darkness, not even  with his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. But he knew; he just knew who  it was up on the roof with him.

 "Rachel?"

 She gasped in shock at the sound of her name.

 "Rachel?"

 "Gary. Is that you?" She asked, but she, too, knew who was standing over  her. She stood up and they hugged each other in the silence. The  conversation they had shared years ago came back to them in the quiet of  their embrace.

 She backed away slightly. "What are you doing and why do you have to hide?  And what's wrong with your arm?"

 He explained about his day-in detail, as they sat back down. Telling his  tale to her, he was able to find reason to laugh. He could find no humor to  it earlier.

 She had not been told, but she had sensed the truth about the paper when  they had their first encounter. There was something special about this  child who was living and breathing, courtesy of a transplant that had traded  her weak and sickly heart for that of a teenager.

 After the long discussion of their lives, she wondered, "What are you going  to do now?"

 "Now? Now I'm gonna have to try to get home without running into Miguel  Diaz. If he sees me, I'm dead. He'll have my face all over the paper  alongside the picture of me in the King Kong suit!"

 In a low voice, she asked in a whisper, "Was it in the paper?"

 "No. No, but it probably will be. Right now, all they have is the picture  of someone in a gorilla costume. Since he's here, he must have picked up  some information from the other papers."

 "But it wasn't in your paper, was it?"

 "No, but.."

 "Where's your faith, Gary? This time I'm arguing for your magic paper. I  think it's saving you from total humiliation by not giving him the  opportunity to catch you."

 He glanced at her in the dark, trying to make out her features. She was  much taller now, but her voice wasn't much different. Older, but not much  different. "Ya think?" he asked, his voice filled with new hope--or was  that the faith to which she referred?

 "I'm being picked up by my mother--you remember her?" When he nodded, she  went on, "Come with me. We can drop you off. I'm sure she'll be glad to  see you again."

 Shyly, she added as they walked toward the door, "You're still too old for  me, aren't you?"


 The End of Halloween, Chicago Style
 

Email the author: arcane@nethere.com
 

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