As the stranger came to the counter he pulled out an old-fashioned money pouch from his pocket. Its’ intricate design caught my attention, reminding...me of some of the old Western artifacts in the local museum. With nothing more than a nod, his bill paid, he left and blended in with the night. For the rest of my shift, as I went about setting up for the next day, my thoughts went back to him repeatedly. I wondered about the Carson property outside of town. It had been vacant for a long time and. Each member of the audience did the same. Tani held up her empty glass and yelled, "now let's par-tay." The cafeteria was instantly filled with throbbing music and as Tani touched a hidden button under the podium each and every one of the togas began to flash in colors.Lynn and Misty had outdone themselves in designing the togas. Each one had tiny electrical circuitry; no two togas displayed the same color at the same time. During the momentary transition from one color to the next the togas. Mike asked us to stayfor dinner. I declined but Todd said he would stay. Ididn't feel comfortable around Todd. He hadn't saidanything of substance to me since my revelation.Later that evening I found a message from Megan in myemail in-box. "Hope your better! : )" read the subjectline. I stared at it for several minutes trying todecide what to do. Delete it? Read it and ignore it?Read it and respond? Be strong I told myself.Eventually I deleted it. I didn't care what she had tosay.The next. I could feel his restraint, frustration and anger so i knew he must be thinking about or seriously considering breaking the door. That's when i realized i really wasn't hidden, not safe just a sardine in a can. "Can't open the door physically which i doubt...or wont" he asked i thought seriously for a second "won't"...”Why...” he said “why did you do that?” I shuddered and realized I couldn't even say it out loud, my throat felt heavy and I wanted to throw up. His question would remain.