“Hmmm. Well. You gotta realize that...” Roberta started. “Whew. Cripes, that’s a fair question. Let me get my thoughts in order. There’s a l...t of emotional rubbish and other rot that that brings up. Okay, during our Avery sessions we all got really, really intimate with each other. We spilled our souls doing the role-playing, and whilst in the massage sessions we touched and caressed each other—especially when the teacher wasn’t paying attention, anyway—as we were learning how touch brings. We walked over to the tub that contained the sodas in ice, and each grabbed something to drink. Most of the teenagers were sitting or lying down on the grass in the outfield, waiting for the tee-ball game to end. Jake waved to us as we wandered over toward them. Jaimie was also there, in the crowd and not too close to Jake, in deference to her parents. I also saw Kayla, and the kid who I supposed was her boyfriend, a stick figure of a boy with spiky hair and acne on his chin. There were a few. . of course, among them was Bill from the supply room, and that was nothing new, but this time even a few of your female co-workers swung by, bringing you coffee and chatting you up. They all used your birthday as the inspiration behind this shift in behavior, despite never seeming to acknowledge or care about it any of the last three years you've worked there. By the end of the day you were riding the subway home with a stupid grin on your face. It was perhaps one of the best adult birthdays. Well it was easier for me than climbing in. I put my mask on and my gloves and went in. It led into the kitchen. It was all dark but it wasn't completely quiet. There was this sort of squeaking noise coming from one of the rooms upstairs. I guessed that it must have been whoever he'd attacked. I really had to see. I tried to go up the stairs quietly but I think she must have heard me because the squeaking suddenly stopped. It wasn't a problem because I'd worked out where it was coming from by.