with you. He's grooved too deeply into human space. Human hands made him, Johnny. He's just an ugly thought-pattern made of drift material. He's solid, Johnny. You're not!"

Sweat came out on Johnny's face and froze to his face. A silent cold seemed to bite through him.

"We know how you feel, Johnny! You're still a little human boy in some respects, but you can break out now if you try. You're old enough and wise enough. If you take our hands and walk with us, you'll cease to be human."

"And Fuzzy Head?"

"Johnny, a doll can't walk with the more-than-human. No, Johnny! Sorry!"

A look of stricken horror had come into Johnny's face. He had never before realized how much Fuzzy Head meant to him.

"No, I—I w-won't!" he stammered.

"You won't what Johnny?"

"Go away and leave him! Everybody says he's ugly! But he's mine, just like I was his father. Good father's don't desert their sons."

It was an adult statement, but Johnny sometimes surprised himself by the things he could say.

The radiant man seemed surprised too. "But Johnny, he's just a wooden doll. Johnny, think! You can play with the lililis! The stars are not so bright. When you stretch out your arms and repeat the Illth formula you're not even Johnny. Not Johnny at all!"

"I don't want to be not Johnny—without Fuzzy Head!"

"But we are your parents now, Johnny!"

"Not without Fuzzy Head. I'm Fuzzy Head's father!"

Suddenly Johnny burst into tears. The radiant man and woman exchanged lightning-swift glances. Then, in utter silence, they darted into shadows. They whispered together.

"I never expected this, Celia. He isn't mature yet. A doll means more to him than we do."

"But he doesn't belong here. He belongs with us. We're his real parents now."

"Not yet, Celia. He's still too much of a child, not quite human, but immature. In fact, except at rare moments, he still looks human. Have you noticed?"

"Yes, naturally. 

 Prev. P 10/14 next