black bats flying round and round

[colorshapes]

They're not really colors or really shapes, but Addy's tastes aren't really tastes, so Kerron thinks it's okay to call them like that anyway. Addy does too and they talk about colorshapes every week. He likes Addy. She has simple colorshapes that are easy to understand and he can help with lots of them. Other people have more complicated colorshapes but he's getting better at reading them while they fly through the air.

He's on his way back to the quarters he and Mummy and Daddy share, and he's just pushed open the door that usually leads to the right building in the Forks compound.

It doesn't.

Kerron has only opened this door twice before in this direction, but he sure remembers where it used to go. Probably Mummy or Her Majesty did a magic here. He wants to see what kind. He goes in and lets the door swing shut behind him.

Comments

[colorshapes]

"Most vampires are in love with other vampires, and then the colorshapes go in both directions, and Mummy's not a vampire and now I'm scared she won't want to be with Daddy forever."

[pythbox]

"I'm sorry," she repeats.

[colorshapes]

Kerron frowns and folds his arms on the table and puts his chin on them.

"Anyway you didn't answer my question, you just asked another question. Why doesn't Daddy like you?"

[pythbox]

The bat lady shakes her head.

"I don't know exactly."

[colorshapes]

"Do you know inexactly?"

Kerron may be two months old, but a perfect memory means that he has never gone through a period of overregularization and knows how to contradict the word "exactly".

[pythbox]

She shakes her head again.

[colorshapes]

"It sounded like you were about to guess."

[pythbox]

"I don't want to guess."

[colorshapes]

"Why not?"

[pythbox]

"I don't like thinking about it very much."

[colorshapes]

"How come?"

Ah yes, the infinite toddler litany of why?

[pythbox]

"Because I don't."

[colorshapes]

"That's only a pretend answer."

[pythbox]

"Are you sure?"

[colorshapes]

"Yeah."

[pythbox]

She shrugs. "Well, then, I don't know what to tell you."

[colorshapes]

Kerron drinks his smoothie, looking suspiciously at her.

[pythbox]

She raises her eyebrows.

[colorshapes]

Finally his smoothie is gone. "Maybe I'll go home now," he says.

[pythbox]

"Bye," says the bat lady.

[colorshapes]

"And I'll tell Mummy and Daddy that I met you and that you want them to leave you alone," he says, nodding smartly. "And then they won't bother you, I bet."

[pythbox]

"Maybe not," she says wryly.

[colorshapes]

"Why would they bother you when you don't want them to?" Kerron asks.

[pythbox]

"That's a very good question," she says, "and I don't know what your mother would say if you asked it of her, but I bet it would be educational."

[colorshapes]

"Okay, I'll ask her then," says Kerron, and he hops off his chair and trots over to the door.