The following year, my last at that school, my friends gradually lost interest in the playground, but we continued to meet for a while in the hideout.... and watch the girls dangle on the uneven bars. Even then, my friends slowly lost interest.Then one day, it started. It was after a week of just me being in the hideout on my own did I notice a change in the behaviour of the girls. As I looked out at them swinging upside down, that one of them had let her shirt fall down revealing her flat. ”I poured some into her glass and emptied the bottle into mine. “Dessert and coffee?” I asked.“I’m too full for dessert,” she replied, “and I don’t care for coffee.”“I’d like one of their demitasse espressos,” I replied. “How about some tea?”“Tea would be good.”I drove out of Leon’s parking lot with Mae sitting in the passenger seat. “The evening’s young,” I remarked. “Would you care to go back to my place? We could have some after-dinner drinks ... put on some music. Or, just talk.”“I’d like. Anything was possible. Karen said she didn't care so long as he/she was happy and healthy, but secretly she probably fancied a concert pianist to surpass her own status as a private teacher. Well, whatever the little fellow was going to be, he/she decided to arrive four days before due date. Not a problem in itself, of course. The birth was not the easiest, but nothing went markedly wrong. Karen, petite as she was, had to be cut, and the baby finally popped through just as they were beginning. I do a little writing myself, you know." She looked over at me quickly as we continued down the highway. "I'd like to see what you're writing. If I recall correctly, I'd turned you into a pretty fine writer when we were at school. You were hurling adverbs and flowery adjectives around like there was no tomorrow.” "You never know, Danny. You just might get to see some of it... soon," she said rather mysteriously. I wondered what she meant. We arrived at the restaurant, and she pulled in and.