oss along the
bank. He bent down, scooped his hand through the water to catch it. For
a moment he had it, then it slipped over his fingers and darted away,
out of his reach.

As he stood up, disappointed, he saw them: two boys and a girl, not much
older than he. They were standing at the edge of the trees, watching
him.

He'd seen children before, but he'd never met any of them. His parents
kept him away from them--and from all strangers. He stood still,
watching them, waiting for them to say something. He felt excited and
uncomfortable at the same time.

They didn't say anything. They just watched him, very intently.

He felt even more uncomfortable.

The bigger boy laughed. He pointed at Eric and laughed again and looked
over at his companions. They shook their heads.

Eric waded up out of the water. He didn't know whether to go over to
them or run away, back to his mother. He didn't understand the way they
were looking at him.

"Hello," he said.

The big boy laughed again. "See?" he said, pointing at Eric. "He can't."

"Can't what?" Eric said.

The three looked at him, not saying anything. Then they all burst out
laughing. They pointed at him, jumped up and down and clapped their
hands together.

"What's funny?" Eric said, backing away from them, wishing his mother
would come, and yet afraid to turn around and run.

"You," the girl said. "You're funny. Funny, funny, funny! You're
stu-pid."

The others took it up. "Stu-pid, stu-pid. You can't talk to us, you're
too stu-pid...."

They skipped down the bank toward him, laughing and calling. They jumped
up and down and pointed at him, crowded closer and closer.

"Silly, silly. Can't talk. Silly, silly. Can't talk...."

Eric backed away from them. He tried to run, but he couldn't. His knees
shook too much. He could hardly move his legs at all. He began to cry.

They crowded still closer around him. "Stu-pid." Their laughter was
terrible. He couldn't get away from them. He cried louder.

"Eric!" His mother's voice. He twisted around, saw her coming, running
toward him along the bank.

"Mama!" He could move again. He stumbled toward her.

"He wants his mama," the big boy said. "Funny baby."

His mother was looking past him, at the other children. They stopped
laughing abruptly. They looked back at her for a moment, scuffing their
feet in the dirt and not saying anything. Suddenly the big boy turned
and ran, up over the bank and out of sight. The