always taken obvious pleasure in the transformation of boys into
donkeys. It was the whole why of Pleasure Island, after all. Orville seemed
especially pleased tonight, and George thought that he was as surprised about
Bill as George was.

George, not knowing what to say to any of it, said nothing.

#

It didn't take long for George to start missing the midway. Stuck at the cabin
with Bill and Tom, he sat against an outside wall and tried not to get in the
way. He prepared meals in silence, taking a long time in the woods, gathering up
choice morsels. Bill and Tom ate on the floor, away from the table. Bill chewed
the tougher morsels first, and then put them in Tom's mouth with his crippled
left hand. Most of the time, neither of them took any notice of George.

One day, he prepared a whole day's worth of meals and left them on the table,
then walked to the utilidor at the other side of the woods. He boarded a tram
and rode to the old midway entrance.

The midway was fenced in with tall plywood sheets, and construction crews
bustled over the naked skeletons of the new HorrorZone. Heavy machinery groaned
and crashed. Nothing but the distant silhouettes of Actionland's skyline were
familiar. George tried to imagine working here for years to come. An
overwhelming tiredness weighed him down.

He took the tram back to the cabin and stripped off his clothes. They were
browner than ever. His arms felt weak and tired. He suddenly knew that he would
never have a son of his own.

Bill and Tom were playing out front of the cabin. He sat in his usual spot
against the wall and watched them. "Bill," he said, softly.

"Yes?" Bill said.

"When will I have a son of my own?" Bill always knew the answers.

Bill gathered Tom up to his chest unconsciously while he thought. "I suppose
that once Tom is grown, you could take some time off and have a son of your
own."

To his own surprise, George said, "I want to have a son now."

Bill said, "That's out of the question, George. We're too busy with Tom." On
hearing Bill's annoyed tone, Tom leaned into him.

George said, "I'm not busy. I am old, though. If I don't have a son soon, I
won't be able to care for it until it's old enough to care for me."

Bill said, "You're thinking like Father. We're living with the soft ones now.
Orville will make sure that you and your son will be fine until he's grown."

George never won arguments with Bill. He went inside the cabin and set out
di