place sitting down?”
I looked closer at the Djin. He really did look tired, his
face streaked with sweat and his little chest heaving as he
tried to catch his breath. Strange, I didn’t feel like I had
been exerting myself at all.
“Talk about what?” I said, realizing as I spoke that the
words were coming out forced and tense.
“Come on, Skeeve. It’s obvious that what the Butterfly
said back there has you upset. I don’t know why, it sounded
like pretty good advice to me, but maybe talking it out
would help a bit.”
“Why should I be upset?” I snapped. “He only chal-
lenged all the priorities I’ve been living by and suggested
that my best friend is probably the worst thing in my life.
Why should that bother me?”
“It shouldn’t,” Kalvin responded innocently, “unless,
of course, he’s right. Then I could see why it would bother
you.”
I opened my mouth for an angry retort, then shut it again.
I really couldn’t think of anything to say. The Djin had just
verbalized my worst fears, ones I didn’t have any answers
for.
“… And running away from it won’t help! You’re
going to have to face up to it before you’re any good to
yourself … or anyone else, for that matter.”
MYTH-NOMERS AND IM-PERVECTIONS 103
Kalvin’s voice came from behind me, and I realized I
had picked up my pace again. At the same moment, I saw
that he was right, I was trying to run away from the issues,
both figuratively and literally. With that knowledge, the
fatigue of my mental and physical efforts hit me all at once
and I sagged, slowing to a stop on the sidewalk.