they disappear entirely and forever?
Noble's happy laughter shattered my thoughts. I
could feel the questions floating down around me like
deflated balloons.
The little engine sent up tiny puffs of smoke
and had lights. There was a way to switch the track
and make the whole train go in a different direction. "I'll have to get you an engineer's cap," Mr.
Kotes told Noble. "You're good at it."
Noble looked up at me. his face beaming. "You wanna work the controls?" he asked me. I
joined him, and he started to give me orders. "Make it go faster, Now slower. Stop and put it
in reverse. I wish we could go around a bigger circle,"
he added, already wanting more.
"You add to the set as you go along," Mr. Kotes
explained, standing and looking down at the train
chugging around the tracks. "Although I bet your
mother isn't going to want to give up any more of her
living room." he added. seeing Mommy standing in
the doorway with a strangely distant look in her eyes.
Then she realized we were all looking at her and
waiting for her to speak.
"We'll move it when we have to," she said.
"Maybe into the garage."
"Is everything all right, Sarah?" Mr. Kotes
asked.
Lately, I had noticed how sensitive he was to
Mommy's moods and how important it was to him
that he make her happy all the time.
"Yes, of course," she said. "Everything is just
fine. Better than fine," she added and smiled. "I'm glad," he said, looking relieved.
There held each other's gaze for a moment, and