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He sat on the front stoop of his home, a bucket of multicolored chalk at his side. He was grinding each piece of chalk into oblivion, forming a multicolored pile of dust on the cement. It was a stupid game and a tiring task, this chalk grinding. It was pointless and made no sense, like Kevin dying young.

Kevin was the boy's brother, and he had gone off to fight in the War, which took place in Far Away where Crazy, Bad Men plotted to kill you and your family. Soldiers, who were brave men, had the job of traveling to Far Away and killing the Bad Men before they got a chance to kill you. That already made no sense. Kevin hadn't been brave. Once, a bumblebee got into Kevin's room and he wouldn't open the door to go in until someone else had shooed the bug away or killed it.

Kevin was a half-and-half older brother, sometimes very good and sometimes very bad and annoying. He had been very good before he left for Far Away, and he had told the boy that they would have a barbecue on Sunrise Beach, just the two of them, when he came back. Then he even kissed Mom and Dad and the boy and left with a big suitcase.

After Kevin left, Mom and Dad started to watch TV a whole lot, especially the boring channel with the talking people and the stories about bad things happening; nothing funny ever happened at all. The news, Mom explained, so they could be sure that Kevin was okay. The boy hadn't understood. Of course Kevin was okay, otherwise how could they have a barbecue when he came back? He told them so, and they shook their heads and held hands.

And then the man had come, dressed like a Soldier, and had told Mom and Dad something secret. The boy had walked into the kitchen after the Soldier had left and found Mom on the floor, crying very loud and hard, and hugging Dad. She kept saying "It hurts, Jack, it hurts!" over and over and holding her heart. It reminded the boy of Dr. Chan and his long needle, and he wanted to tell Mom that it only hurts for a second and then it feels all better. Dad cried too, but not like Mom. He just went very loose, like he was very tired, and kept rubbing his eyes and hugging Mom.

The boy hadn't cried. Why should he, when none of this made any sense? Kevin wasn't brave, and he had promised to come back, and that was that.

And so he sat, grinding and grinding until the chalk was used up, not caring but not thinking about it just the same. A shadow fell over him.

He looked up, and there was a thin, tall man standing over him. He looked like an umbrella

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