It took twenty minutes before Simon had the courage to speak. "Dad," he licked his lips, "Um, did you look at the letter I gave mom yesterday?" » His father He ignored the question and continued to eat. Simon looked at his father suspiciously. Dinner times had to be negotiated carefully. Normally he would wolf down his dinner and apologize before downing it, but not today. Ever since he had been sent home with a school trip newsletter, that was all he could think about. He wanted to go so much that he decided to give it a try. “Dad, Nan said it would be nice if she gave me my birthday money early, that way it wouldn’t cost anything.” Expecting to be interrupted, Simon paused. “Yeah and, uh, lots of other people are going.” Simon watched his father continue in silence. Maybe they would let me go? Simon had difficulty suppressing a smile. “The Natural History Museum is supposed to be absolutely awesome, Dad.” He nodded enthusiastically. “I can’t wait to see the dinosaurs. Toby's mom and dad took him last year and he brought back a fossil. »As soon as his father stopped chewing, Simon realized he had said too much. “I’m not going.” Simon's stomach tightened. “So what money do the Harlows have.” He pointed his knife at Simon. "I bet that little bastard, Toby, still doesn't pee in bed at nine years old, does he?" Maybe when you learn to behave normally, you can go. » Simon slumped back, dejected. Not satisfied, his father continued: “Neither his parents are worth it anyway. Her big female dog mother never had a hard day grafting in her..." "But she's nice. She likes me. Simon muttered. Without warning, his father picked up the jar of salt and threw it at him. This hit Simon hard in the side...... middle of paper...... this time. He hit Toby just below the left cheekbone. The impact snapped his head back and caused him to stumble backwards. At a loss for words, Toby struggled to his feet and fled through the bushes. Ashamed, Simon stood still, listening to a gentle breeze stirring the surrounding trees. The sound of the wind never failed to calm him. By getting his father's tools, he no longer wanted to hunt fossils. It was something he and Toby had planned to do. But, once again disappointed, he changed his mind. Simon could live without fossils and without friends for a while. Instead, he spent the rest of the day and a week of evenings clearing rubble from the creek bed. Who knows, maybe the snake would come back one day? On his way home that evening, Simon found Toby's father's lighter. The next day he secretly posted it in Toby's mailbox..