"No! Wait! You can't leave me here! The pirates have looted Tel'Ruid and the Elves are nowhere to be seen! All the wandering healers are being slain and there is no one to come to their aid. It isn't fair!"

Laura smiled at her son. "Bobby, it's just the first chapter. Be patient. You know how these stories are. Everything looks bleak in the beginning. But Good always wins out in the end."

"No, Mom, it doesn't! At least not since you started reading me those Post-Modernist stories of yours. Evil wins a lot! How can I go to sleep knowing that?"

"Trust me, Bobby, the Elves will return and they will drive the Evil out."

"And that nasty Blue Canary...?"

"She will get her just deserts."

The boy looked doubtful. "Promise?"

Laura laughed. "Go to sleep!"

As she turned out the light she thought, "We shall see."