like… Parker’s.

I stopped drawing it immediately, afraid of what he might say if he saw it. “So… um,” I started, “What’s your favorite animal?”

He thought about it, then replied, “That’s a pretty random question, don’t you think?” I nodded. He continued, “Well, I’d have to say it would be otters.”

“Otters?”

“Yes. Otters. What about you?”

“Hmm… koalas.” I laughed a little.

“They are very cute,” he looked back down to his paper, flashing that brilliant smile.

The picture he was drawing was developing more and more, every detail being brought out. I ignored it, at least, I tried to. Whenever I even glanced in that direction, the face tormented me with its insidious stare.

“I don’t know who he is,” Parker said quietly. “I just start drawing… it’s a really long story.”

“Oh.”

That was a bit confusing; I mean, I’ve drawn faces I’ve never seen before, but those faces weren’t familiar to other people as this was to me.

I changed the subject. “So, any decent zoos around here?”