In this particular incident, Jack had needed fourteen rolls of the dice before hewas satisfied with the outcome. At the time he had agonised for ages, spendingborrowed weeks on family holidays skulking on the beach or in his room. Nowhowever the situation seemed inconsequential, and furthermore, Jack realisedthat he had probably suffered more trying to avoid it than he would have donehad he let things pass normally.Robert now stood in-front of Jack, his chest thrust forward and his body stretchedupwards; a completely unnecessary gesture of dominance, as even slouchedhe’d have towered over Jack. He stood up close, so as to exaggerate his need tolook downwards, “Where’s your ammynight?” he demanded while steppingforwards so as to force Jack back. Five minutes ago the posturing would haveseemed ridiculous; the aggressiveness of this six year old child still seemedhumorous to a part of Jack’s mind. However, in the immediate context thesituation carried a genuine threat, and the conflict between the two emotionsgave the encounter a surreal quality. “Well?” Robert pressed. The ammonite in question had been one Jack had brought into school thatmorning to show off, after having been given it by his Dad the previous evening.He had been immensely proud of the fossil, taking his father’s comments abouttheir rarity with all the exaggerated importance of childhood innocence. It was anattitude which seemed especially naive with hindsight, as brief obsession withgeology had lead to his twelve year old self building up an impressive collectionof rocks and fossils, including some genuinely rare finds; ammonites howeverwere not in short supply. Jack shrugged, “Ammonite,” he corrected, “I gave it to Mrs. K, she wanted it for adisplay.” Robert exhaled sharply, and shoved Jack backwards before storming off.It was a lie, of course; he could feel the ammonite in his coat pocket, but Jackwasn’t keen on capitulating, even when it no longer mattered. The rest of the lunch-break passed with Jack watching those around him withdetached interest. He contemplated joining in the various games, but felt too self conscious, and could only do so half-heartedly. He had read this book before, andwhile re-reading it was revealing new ideas he has missed the first time round,he could no longer engage with the story, and could instead only dissect itstrictly academically. The return to class wasn’t much better, lessons in trivialitywhich he was thankful he didn’t have to fully engage in. When, after an hour of simple board work and listening to facts of dubious simplicity, he was able towrite freely, he took perverse pleasure in over analysis and unnecessarysymbolism. It would have been written off as arrogant and pretentious inuniversity, but he didn’t care, that was the point. Unfortunately the work wasn’tmarked at the end of the lesson, and Jack doubted he’d be sticking round longenough to wait for the books to be collected in.Heading home was a stranger experience than he had expected. His firstsurprise was meeting his Mum outside of the school. Not only had he beenexpecting to walk home, but he was struck by how young she looked, and waseven more disturbed when he realise that he had dated women who can only