“Take
a good look around you,” Mr. Sir said. “What do you see?”
Stanley
looked out across the vast wasteland. The air seemed thick with
heat and dirt. “Not much,” he said, then hastily added, “Mr. Sir.”
Mr.
Sir laughed. “You see any guard towers?”
“No.”
“How
about an electric fence?”
“No,
Mr. Sir.”
“There's
no fence at all, is there?”
“No,
Mr. Sir.”
“You
want to run away?” Mr. Sir asked him.
Stanley
looked back at him, unsure what he meant.
“If
you want to run away, go ahead, start running. I'm not going to
stop you.”
Stanley
didn't know what kind of game Mr. Sir was playing.
“I
see you're looking at my gun. Don't worry. I'm not going to shoot
you.” He tapped his holster. “This is for yellow-spotted lizards.
I wouldn't waste a bullet on you.”
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