One for his roommate, Patrick Morgan, one for his parents, one for his resident advisor, Rick, and one for Diane, over which he lingered lovingly, crowding all the detail he could in the small message square. He had saved a special card for Ludmilla Hempert, the old woman with whom he shared the Little Folks’ secret. It was a hot, sunny morning, with just a striping of clouds arching overhead. Slung across his back was a straw coolie hat he had found in one of the souvenir shops the week before and had worn every day since burning his ears and neck. The others laughed at him for worrying about a little sun, and turned down his offer of hats for each of them. None of them wore hats, sunscreen, or even sunglasses.“No sense worrying about what doesn’t stay long, or hadn’t you noticed?” Edwin asked deprecatingly. “This isn’t the tropics, laddie.”“Americans worry too much about natural things,” Charles added.“Skin cancer is natural?” Keith asked pointedly.“Oh, come off it.
