Most people here aren't telepaths, I don't really know how the thoughtspeak thing works? Nobody around them seems to be reacting like they just got a bunch of words in their head. I think just do your best. If someone else hears you out here it could scare them, but it won't, like - that building is just really bad.

Well, some of the craftsmanship was impressive, and there are lots of advantages to having a undistracting background space if you want to display art or something.

- I mean I don't think the architecture is evil. I guess it might be. 

How do you explain inter-dimensional evil law firms or tiny demon child trafficking to a four-year-old. She is really out of her depth here.

I just mean there are people there who might want to hurt you. Out here - well, I guess some people might want to hurt you out here, too, but not as many of them and nobody's specifically looking for you. Probably.

Did I do something that made them mad?

No, no, no, nothing you did. They're mean because of reasons that have nothing to do with you. 

(Probably. It seems likely.)

It's kind of a long ways home for somebody so small, you want me to carry you?

- I think I would like that a lot.

Scoop.

Sorry about all of this. I'd take you back to your parents but I'm not very sure how I'd find them.

We should go to Tirion probably and then my grandfather will find them.

I'm not sure where Tirion is.

- okay, we could go to Taniquetil and ask them where Tirion is. Taniquetil is at the top of the tallest mountain.

Mount Everest is on the other side of the planet and I think it's not what you want anyway. The people back at work - I think maybe they pulled you in from another universe, or something, so if we want to get you back we'd have to do a lot more than just walk.

I think probably they should not have done that. My family will be sad. And maybe mad.

Yeah, I think that's likely.

Poor kid.

I can look into how to send you home, but it's - not really something I know a lot about, so you might have to stay with me for a bit. Are you gonna need anything else if you're away from your family for a while?

I am supposed to practice recitation and composition and music and drawing and sculpture and if I am done with all of it before anyone else is done with their things I am allowed to go into the city and play with people but I am not allowed to go down to the river because I might fall in and meet Mandos and I am not allowed to go off on my own but I do not like to do that anyway.

I - am not entirely sure what all of those things refer to so I am going to give you lots of paper and see if I can teach you English so you can talk to more people without scaring them. I might have to send you to daycare or something, I dunno, I'll figure something out. You shouldn't go off on your own here, either, and should especially not go into the street - that's the street there, we're on the sidewalk right now - because that's where cars go and cars are dangerous. 

I don't really know what else to do with you, so I'm gonna take you home to where I live. There're other kids there for you to play with, so - I guess that's something.

He looks at the street. There's quite a lot of street. Small children should not play in the river but at least there is not an enormous river right in the middle of everything with no way across it. 

It sounds very nice, he tells Karen reassuringly. I think I'll like it a lot. In addition to paper I would need poems and speeches to practice reciting and I need clay to do sculpture because I am not allowed to do stone yet unless you have a very soft stone on hand.

Why are this kid's parents so intense about the arts. Maybe this is normal where he comes from but it's really pretty intense for somebody so tiny.

We have play-doh, which is... like clay, I guess. We have... books? Some of the books have poems in them? You can practice reading when you know English. It might be kind of rough because I have to go to work during the day, but hopefully I'll have some time to teach you stuff in the evenings.

You can read? That's really neat!

Awwwwww cute.

Yeah. We can teach you how, I think you're probably old enough. Once you know the language.

My mother and my father can read.

Most grownups can. Connor and Zana can, too. The kids I live with. Maybe they can help you.

Where I am from no one can read except my mother and father. They are trying to convince other people to learn.

Huh! Well, I hope they succeed. Reading's pretty great.

I think the problem is that most things are pretty great so it is hard to get people to do reading in particular. 

That has not been my experience, honestly, but I'm glad it's been yours. I guess reading's pretty great because it means you can learn things and listen to stories even when everybody else is too busy to help you.