But that was why Henry was at Archie’s door at one-o’clock in the morning. And he knew, logically, that his mentor was probably asleep. But Henry needed to see him, to make sure he was okay. Archie wasn’t dead, he was safe now. But the only way he’d believe that was after he physically saw the psychiatrist. Maybe, now that he’d rang the doorbell for the fifth time, Archie would answer the door.

Thaddeus Toad Esquire’s mind raced nearly as fast as his car drove. He had much on his mind of late. Something about home. Was it cheese he was forgetting now? Possibly. No, maybe wine. It must have been wine. He was constantly out of that. Better pick up both to be safe. 

“A quick drive into town, pick up the cheese and wine, and back home.. Home!”

That was it. Goodness, he almost forgot. He was driving to town because his home was not, as the letter said, “his” any longer. Something about overdue fees for some organization. Bah, he didn’t have time for anything like that. He was an important toad, walking an important road. His internal rhyme made him chuckle. 

There was something else he was forgetting. Was it something about this town? It felt strangely familiar. 

“No,” he thought “It must be that my shoelace is untied.”

He bent down, one foot on the steering wheel, to tie his shoe. 

Upon waking up, he vaguely remembered a thunderous crashing noise and felt strangely sore. He surveyed his surroundings. A generic stationwagon was lodged into the hood of his car. 

Mr. Archie had been playing with him for a few minutes already. Henry always liked it when Mr. Archie came over, he always had time to play. Mommy played too, but she was often busy. Mr. Archie always played with him, and was never too busy for him.

“Mr. Archie?” Henry finally got up the courage to ask, setting down the truck he was playing with. He’d been wanting to ask for a while, but had never found the right time. But, right now seemed like a good time. “Why don’t you live with me and Mommy?”

Henry had absolutely no idea how odd that question sounded as he looked expectantly at Archie, waiting for his answer. He really was just purely curious. Why didn’t Mr. Archie live with them? It didn’t make sense to his five-year-old brain, and he needed it explained to him. Henry would have asked his mom, but he didn’t think she’d answer it as well as Mr. Archie.

                 ( continued from here x )

“ And what do you know of SIN? ”

                - less than Claude, if he had to       hazard a guess.