Frank leapt from the water, moonlight catching his scales. And then he disappeared into the sea. Arthur began to laugh. He laughed and laughed, arms wrapped around his middle. The first tear was a surprise, the second a warning, and then the floodgates opened: he wept for the children—both known and unknown. He wept for each raised fist. He wept in bittersweet joy, in ferocious heartbreak. He wept at the unknowable mysteries of this universe. And for the first time, Arthur Franklin Parnassus wept for himself.
