“I give you a question and you have to tell me the correct answer.”
“Okay.” The kid’s voice was barely a whisper. “What is the best thing about being on a deserted island?”
The kid looked all around them. “The beach?”
“No.”
“The sand?”
Hank shook his head.
“The sunshine.”
“Uh-uh.”
“The bananas?”
“Nope.”
Theodore’s face puckered in thought.
“You give up?”
He appeared to think about it, then nodded.
“On deserted islands there are no orphanages...orprisons.”
Theodore gazed up at him. A few seconds later, his freckled face brightened.
“Now let’s go. I need you to help me.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, kid. We have a hut to build.” Hank turned and walked up a short sand bank.
A few seconds later Theodore was dogging Hank’s steps again.
“Hank?”
“Yeah?”
“What are those?” Theodore pointed at a green coconut lying in the sand.
“A coconut.”
“Oh.”
“Where’d it come from?”
Hank stopped and pointed. “See those palm trees. The tall ones?”
“Uh-huh.”
“There are coconuts high in the branches. Look closely.”
The kid smiled. “I see ’em!”
They walked along a few more steps, then the kid asked, “What’s a coconut?”
