...with two more stumbles following, the boy fell to the ground. At first I thought he was just playing around, being a younger boy and all. He fell once at the door, sat for a couple minutes, and then proceeded regain his stance once again. But the closer he came to the booth at the restaurant, the weaker he became, and soon he disappeared under the tables. Five minutes later his mother found him lying on the ground, troubled breathing and pale. She helped him up to the booth's seat, barely conscious. She was frantic, with good reason, and she placed a wet cloth over his forehead before she began to fan him with a newspaper. An older man, probably in his 30's, stood above the small boy, his eyes shot red. We think there might be a gas leak, he said. Everyone's been feeling sick the past couple days. We even shut the place down yesterday.

Maybe it was the horrible heat outside. Or maybe it really was a gas leak in the building, I don't know. But I stayed not long enough to find out if the boy was all right, and now I'm afraid he might not be.