I gave the kid a grin before I realized that I was disguised anyhow and
probably a hideous sight. The little boy backed off, but Joanna put her
plump hand on his shoulder, murmuring soothing things.
Mickey toddled toward Juli, holding up the shining thing in his hands as
if to display something very precious and beloved. Juli bent and held
out her arms, then her face contracted and she snatched at the
plaything.
"Mickey, what's that?"
He thrust it protectively behind his back. "Mine!"
"Mickey, don't be naughty," Joanna chided.
"Please let me see," Juli coaxed, and he brought it out, slowly, still
suspicious. It was an angled prism of crystal, star-shaped, set in a
frame which could get the star spinning like a solidopic. But it
displayed a new and comical face every time it was turned.
Mickey turned it round and round, charmed at being the center of
attention. There seemed to be dozens of faces, shifting with each spin
of the prism, human and nonhuman, all dim and slightly distorted.
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