Blake was quiet for a moment. “I see you’ve learned one of the early lessons.”

“And that is?”

“It’s difficult, once you get started, to turn it off.”

“I don’t want to turn it off.”

“Huh.” Blake walked to the window and peered out across the darkened city dotted with the confident lights of Manhattan’s skyscrapers. “Let me tell you a story, Miss Springman.”

“Julianne. Please.”

“Alright. Julianne. This comes from Aesop. Do you know the fable about Bat and the Fight Between the Animals?”

“I don’t think so. No.”

“Long ago, there was a war between the birds and the beasts. Bat was fighting on the side of the birds, but it looked like they were going to be vanquished by the beasts, so in the middle of the night, he sneaks over to the other camp. Shocked to see him, all the beasts exclaim, ‘What are you doing over here? You’re a bird!’

“‘No,’ he tells them, ‘I’m a beast just like you. Look, I have fur. No birds have fur. I’m a beast.’

“Well, the beasts talk it over and can’t think of a way to refute that. They say to him, ‘Okay, that is true. No birds have fur. You must be a beast. You can fight with us.’

“The war continues, and soon it looks like the birds are going to win, so Bat slips over into their camp at night, and they say, ‘Hey! You were fighting with the beasts. What are you doing here?’

“‘No, you’re mistaken,’ he explains. ‘I’m a bird like you. Look, I have wings. No beasts have wings.’

“They couldn’t argue with that, so they let him join them, but once more it looks like they might lose, so Bat goes over to the beasts’ side once again.

“‘We know you were fighting with the birds,’ they tell him, but he just shakes his head. ‘No, my friends. Look. I have teeth. No birds have teeth. I’m a beast just like you.’”

Blake paused momentarily to watch the escort kiss the mannequin. There still seemed to be no adverse effects—in either direction. Then he finished the story: “Eventually there was peace between the birds and the beasts, but they told Bat, ‘From now on you must live by yourself in a cave in the dark, and you will be considered neither a bird nor a beast, for you could not decide which side you were fighting for.’”

++++

Julianne waited for more, but when it was clear that Blake was done with the story, she said, “There are consequences to switching sides—is that your point?”

“You must know who you are, which side you’re fighting on. Most people could be either birds or beasts. I used to be a police officer—I’m sure my brother told you that. But then I chose my side and I never looked back.”