The boy stood in the bathroom and the light was on and the brush was there on the sink where it had always been. He did not pick it up. His mother called from the hall and he heard her and he did not pick it up. The toothpaste was there too and the water was there and everything was ready and he stood with his hands at his sides. He looked at the brush. He looked at it a long time. There are things a boy will do and things a boy will not do and this was a thing he would not do. Not tonight. His mouth was fine. His teeth were fine. They were his teeth and they felt fine and he could not see the reason for it. His mother called again and her voice was closer now and he turned on the water and let it run so she would hear it. But he did not pick up the brush. The water ran and ran and he watched it and he was not afraid and he was not sorry. He was only a boy alone in a bathroom with a brush he would not use.