My granddaughter was leafing through the ledger and asked, Grandfather, why is this one space blank. I didn't answer. If I wrote the answer down, she'd try to make the thing it names.

• The ScarecrowHere's what I think. Not writing something down is still a kind of writing. A blank space is its own kind of letters.
  Ku-KlipThey say you've got no brain, so where'd you learn to talk like that.
• The Old HeadOld man. Thanks to you leaving that space blank, I'm still here talking. Should I be grateful, or should I resent you.
  Ku-KlipDo both. I did both myself.
• Nimmie AmeeBecause of that blank space, I waited seventeen years. Even so, I hold no grudge.