It was a hot summer day.

But a cool wind brushed against Shawn's skin, making his eyes sparkle. He looked over at Ralph as could see that the boy was giddy and giggly inside. After biking for a while, Shawn's mind wandered into vast wilderness, being taken further by leg power. Leaning into turns that defied gravity powered by a simple pedal and glide. All his senses were working together and appreciating the smells and sounds of nature in the neighborhood, enjoying the journey just as much as the destination.

"I l...love riding" Ralph said, his own bike considerably smaller than Shawn, though he managed it well for a kid so young. Shawn looked at the bike: it seemed such a long time ago that he had once rode that same bike when he was as young as Ralph. It's a good thing that Mom and Dad had put it into the far recesses of the garage.

Shawn waited until they were biking through an underpopulated area of the neighbourhood; no one seemed to be out and about this summer. "Hey Ralph, can you keep a secret? Like keep it really really secret?"

Ralph peddled harder to meet Shawn, coming up on his left side.

"yeah." Ralph said simply between breaths. "I have to..to..to..keep them. I still know stuff...stuff..stuff..stuff...about the Master Maker that I can never say to any person, just never say."

Shawn eased up on the pedalling so Ralph could keep up. "I...just got my first assignment from the Order. They want me to steal some souls, but I might be able to trick them with fake ones so I don't have to kill anyone, but I need kid tears to do it." He let it all flow out of his mouth in a disorganized rush. It sounded crazy when he put it into actual words.

"K...k....k...k...k...k...kid tears." Ralph repeated, trying to understand it.

"You're gonna make kids cry." He announced, coming to the conclusion verbally.

"Yeah, but it's better than the other option, right?" Shawn sounded a little regretful, but resolute. The situation could've been much worse. "I need two vials. I have a plan to get some from Eddy that won't hurt him or anything, and do you think next time you cry I can get some from you?"

"Sure!" Ralph said. Then he hesitated, slowing down a bit while he pedaled.

"But, does that mean I have to be sad? Or...or I have to make other sad?"

Shawn thought carefully about his reply. It wasn't about trying to be misleading, just figuring out a way to say it that Ralph could understand. "I think...I think sometimes sad things happen, even when it's just little things, and crying helps us feel better about it. So don't think about it as feeling sad, think of it as feeling better!"

"Like...*breathing heavily* the way you...you...you...you feel better after you throw up. In the...the...the..the...the..the...the toilet?"

"Even though it smells."

"Exactly. It feels bad for a moment, but then you feel better." Shawn probably wouldn't have chosen such an...evocative comparison, but Ralph seemed to understand his point. Now he just needed to figure out what to do with Eddy.