Kim sat with Jamil on the veranda listening to the high, fluting sound of the crickets. Most of the time he didn't notice them. It was just background noise. But every so often it would stop abruptly. All of them stopped at the same moment, as if at some signal that only crickets could hear. And then he noticed the silence. Then, when he had forgotten about them, they would start up again, just as inexplicably, all at once.

"I can't stay, you know," Kim said. "No matter what anyone ...