him.

"Could you?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Then do it, Gistla. I'll prove to you that nothing is important but you
and me. I'll be a Venusian, like you are. I'll go back to my family as a
Venusian and I'll take you with me. I'll prove that neither they nor
anybody else makes any difference in how I love you!"

Gistla watched him solemnly. Finally she said, "Would you really do
that?"

"Yes," he said quickly, "Yes."

"I love you, George," she said in her deep round voice.

He lifted his hands to touch her face and he found that his skin had
turned to pale green. He touched his own face, and he knew that if he
looked into a mirror he would see a round smooth head with large lidless
eyes.

"Is that what you wanted?" she asked.

"Yes," he said stubbornly. "That's what I wanted." He stood there for a
long time, trying to become used to it, fighting the fear that ran
through him every time he looked at his hands or touched his head.
Finally he said, quietly, "Let's go meet my family."

* * * * *

As they drew near the house, he knew his family was still in the patio.
He could hear the voices of his mother and father and the high, piercing
laughter of his sister.

"And, my God," he heard his sister say, "did you see the way those
horrible eyes looked at you? What ever gets into George?"

"Dear, dear, dear," he heard his mother say.

Gistla was looking at him. "You do not have to do this."

"Yes," he said, feeling his heart jump. "I do."

He took her hand and they walked to the gate of the patio. He stood
there, feeling Gistla's hand tighten about his own. And as he said,
"Hello, everybody," he felt his breath shorten as though he had suddenly
gotten stage fright.

He saw his father turn around. "What's this?" Mr. Kenington said,
frowning.

"Hello, Father," George said.

"_Father_," Mr. Kenington repeated. "What are you doing in this patio?"

"I brought Gistla back."

"So I see," said Mr. Kenington, his eyes narrow as he looked at Gistla.
"Where's George?"

"I'm George."

"I'm not in the mood for joking with Venusians," his father snapped.
"What made you think you could come in here like this?"

Gistla's hand tightened again. "Try to understand," George said.
"Gistla--"

"What's going on?" his sister interrupted.

"Gistla, or whatever her name is," Mr. Kenington said, "has brought a
friend of hers, another Venusian." He said the word, Venusian, as though
it were a