The tall, dark, shadowy figure stands in the intersection of the main hallway and a connecting hallway, the only light is from the overhead "Exit" sign in the main hallway. The connecting hallway is complete dark and leads to the school's auditorium. The figure appears to be holding a very small (for the year 2000 at least) cell-phone and speaking in a hushed voice to it.

The auditorium is darkened and the audience is quiet as the Christmas pageant of December 2000 is underway. The only lighting is above the stage of risers and 3 young kindergarten girls stand in the spotlight. The two outside girls are in marked contrast to the middle girl. They are about a head taller than her, both have long hair styled in ringlets - one is blonde and the other brown-haired. Their dresses, though both hunter-green, are the latest fashion. The short girl in the middle of the trio has short dark hair, pale white skin, very chubby cheeks, and is wearing a somewhat old-fashion burgundy dress.

The trio is singing "Oh Holy Night" where the chorus is sung in unison and every girl sings one verse as a solo. When they get to the 3rd verse it's the shorter dark-haired girl's turn, but, as can happen at pageants like this where there's lights and eyes and faces and pressure - she forgets the words to the song! She quickly glances up at her classmates - first one, then the other, but neither one will even look at her, much less give her a prompt. She looks to the music director, but with eyes filling quickly with tears, she can't read the teacher's lips. So, she does what any six-year-old would do in that situation - she turned and ran! She ran right off the risers, down the dark hallway, until... thud -- right into the legs of the figure in the dark.

The little girl grips the two legs with all her might, as if they were Roman columns from the day of Caesar, afraid to move or look up. She hears a man's voice say in a deep whisper "I'll call you back in a minute" and hears the phone snap shut.

Unsure of what to do or say the man looks down at her and simply asks "Are you okay?"

There's something kind and warm and gentle-sounding in his voice, so, eyes still filled with tears, she takes a chance and looks up toward his face. Just as she looks up, the overhead florescent lights start to come on, as someone had flipped the main switch back in the lobby. Now, thanks to the brightening lights, she can make out the features of his face. He does have kind eyes (she thinks to herself). He does have a warm and gentle face, she thinks, as she scans his short dark-brown hair, his wire-rimmed glasses, and closely-cropped beard.

The girl mumbles and stutters quietly "I... um..."

"Yes?" the man asks quietly and patiently.

"I... I forgot my lines." She says quietly.

This man, who has faced demons, swords, bombs and unmentionable evil - who has seen the world taken to the brink of ending, now looks down into the big, brown, tear-filled eyes of a six-year-old girl who thinks her world is ending. He wants to tell her that "It's not the end of the world", but those eyes, are already melting his heart, so instead he says

"Awe, I'm sorry...".

Flashback to Fall, 1970

A Third grade class is making its way across a field from the playground area to the cafeteria when two boys come up behind a much smaller blonde girl.

Rich, a small, wiry blonde-haired boy tells her "Thanks a lot SueAnn because you told on us, we don't have recess for a week" and he reaches out and grabs the little pink purse from her shoulder. Keith, a larger and dark-haired boy tells her "Yea, thanks a lot" as her roughly pushes her shoulder. SueAnn, already off-balance as she turned to grab her purse, topples backward into a large mud-puddle.

Suddenly a third boy, thin, with short dark hair and wire-rim glasses, cuts through the line of students and tries to go between the two bullies. "Hey, leave her alone!" he says.

"Butt out" says the blonde kid and tries to grab him, but the thin boy elbows him between two ribs and the blonde bully recoils in pain "Owww..." The thin boy extends his hand to the girl "Here SueAnn, take my hand." he says. "Thanks Jonah" she says to him as he helps her to her feet and snatches the her purse back from Keith. As he leads her away from the line he suggests "Why don't we go to the nurse's office and see if she has some dry clothes?"

Later, after lunch, as the students are hanging up their coats, Keith tries to corner Jonah between the coat-rack and the back wall.

"Hey, Fortress, why don't you mind your own bees-wax" he sneers.

"SueAnn is my bees-wax, and so is every other girl like her." Jonah responds. "Why don't you leave her alone?"

Keith gets toe-to-toe with Jonah, so he can show the smaller boy that he's about four inches tall than him "And what if I don't wanna..." he growls "How are you gunna make me?"

"Hmm..." Jonah thinks for a moment "Why don't we go ask the dinosaur in the basement?" he says grabbing the larger boy by the arm and pulling him toward the door.

Not wanting to be embarrassed Keith replies "I ain't afraid of it."

As they reach the school's basement door Jonah opens it and the two descend the stairs together, but Keith is already a half-step behind him. The two boys are almost at the bottom of the steps when the "dinosaur" (the school's ancient oil furnace) comes to life with loud clanging, clewing, grating, hissing and grinding noises. "I... I'm not afraid..." announces Keith again, and he takes one more step down. Suddenly the old school custodian appears out of the shadows and growls "What are you kids doing down here??" Keith turns tail and runs up the steps and back to their classroom. Jonah is frozen to his step. Slowly a small smirk spreads across his face and he says "Thanks Mr. Walters" "Don't mention it, kid" smiles the old man. Jonah heads back to his classroom now confident that he knows one of his missions in life is to protect innocent people everywhere - especially girls like SueAnn Aikley.

End flashback

Mae Remington calls as she walks down the long hallway "Kate!"

"I... I guess that's your name, Kate?" asks the man.

Kate nods and starts to smile "Yes."

Mae calls again in a little higher pitch, and sounds very frustrated "Kate! Kate Remington! Let go of that man's leg!!"

"Well, that's a pretty name." says the man.

"Thank you." answers the smiling girl.

"Kate, let go! I'm so, so sorry about this! Hi, I'm Mae Remington. She's upset because..."

"Yes, we figured that out." He slightly interrupts her "Hi, I'm Jonah... Jonah Fortress."

"Ohh, yes! You're Michael's dad! I've met your wife Staci too!" says Mae.

"Kate, I'm sorry you forgot the words, but we've got to get back in there." Mae says to her daughter.

Mae turns to Jonah and says. 'It's really nice to meet you. Hopefully we'll see you at more of the school functions?"

"Yes, hopefully... Wait!" Jonah replies to her, then getting down on one knee, so he can look her in the eye he says to Kate "You know your teacher is going to ask you sometime in the future if you want to sing or read something again - and you're going to have a choice. You can either tell her 'No, I'm never doing that again', or you can look her in the eye and say 'Sure Mrs....'

"Bell." Kate answers.

"'...I'll try that again.' So, do it for your folks... For God." He finishes his sentence.

"For you?" she asks him.

"Umm, sure. For me." Jonah replies.

"Come on Kate." Encourages Mae still trying to sound patient.

"Bye." Kate tells him as they turn and scurry down the hallway.

"Goodbye, Kate... Mrs. Remington." Jonah calls after them.

"Mae, call me Mae. Nice meeting you! Tell Staci we'll have to get together soon!" she calls to Jonah over her shoulder.