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“Well, yes,” Winsome said.
“What did you fight about?”
“He wants things to stay just the way they are. I . . . don't.”
“Oh,” said Laurie. Something about Winsome's voice told Laurie not to ask her more about
the fight. They were quiet for a time, watching the sky and water.
“The Colonel's right about one thing,” Winsome said softly.
“What's that?”
“A map is just a picture. It's not the real thing. If someone forgets to put Abstract Island on a
map, the Island still exists. It doesn't care what you know.”
“No one in Userland said anything about islands,” Laurie said.
“The people back there don't know much about the world outside. That's the way the Colon-
el likes it. Userland is an island. It's a whole world of islands.”
Laurie didn't like what she was hearing. “But Winsome, I have to follow my map to get back
home.”
“Do you?”
“Yes!”
“Why?”
“That's what everyone told me to do,” Laurie said.
“That's not a good enough reason,” Winsome said.
“It isn't?” People told Laurie what to do all the time. She didn't always do what they said, of
course, but she usually felt bad about it.
“No! You should always know why you are doing something,” said Winsome, “and not just
because someone told you to do it. Keep your head on and be flexible, girl. Otherwise,
you're like those little gliders, going wherever people send you.”
“But Tinker said—”
“Forget Tinker for a minute,” Winsome said. “How did you get lost in the first place?”
“I had a fight with my mom,” Laurie said. “Mom wants me to go to school over the summer,
but I don't even need to!”
“Maybe summer school is a good thing. I heard that kids in other countries—”
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