Eighteen
There’s No One Else in the World Quite Like You!
11:31 a.m.
28 December
Pier 22
“Whoa! Look at you! You’re gorgeous!”
Krista’s voice calls down to him from the tree sculpture as he nears the wall.
“There’s no one else in the world quite like you!”
Hugh looks up at the metal branches, more than a little taken aback by Krista’s effusive compliments. Is she trying to butter him up after what happened last night? But upon closer inspection, he realizes he’s not the object of her praise. Nor is Krista actually speaking. Instead, he comes face to face with four large animatronic birds perched in the tree.
“Wow! Your smile is contagious,” one of them calls down in Krista’s voice as Hugh glowers up at them.
“What do you think?” Krista asks behind him, startling Hugh so much he a
