Katie was in the park, blowing bubbles with her friends. The 8-year old girl, laughing as she went, stumbled and nearly ran into an odd-looking college-aged boy. He had a weird look on his face.
"Why do you look like that?" she asked. Her mother always told her to not talk to strangers. But this guy looked really funny, not strange, with that weird look on his face.
"Because I'm in a hypnotic trance," he said, in a monotone voice.
"Hyp ... hyp ... what's that?" Katie asked.
"It means I'm open to suggestion."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that you can tell me something and I'll believe it, or you can tell me to do something and I'll do it."
"Really?" Katie asked. "Like what?"
"Anything."
Katie wasn't sure if this guy was just being funny or playing pretend, but she decided to take him up on his offer.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Norton."
"Hi, Norton," she said with a giggle. "Uh ... I want you to ..."
