U-WRITE-IT RESULTS

"You're not three, Barry."

No smile. Just a pale, still face with eyes closed to reveal very long brown lashes.

"You got me, Tony," he said.

Tony could have sworn his friend's voice held a barely concealed smile.

"Don't jerk me around," Tony said. "I'm not talking to a dead man. And the dead don't talk back."

"I guess the dead don't dance either."

He didn't do a tap or soft shoe. No break dance. Barry didn't even take me in his arms and waltz.

He didn't smile. His eyes were still closed.

I closed my eyes, but the tears leaked out.

"Then why did you want to go to the circus?"

Barry opened his eyes widely. "I like cotton candy and bearded ladies."

"I can't believe this. You dragged me all the way here for some stale chemical sugar and a woman with excessive secondary sex characteristics! You jerk! I was about to beat my highest score on Guitar Hero!"

"Settle down, Francis. Here, try these roasted cinnamon almonds. They go great with the cotton candy. Oh, she comes now."

Tony slumped down in his chair as a 300-pound woman ran onstage and squeezed the clown's nose. Ah-Ooh-Ga, Ah-Ooh-Ga !

"You owe me big time," Tony whined as he pulled a strip of cotton candy off the stick.

Tony almost dropped his phone. He asked, "How do you know it's a mouse sandwich if you have your eyes closed?"

Barry replied, "What else would be gray and furry on the inside and white on the outside, with a tail hanging from it?"

Tony shook his head. "And they say you're a genius. Okay, smart guy, what do the insides of your eyelids say?"

"Sorry, We're Closed."

The punch, when it came, shook Barry's teeth.