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And did I tell you, said Kate, that we got one cup of cereal and one banana per day? And not even a sweet banana.

I guess I shouldn’t tell you about the lau lau and kalua pig, said Yolo. The pasta and a forgotten world of ice cream, Jell-O, and pies.

No, said Kate, don’t.

And I was pretty much off meat too, said Yolo. But you know what? I couldn’t say no to the people’s food. I knew I wouldn’t be eating it long, and it was very tasty. I also knew that to taste it was, in a sense, to taste them. They still cook pork in the ground, you know. They’ve been eating pigs forever.

Yeah, well, said Kate, I guess somebody’s been eating grains and bananas forever. I got really sick of them.

But think how clean you are, said Yolo. I can taste it.

Speaking of taste, said Kate, you taste very different yourself and you smell even sweeter, if that’s possible.

It’s possible, he said, grinning at her.

Suddenly she realized what was different about Yolo. You quit smoking, she said.

Yes, he said. I’m happy about it too, he said after a pause, and while gazing intently into her beaming face, but to tell you the truth, sometimes I feel like chewing off my paws.

That bad, huh, she said.

I don’t know if I can do it.

You can, she said. If other people do it, that means it’s at least possible.

I really love smoking, he said. It’s felt like a friend. I know it isn’t, of course.

Yes, I know, she said.

I was so grateful you never minded kissing me.

I didn’t, she said. You never tasted like an ashtray to me. And your oral hygiene has always been enviable.

I have a goal now, about quitting, he said.

You want to stay healthy and cute, she said.

Yes, he said, that too. But the real reason is that I took a vow, with a few other brothers of the world, to stop.

Yolo held up his hand and stretched out his finger.

These lines that you see are waves. There are four of them because most of the old cultures believe there have been four worlds, including this one. They are all connected by water, just as these tiny lines are. It is hard to see the connection, he said, peering at the end of his finger, but it is there.

How are they connected by water? asked Kate.

Because it is the same water. Different worlds, you know, destroyed time and again, but the same water.

Of course! said Kate, excited. Because there’s no new water on the planet, it’s all recycled. That means that when the Hopi sat out the destruction of the third world by living underground, when they came up everything was changed except the water. It had remained pure. They could wash in it, drink it, cook with it. And also, it had sustained them while they were underground. Water was loyal, she added, thoughtfully.

When I reach for a cigarette, or anything that would harm a child, I see my own finger, said Yolo.

Kate thought Yolo was of the bear spirit. The bear, according to ancient people who had known bears well, was of a loyal, generous, and young-loving nature. Bear mothers were the most dedicated parents imaginable. The most fierce in protecting their young; but also the most peaceful creatures when left unmolested. People with bear spirit had a certain feel about them: they often seemed large and strong, even if they weren’t particularly. They gave off a vibe that made you want to sit near them. Not to talk, necessarily, but to feel. Yolo was like that. Kate had always loved this about him. Sometimes, as she’d sat on his lap, inhaling his bear-ness, she’d regretted the curl of cigarette smoke that cluttered her enjoyment of his fur.

Who am I without my smokes? Yolo asked.

Maybe someone who chews gum? said Kate.

Maybe someone who eats Hershey bars and gets fat, said Yolo.

Maybe someone who drinks a lot of coffee, said Kate.

Nope, said Yolo. That’s going too.

No, said Kate. You love it so much.

I do, he said, but maybe it isn’t love, maybe it’s a chain.

Yep, she said.

Oh, said Yolo, the brothers got down.

You sure did, she said. What else are you giving up?

We said we’d try to think of sex as something really, really special, said Yolo.

That night Kate dreamed