`` does n't surprise me to hear that , i suppose . yet there was really no one else he could ask . it took a couple of seconds before the command kicked in . when i was a child i used to lie by the stream and watch the little silver fish dancing their quiet dance beneath the water and the birds soaring across the sky upon their wings , and wished i could join both of them in their little worlds . there was another long silence at bobs end of the conversation . 