Masterpiece

Marvin spends the night in the hotel room. The man in possession of Fortitude, whom Marvin calls the bearded man, has secured himself in the room and is relaxing. Marvin overhears a phone call that indicates the next hand-off will be at ten the following morning. The bearded man places Fortitude in a folder and secures it in a black leather satchel. Marvin laments that he can’t get to it because beetles cannot use zippers.

The bearded man turns on the television and relaxes on the bed, crunching on snacks. Marvin falls asleep in his hiding spot under the table. When he wakes, the room is dark, and the bearded man has fallen asleep. Marvin goes to the bedside table in search of food but finds only peanut shells. Marvin misses his peanut shell float that he left in the pipes while rescuing Mrs. Pompaday’s contact lens. He misses home and wishes he could go for a swim in his juice cap pool. It feels like so long ago that he drew his first drawing and befriended James, but it’s only been about two weeks.

Spotting a half-filled glass of water, Marvin decides to entertain himself by swimming.