“Well obviously it can’t be too long. I don’t want you to be out of the meadow and into the forest, before I’ve even begun to pursue you,” said Colleen, “But I won’t get much enjoyment out of chasing you, if I give you so little time to prepare, that I just walk over and snatch you up in the first minute of the chase. I was going to suggest a time limit of about 10 minutes. Does that sound reasonable to you?”

 “Within the parameters of YOUR objectives, I suppose it’s fairly reasonable.”

 “You were very diplomatic with your answer,” she said, smiling in a friendly but dignified manner.

 “Could we make it 15 minutes?” he asked.

 “I’ll agree to that,” said Colleen.

He took the rest of the half an hour reprieve to try to think of ways to escape. By the end of it, he was resigned to the fact that he would have to try to find some concealment, as well as just running from her approaching giant legs. If he kept that up all afternoon, he would become exhausted, but Colleen wouldn’t.

 “Are you ready to start the head start?” she asked.

 “As ready as I can be,” he said.

She took him over, set him down.

 “Can you really appreciate the kind of inevitability I was talking about now?” asked Colleen.

 “I guess that’s one way of looking at it,” he said.

 “I’d like to tell you a little bit more, to help you understand, before I let you run off,” she said, “Have a real think about this. I know I’m safely full-sized, no matter what happens. I’m sure that I’m going to catch you today. You have some small hope in your mind that you’ll get away. It’s obviously very slender. The only small chance you have of changing that outcome depends on how well you perform in this exercise. Doesn’t that knowledge make this very exciting for you?”

 “It does, Colleen. I think you’re the most exciting girl I’ve ever met.”

 “That’s one of the best compliments I’ve ever had Stanley. I’m very proud of you for taking what I’ve said into your considerations. I think we should start now, don’t you?”

 “Yes Colleen.”

Colleen walked away, with her back to him, and then turned around.

 “Run for your life,” she called, “I’m in a good position to keep my eyes on you.”

He darted into the flower patch, ran as far away from the side he’d entered as possible, and came to one of the paths she’d mentioned. He estimated he’d used about 8 of his 15 minutes. It would be worth heading into the next flower patch. He wouldn’t outdistance her. Yet it would make it harder for her to guess which direction he was heading in. He looked back at her.

 “I can still see you,” she called, “You’ve got 6 minutes left.”

He ran in and turned to the right and kept running.

 “I’m coming over to start chasing you now,” she called.

He turned to see Colleen begin walking across the grassy part of the meadow. To her it was a pleasant walk, with an enjoyable exercise ahead of her, and nothing at all at stake.