Patrick the hero
THE HOT MARBLE opens with 11-year-old Patrick. He imagines himself a hero: "He imagined goblins swarming out of the grass to seize Gracie and him. Suddenly, he unveiled his true power: He grew tall and lean and hard, wearing a black cloak, holding a magic sword. With great swipes of its razor sharp blade, he defended little Gracie against the wicked hordes, chopping the slobbering and gibbering things into bloody pieces of green flesh . . ." (p. 7). I want to stay like Patrick, no matter how old I get.