For nine years, Elias Penn set his pocket watch by the sparrow. At eleven o'clock sharp the little brown bird dropped onto the third spoke of the fountain, cocked its head, and stayed exactly forty seconds. But this Tuesday the square was nearly empty when it should have been full of people and pigeons. Elias stood by the fountain, watch open in his hand, and waited. Eleven o'clock came. The sparrow did not.

A boy of about ten sat alone on the far bench, swinging his legs. He was the only other person in the whole square. Elias walked over. 'You waiting for the sparrow too?' he asked. The boy looked up, surprised. 'You know about the sparrow?'

'I scared it off,' Sam admitted, looking guilty. 'I tried to feed it bread crumbs and it flew up to the roof of the bakery. It won't come down.' He pointed to the tiny brown shape on the dark, shuttered bakery. 'Now it's stuck up there.'

Sam climbed onto the bench and waved his arms, trying to coax the bird down. It only hopped further along the roof. 'Stop,' Elias said gently. 'You can't chase a sparrow. You have to wait for it.' So they sat side by side and waited together.