I was standing just inside the door of what appeared to be a gas station and was holding an electric guitar. Sitting on the ground near me was a small amplifier connected to the guitar.

A parade was beginning to form to march through the town and I was planning to march and play the guitar in the parade. Another small boy was also going to march with me and play some other kind of instrument. People began lining up and began marching off. Quite a few other musicians were also going to be in the parade including a band riding a large float directly behind me.

I began having serious doubts about marching in the parade. I wouldn't be able to play while I was moving because I could only play while standing still and when not carrying the amplifier. That would mean I would have to stop and go, over and over, every time the float in front of me left a little space for me to move in.

Another more important problem was that I really didn't play the guitar that well. I could just imagine how silly I was going to appear marching along amongst all those excellent musicians trying to play my little guitar. The idea was extremely uncomfortable.

Finally I hollered to the people on the float behind me to go ahead and that I would catch up later. I had an idea in mind that I thought might somewhat help. I thought if I could rent a pony and get a chair with wheels on it, I could stand on the chair and play while the pony pulled me. At least it seemed like a possibility.

A couple heavy-set women, one of whom was the mother of the little boy who was supposed to accompany me, stepped up and wanted to know what the problem was. I began explaining my plan to them and asked if they knew where I could rent a pony. I knew time was running out and I would have to act swiftly. They seemed rather surprised by my idea and by the fact that I had waited so long to formulate it. Nevertheless one of them said she knew a place which rented ponies.

I was concerned about the cost of renting the pony; plus I figured I would need to rent a truck to bring the pony to the parade site. The woman said she didn't think it cost much, perhaps 34 cents a mile, to rent the pony. I thought that sounded reasonable.

She grabbed some maps sitting on a counter of the gas station and handed them to me. She asked if I was going to leave the maps there when I departed. I had the feeling that somehow I had acquired or inherited part of the gas station, but that I wasn't going to stay there to run it. She said the maps were probably worth $4-$5 apiece. Most were enclosed in plastic; I took one that was already out of the plastic and began looking through it for the place which rented the ponies.