Bob went to the top of the mountain. He had been there before, when he was a boy. But now there were a lot of people at the top. The weather was bad, so he could not get past them. But then an old man saw him and smiled, and waved.

Bob waved back. He saw the old man. He knew it was the old man from the mountain, who lived on the other side. The old man said, “Bob, come here. I have an important message for you.”

The old man lived in a small hut at the top of the mountain. He was so old that he had a long white beard. He was kind and wise. But he knew when he was old he would die.

The old man told Bob the message. He said, “Go back to the cave and say, ‘Come soon, my friend.’”

But Bob did not want to go back. He wanted to stay and live with the people who were living at the top of the mountain. He liked their company better than his parents’ company. He liked all their new ideas.

He thought about all of this as he walked. It was getting dark, and the weather was bad. But Bob wanted to go back to the cave. It was too cold