She walked back to the door of the kitchen and looked into the restaurant. Robbie was not there.... Then she saw him through the restaurant windows, standing on the street outside. She called "Robbie—I've found some food!"
Robbie turned, his small face twisted with hunger. He started back toward the door.
She returned to the kitchen and looked for a can opener.
"We will drop down a few hundred feet and pick up the young one with our magnetic-force-field. We shall examine him."
One moment Robbie was standing at the restaurant door, and the next he was floating upward in the middle of the air. There was a strange sensation in his stomach. He was scared. He started to cry.
"Notice the noise he makes with his mouth. This is not a form of communication, but rather he is using a primitive form of expressing his thoughts, which is called crying. Reading his mind, I find only confusion and fear. He wonders where he is, but knows that he doesn't like it.
"Another interesting fact about these aliens is that they feel pain. It is hard to understand and even harder to explain. But I will try. We are aware of touching something or somebody only as a sensation on the skin. These people have more than that. Now watch. As I cut the skin of this young one slightly, notice that he jerks and screams louder. He is feeling pain. It is a strong sensation that leaves a sharp impression on the brain. That does not fully explain it, but it is the best I can do along with this demonstration."
"Oh, good God! Robbie! What happened, honey. What happened?" Then she saw the blood dripping on the floor. "Robbie, your arm!"
Then he was in her arms, sobbing hysterically. "I—I ... they took me, and cut me—and ..." but he could go no further.
Carefully, she laid him on a table and examined his arm. The bleeding had subsided some. She took a clean wet cloth and wiped off the blood. Then she bandaged it.