"PREPOSITIONS." THE ANGEL FLIPPED a compact open and stared at her reflection.

"What?"

"I said 'prep...'"

"I know what you said. What did you mean?"

She shrugged and applied the lipstick.

"Some words are meaningless without a preposition . Only we don't always notice." She squinted into the mirror.

Sid shook his head.

"Words like..."

"Come—for example. If I say 'I come,' it's pretty meaningless..."

"Oh, I wouldn't say..."

"...in this context. But if I say 'I come from your subconscious,' it makes perfect sense."

"So?"

"So lots of times we forget this." She powdered her cheeks. "Lots of times we use words that only really mean something with a preposition, but we don't use the preposition."

"Like..."

"Like 'making love'. It's really quite meaningless without the 'to' part. You can't make love without making love to someone, and it's generally pretty important who that is."

"Okay, but what's that got to do with..."

"Meaning?"

"Oh."

She snapped the compact shut.

"Things don't just 'mean', or even mean 'something'."

"I'm still not sure I..."

"May I take your order?"

The waiter was a burly guy with a scar below one eye. He flashed a broad friendly smile from under his broken nose.

Sid wave him away.

"I'm not really hungry."

The angel held up a finger for him to wait.

"You really need to trust your subconscious more, Sid. Though it is a bit late."

Sid waved the waiter off again.

"Look. I have no idea how long I've got in this... this time warp, and if you've got some kind of a point I'd really like to get to it as quickly as..."

"Take a look at your menu, Sid."

"I told you, I'm not..."

"Your menu, Sid."

"My menu." He shrugged. "Okay, give me the damn menu."

He opened it and stared.

"It's in French."

"Exactly."

"I don't read French."

"Exactly."

"So it's meaningless to... Oh."