text:  
  
  Okay, what will you fight him with?
  
  
  You now have your heavy, hard-sided suitcase, with a large textbook and the statue you planned to give to Keith's parents inside. Despite its weight, you could probably get it over your head, and since it's already in your hand, speed would be on your side.
  
  
  Nearby is a frail old lady carrying a long umbrella with a fairly pointy metal tip.
  
  
  Also nearby is a large, heavy metal luggage cart, which you definitely couldn't lift over your head but might do some serious damage if used like a battering ram.
  > You grab the umbrella.
   
  
  You pull it out of the old lady’s hands. (She starts going after you, but Dmitri intercedes.) It’s light enough that even as jelly-like as your limbs are, you can lift it easily and aim it toward the goblin’s eye. You miss, but you still give him a hard poke in the forehead--not enough to break the skin, but enough that he toddles back a few steps, tiny eyes blinking.
  
  
   
  
  You use the opportunity to whack him again.
  
  
   
  
  Unfortunately, this seems to wake him up. He comes toward you.
  
  
   
  
  Your friend had a Komodo dragon once. She loved to rub its belly--beneath the scales it was softer than its back or head. You stab his middle with all your might.
  
  
   
  
  Sticky yellow blood gushes out, but he’s still coming. One more hit and he wobbles, then smacks onto the floor.
  
  
   
  
  He’s dead. You’re free.
  
  
   
  
  You feel nothing. Why should you? You should've been free all along.
  
  
   
  
  You and Dmitri step outside. It’s raining, and the only thing out here that isn't gray is the long line of taxis. Ready to take you to the Upper East Side. Except you don't want to go there anymore--if you ever did. 
  
  
   
  
  “Where are you headed?” Dmitri asks. He has no bags. He’s going to miss his flight to Philadelphia.
  
  
   
  
  “I don’t know,” you say. “But do you want to come with me?”
  
  
   
  
  The two of you get a taxi and choose a different adventure. Which is, it turns out, the happiest ending of all. 