"I felt an odd tug at my satchel & looked down in time to see a hand pulling away from inside it. The youth to which it was attached attempted to escape but I caught him by the arm, insisting he give back what he took. His earnest face & odd attire (bare but clean feet, white linen trousers, and nothing on his chest but tattoos in an unfamiliar script) gave me pause, but his words are what startled me. He insisted he was no thief & that I should see for myself that nothing was taken. True to his word not a thing was missing- he had instead placed inside an odd wooden totem. 'You have to understand,' he said, smiling weakly, 'they are the ones who tell me who they leave with; it's simply not up to us.' Before I could inquire further, he retreated into the crowd."