"Invisible," Elmo said with a small, proud smile.

"What the hell good is an invisible vase?" one of the men asked. "Why would anyone want an invisible vase?"

The three men began to chuckle and dig elbows into each other. Elmo Wimpler couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. Were they blind? Didn't they realize what a great invention this was?

"It's invisible," he said. "That's invisible paint. Don't you understand? Anything you paint that color won't reflect any light. In the dark or against a black background, it'd be invisible. Against a lighter background, you'd only be able to see its silhouette. You wouldn't be able to make out any of its de-

tails."

8

"Big deal," one of the men said. "Suppose you painted a car that color?" another asked. To Wimpler, the three men were interchangeable, like triplets. "I mean, you never remember where you park it now, but if you couldn't see it, that'd make it even worse. People would keep backing into you. At night, like I mean, who wants a car you can't see?"

They began to laugh again and Elmo closed his eyes, trying to remember some necessary paragraphs from How to Be Pushy. Fight back, he told himself. Fight back. But he could not utter a single word in his own defense. He watched them and listened helplessly to their inane chatter.

"You still got that Cadillac, Ernie?" one man asked another.

"Yeah, but I may be selling it."

"Why? That car's beautiful."

"Yeah, but it sucks up gas like a pack of Turns.

"I could use it. Have to change the color though," the first man said. Suddenly all three seemed to remember Wimpler.

"You got anything in mauve?" asked the one who was thinking about buying Ernie's Cadillac. "Mauve is going to be a hot color this year. A lot of mauve. Maybe if you could do something in mauve."