Young children play their favorite classroom game: their chairs in a circle, Miriam whispers something in the ear of the child to her right, who whispers what she hears to the child on her right, and so on around the circle to the originator. She's whispered, "Paul never washes," about the boy to her left. As the whisper rounds the circle toward Paul, we wonder how badly it will hurt his feelings. It's left to the last girl in the circle to figure out the real meaning of the message.