Now, if this first Terebinth story was a screenplay--and the whole "HatDance" storyline runs 126 pages, a more-or-less standard screenplay length, if I recall my Lew Hunter correctly...

     Anyway, if this story was a screenplay, this would be page 17, the seventeen minute mark, the moment when everything's been set up to give the hero that magical kick in the pants that sends him sailing out of his comfortable world into the larger world of action and danger where his destiny lies.

     Or something--it's been a long time since I've read any of those "how to write a screenplay" books. And besides, this page 17 moment mostly marks the moment when our two protagonists start really talking to each other for the first time in their acquaintance, so I don't know if that counts.

     In other words, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.