Chapter 16, A Very Dirty Bird Summary

Milo races up the stairs, but as time passes, he climbs more and more slowly. As he realizes that he probably will never get to the top, a voice tells him that he's not missing much. Milo sees that the speaker is a boy who looks as if he has been divided in half from top to bottom. The boy tells Milo that he is actually .58 of a child, because the average family has 2.58 people, and he is the .58. Milo and the boy discuss averages. Milo objects that averages aren't real, and the boy replies that, real or not, they are very useful. Milo tells the boy that he can't reach the top of the stairs, and the boy tells Milo that it is important to try, even if one never reaches one's goal. As...