Nick Snyder '05 is sitting at a round table in the library at the Albert S. Hall School. With him is Roy, a fifth grader with dark, wide-set eyes and a puckish grin.

The following is a snippet from the ongoing collaboration that is Colby Cares About Kids.

Roy: I'm very tired.

Nick: Were you up late?

Roy: No. I'm just tired.

Nick: Well, school can do that to you.

Roy: Especially when you're doing so much science. We talked about everything back from the beginning of school.

Nick: Oh, yeah. You're reviewing. Well, that's not that bad. You get to touch up on what you missed the first time.

Snyder yawns.

Roy: You're tired, too. I only stayed up until 9 o'clock. My sister went to bed at eight and she's a four-year-old. She doesn't fall asleep until I go to bed. I fall asleep and in the morning I get up and I walk into her room and she has some of my stuff.

Nick: Oh, no. Taking your stuff.

Roy: She goes into my room and my brother's room, gets out stuff and plays with it in her room.

Nick: You know, my little brothers, they take everything of mine. They wear all my clothes.

Roy: Now you know what I'm doing? I'm leaving all my noisy toys out so when she goes in there and tries to take them--

Nick: It'll set them off?

Roy: And mom will know she's up.

Nick (to a visitor): We have a good time.

Roy: No, we don't.

Nick: No, we have a horrible time. He beats me in chess, too.

Roy: No, I didn't. We had a draw on the first two. You beat me on the third one and the fourth one I beat you.

Nick: Yeah, but in the fifth one I beat you. Payback. Want to play some chess? I think we have time.

(They start a game. In five or six moves, Roy has the edge.)

Nick: I'm done. I should just forfeit now.

Roy: What are you trying to do? Save yourself?