The flag was moving. Dale stood at the edge of the parking lot with his hands in his pockets and looked at it for a while. Sally stood next to him. The flag was at the top of a tall pole in front of the post office. It was moving steadily to the left. "Wind comes from where the flag points," Dale said. Sally looked at the flag. "So the wind is coming from the right," Dale said. "That's where it's pushing from." The flag shifted and moved to the right. "Now it's coming from the left," Dale said. The flag dropped for a moment, then lifted and moved in a slow circle. Dale watched it. "Variable," he said.

Sally looked at the trees at the edge of the parking lot. The leaves were still. "What's variable mean," Sally said. "It means the wind is deciding," Dale said. "It hasn't committed yet." They watched the flag move steadily to the left again. "It's committed now," Dale said. "Coming from the right." A woman came out of the post office and got into her car. Her hair didn't move. Sally watched the woman's hair. She didn't say anything.

"The thing about flags," Dale said, "is they're very sensitive. They pick up wind that you can't feel yet. That's what they're for." Sally looked at her own hair. "Can you feel it," Dale said. Sally thought about it. "No," she said. "That's because it's flag-level wind," Dale said. "It hasn't come down to us yet." The flag went still. Dale looked at it. "It's resting," he said. "Flags rest," Sally said. "Between gusts," Dale said. "There's always a between."

The flag stayed still for a long time. A car went by. The flag moved slightly in the wake of it and then stopped again. Dale nodded. "There it is," he said. He took his hands out of his pockets and held one up flat to feel the wind. Nothing moved against it. He left his hand up for a moment. Then he put it back in his pocket. "Good flag," he said. He walked toward the post office. Sally stood there for another moment looking at the flag. It lifted once, quietly, and pointed in a direction Dale hadn't mentioned. Then she followed him.

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