Dave walks down the street and thinks about his friend Jane, who was telling him about how her son got a goldfish and called it Skippy. He tried to teach the goldfish to roll over, but the goldfish wouldn't do anything at all, and Jane's son said to it, "I heard Skippy the bush kangaroo say that he wanted to come around here to punch you." Every time someone calls around, he says to the goldfish, "Oh no! Skippy's here to punch you." It's very embarrassing for Jane, but Dave thinks that all she needs to do is tell her son that Skippy the bush kangaroo is angry with him for suggesting that he'd punch a goldfish.
   Later that afternoon, Dave is hiding in a wardrobe with Denise and he's afraid of being caught in there, but she doesn't even know why they're hiding. She thinks it's very exciting. He tries to stay calm, and then he remembers the goldfish and he tells her about it. "...She just needs to tell him that the real Skippy, the kangaroo, is very angry with him. Then he'll stay quiet. And she's embarrassed by his attempts to play the violin too because all the neighbours hear. But all she needs to do there is close the bloody window."
   Dave wishes he could be somewhere else when he's in a room full of people and they're all looking at him. He sees a vase of flowers on the sideboard. He takes the flowers out of the vase, hands them to Louise and says, "I got these for you." She's delighted. He breathes a sigh of relief. Then he remembers Denise in the wardrobe. She's still there, trying to remain as still and as quiet as possible, with a big smile on her face in the darkness. He also remembers the goldfish. "...All she has to do is to say that the real Skippy is upset with him. And close the bloody window when he plays the violin. It's as simple as that."