14. Five Characters in Search of an Exit

A uniformed U.S. Army major wakes up to find himself trapped inside a large metal cylinder, where he meets a hobo, a ballet dancer, a bagpiper, and a clown. All of them theorize wildly regarding their presence here, as no one remembers who they are or how they became trapped, and they do not seem to have any need for food or water. The major, being the newest arrival, is the most determined to escape. He is told there is no way of either breaking through or climbing up the cylinder, and his sword breaks when he tries to pierce the wall with it.

Eventually, the major suggests a plan to escape: forming a tower of people, each person on the other's shoulders. However, the dancer at the top of the tower is still a few inches short of the cylinder's top, and a loud clanging sound shakes the cylinder and sends the five tumbling to the ground. The major demands that they all make a promise to not leave the cylinder until everyone else has left.

Now even more determined, the major fashions a grappling hook from loose bits of clothing and the hilt of his broken sword. By reforming the tower, he manages to grapple onto the edge of the cylinder, only to tumble to the ground outside. Inside, the clown bemoans how the major left without them and will not rescue them if he ever returns, and surmises that the major was right about them being in Hell.

Just then a little girl picks up a doll from the snow, in the dress of an army major. The cylinder is a Christmas toy collection barrel for a girls' orphanage, and all five characters are dolls. The loud clanging was the ringing of a bell, used by a woman to attract donations; she tells the girl to return the doll to the barrel.

The five characters, now dolls with painted faces and glass eyes, lie unmoving. The ballet dancer nonetheless moves her hand to hold that of the major's as her eyes fill with tears.