Tuesday, November 02, 2004

 

4. Wool-heads

Dave kept sliding for a long time, until he hit into something round and fluffy.
It was one of the three sheep that had earlier appeared, only now they were in a pile sprawled on the floor, obviously having just finished sliding down the same tube as Dave himself.
There was a moment's confusion as four bodies tied to untangle fourteen legs and stand to their feet. Then Dave and the sheep looked at each other silently.
Dave was the first to speak."You haven't seen a Renidt around anywhere have you?"
The sheep stared at him blankly.
"Baa?" one said eventually.
Thinking perhaps that he hadn't explained what a Renidt was well enough (and not thinking that perhaps sheep just couldn't talk), Dave tried again.
"A Renidt is a round thing about the size of a golf ball but without the spots."
"Baa?"
"A golf ball is about this big," Dave said, using his thumb and forefinger to demonstrate.
"Baa?"
"Never mind," Dave sighed, turning and walking away from the woolly trio, "But thanks for your help anyway."
"Don't mention it," said one of the sheep.
"Aaagh! A talking sheep!" exclaimed a second sheep.
"Aaagh! Two talking sheep!" exclaimed the third.

At this, all three sheep freaked out entirely, and began baaing and screaming, running around in circles and slipping on the smooth floor of the room, before ending up in a pile once again.
This time Dave was not in the pile, and helped the sheep to right themselves and calm down a bit.
Once the screaming had stopped (which took five minutes for one sheep) Dave introduced himself and asked their names.
"I'm Sheep," said the first sheep.
"Hey, that's my name too," said the second sheep.
"Whoa! What a co-incidence," said the third sheep, "So is mine!"
"Well, that's no good," Dave pondered, "I'll have to call you something else. Is there any other names you like?"
The sheep thought for a few minutes.
"Dave!" they responded together happily.
"That's a nice name," Dave said.
"It sure is, isn't it Dave?" the sheep responded.
"Hey, wait a minute," Dave exclaimed, suddenly realizing something, "That's my name! You can't take my name. You'll have to pick something else."
The sheep fell silent for a few more minutes.
"Can I be called 'Sheep'? I've always liked that name," one of the sheep said eventually.
"Hey, so have I" said the second sheep.
"Me too!" said the third sheep, "Can I have that name, please Dave?"
Sensing defeat, Dave relented.
"Ok, then," he said, "You can all be called 'Sheep' if you want to be."
"Hooray" the sheep baaed together.

"Now what?" Sheep 1 said eventually.
"Uh," Dave paused, trying to remember what he had been doing before the three Sheep named Sheep had distracted him.
"I'm looking for a Renidt."
The sheep looked confused.
"Baa?" said Sheep 2.
"A Renidt is a round thing about the size of a golf ball but without the spots."
"Baa?" said Sheep 3.
"A golf ball is about this big," Dave said, using his thumb and forefinger to demonstrate.
"Baa?" said Sheep 1.
"Never mind," Dave sighed, turning and walking away from the woolly trio without even realizing that they had already had this conversation, "But thanks for your help anyway."
"Hey, wait," said Sheep 2, "Don't go. Maybe we can help you find this… whatever it is."
"Yeah, let us help," said Sheep 1.
"It sounds like fun," said Sheep 3.
"Ok then," Dave said, "I've always said, eight pairs of eyes are better than two."
With that, Dave and Sheep 1, 2 and 3 wandered off in search of Renidt.

(Note. The author is well aware that Dave was actually counting the individual number of eyes in the group, rather than the pairs of eyes, but, well, Dave was not).

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