annoyed. ‘I was listening to that song!’
Grunge looked at Coll. Song? ‘What song, Coll? I can’t hear a song.’ Coll smiled at Grunge and put the end of the leash back into its hole on the pole. Then he took the two ends that had been in his ears and handed them to Grunge. Grunge noticed they had little pads on the ends.
‘Listen! Go on, put ’em on!’ he urged. Grunge hesitated, then carefully put the pads in his ears.
Grunge’s face broke into a wide smile. Music! Right inside his head! It was a traditional Muddle song, “All Shook Up” by the Mixtures. He took the pads from his ears and handed them back to Coll.
‘Awesome!’ He gave an embarrassed laugh. ‘Sorry, Coll. I … ah ... thought you had been … tied up … or something.’
Coll laughed. ‘This is so cool! They have loads of stuff on this. Look!’ He pointed to the pole.
The Songpost was about as high as your average Muddle. It was a long, thin pole with a six-sided box at the very top, and an identical box halfway up. Directly under each face was a column of small holes. ‘Nine holes,’ noticed Grunge and instantly calculated, ‘that’s 108 holes in the pole.’ Grunge had always been very fast with his calculations. He looked at the box where Coll was pointing and saw that it was, in fact, a display screen.
‘You put the ear pads on, decide which song you want to hear and then press this button …’ Coll touched the screen. ‘And the song comes out! Cool, eh?’
A hand reached over Grunge’s shoulder and pressed a button. ‘How about this one, Grunge?’ asked Sky.
Grunge turned to Sky and smiled. ‘Hello, Sky.’
‘Hiya, Sky,’ said Coll.
Grunge thought Sky was probably the most beautiful Muddle who had ever lived. Except for Crimson, he decided.
Coll had no doubts. Sky was the most beautiful Muddle who had ever lived.
Sky was an astronaut. She had dark, wavy hair that just covered her neck, and large brown eyes with long, thick lashes. Perhaps it was the darkness of her eyes but she always had a dreamy, faraway air about her. Even in her large white astronaut’s suit, she moved with easy grace and assurance. If a Muddle wanted to know about a star or a planet or anything about the universe, they asked Sky. In a special room at the top of her house she had a large telescope and at night she would spend hours gazing at places too far away to even imagine. She studied physics and astronomy, calculus and algebra and anything else a good astronaut should study. Sky was a wonderful astronaut except for one small thing, she had a terrible fear of heights.
‘Myrmidots are clever, aren’t they?’ Sky exclaimed, with an admiring nod. ‘So clever.’
‘I’ll say!’ agreed Coll.
‘It’s great!’ said Grunge. ‘All this music, and you can come and listen to it whenever you want.’
Sky’s eyes softened. ‘Some music is best listened to with someone else, I think.’
Coll shook his head and put the pads back in his ears. Instantly, his body started shaking and his head started nodding.
‘Yeah, I like sharing music with friends. Do you want to hear something, Sky?’ said Grunge.
‘OK, let’s see …’ Sky put her face close to Grunge’s so they could read the small screen together. ‘I like that one … and that’s pretty. This is such a lovely song … so romantic … that one always makes me cry…’ She read the list and Grunge couldn’t help but notice that she seemed to like an awful lot of love songs. He pointed to the screen.
Grunge realised they had a problem. ‘We don’t have the wires … the ear pads …’
Sky reached into one of the deep pockets of her spacesuit and pulled out a coil of black wire. ‘I got some yesterday.’
‘Great. You listen first,’ offered Grunge. He took the ear pads and pushed the end into the pole and handed the other end to Sky.
‘We can listen together, Grunge,’ Sky said softly. She placed an ear pad in one ear, then put her cheek next to
Grunge looked at Coll. Song? ‘What song, Coll? I can’t hear a song.’ Coll smiled at Grunge and put the end of the leash back into its hole on the pole. Then he took the two ends that had been in his ears and handed them to Grunge. Grunge noticed they had little pads on the ends.
‘Listen! Go on, put ’em on!’ he urged. Grunge hesitated, then carefully put the pads in his ears.
Grunge’s face broke into a wide smile. Music! Right inside his head! It was a traditional Muddle song, “All Shook Up” by the Mixtures. He took the pads from his ears and handed them back to Coll.
‘Awesome!’ He gave an embarrassed laugh. ‘Sorry, Coll. I … ah ... thought you had been … tied up … or something.’
Coll laughed. ‘This is so cool! They have loads of stuff on this. Look!’ He pointed to the pole.
The Songpost was about as high as your average Muddle. It was a long, thin pole with a six-sided box at the very top, and an identical box halfway up. Directly under each face was a column of small holes. ‘Nine holes,’ noticed Grunge and instantly calculated, ‘that’s 108 holes in the pole.’ Grunge had always been very fast with his calculations. He looked at the box where Coll was pointing and saw that it was, in fact, a display screen.
‘You put the ear pads on, decide which song you want to hear and then press this button …’ Coll touched the screen. ‘And the song comes out! Cool, eh?’
A hand reached over Grunge’s shoulder and pressed a button. ‘How about this one, Grunge?’ asked Sky.
Grunge turned to Sky and smiled. ‘Hello, Sky.’
‘Hiya, Sky,’ said Coll.
Grunge thought Sky was probably the most beautiful Muddle who had ever lived. Except for Crimson, he decided.
Coll had no doubts. Sky was the most beautiful Muddle who had ever lived.
Sky was an astronaut. She had dark, wavy hair that just covered her neck, and large brown eyes with long, thick lashes. Perhaps it was the darkness of her eyes but she always had a dreamy, faraway air about her. Even in her large white astronaut’s suit, she moved with easy grace and assurance. If a Muddle wanted to know about a star or a planet or anything about the universe, they asked Sky. In a special room at the top of her house she had a large telescope and at night she would spend hours gazing at places too far away to even imagine. She studied physics and astronomy, calculus and algebra and anything else a good astronaut should study. Sky was a wonderful astronaut except for one small thing, she had a terrible fear of heights.
‘Myrmidots are clever, aren’t they?’ Sky exclaimed, with an admiring nod. ‘So clever.’
‘I’ll say!’ agreed Coll.
‘It’s great!’ said Grunge. ‘All this music, and you can come and listen to it whenever you want.’
Sky’s eyes softened. ‘Some music is best listened to with someone else, I think.’
Coll shook his head and put the pads back in his ears. Instantly, his body started shaking and his head started nodding.
‘Yeah, I like sharing music with friends. Do you want to hear something, Sky?’ said Grunge.
‘OK, let’s see …’ Sky put her face close to Grunge’s so they could read the small screen together. ‘I like that one … and that’s pretty. This is such a lovely song … so romantic … that one always makes me cry…’ She read the list and Grunge couldn’t help but notice that she seemed to like an awful lot of love songs. He pointed to the screen.
Grunge realised they had a problem. ‘We don’t have the wires … the ear pads …’
Sky reached into one of the deep pockets of her spacesuit and pulled out a coil of black wire. ‘I got some yesterday.’
‘Great. You listen first,’ offered Grunge. He took the ear pads and pushed the end into the pole and handed the other end to Sky.
‘We can listen together, Grunge,’ Sky said softly. She placed an ear pad in one ear, then put her cheek next to
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