sandwiches. Sandwiches had been sold back in the Store's Food Hall. The word meant something thin between two slices of damp bread. Floridian sandwiches, on the other hand, filled up an entire tray and if there was any bread it was lurking deep in a jungle of cress and lettuce.
He looked down.
"Hurry up!" said Angalo. "The water's stopped again!" Boom-boom hoom whop boom whop...
Masklin pushed aside a drift of green stuff, grabbed the sandwich, hauled it to the edge of the tray and pushed it down onto the floor.
Foom boom boom HOOOOooooOOOOmmmmmWHOP.
The shower room door opened.
"Come on! Come on!" Angalo yelled.
Grandson Richard, 39, came out. He took a few steps, and stopped.
He looked at Masklin.
Masklin looked at him.
There are times when Time itself pauses.
Masklin realised that he was standing at one of those points where History takes a deep breath and decides what to do next.
I can stay here, he thought. I can use the Thing to translate, and I can try to explain everything to him. I can tell him how important it is for us to have a home of our own. I can ask him if he can do something to help the nomes in the quarry. I can tell him how the Store nomes thought that his grandfather created the World. He'll probably enjoy knowing that. He looks friendly, for a human.
He might help us.
Or he'll trap us somehow, and call other humans, and they'll all start milling around and mooing, and we'll be put in a cage or something, and prodded. It'll be just like the Concorde drivers. They probably didn't want to hurt us, they just didn't understand what we were. And we haven't got time to let them find out.
It's their world, not ours.
It's too risky. No. I never realised it before, but we've got to do it our way.
Grandson Richard, 39, slowly reached out a hand and said, Whoomp?
Masklin took a running jump.
Nomes can fall quite a long way without being hurt, and in any case a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich broke his fall.
There was a blur of activity and the sandwich rose on three pairs of legs. It raced across the floor, leaking mayonnaise.
Grandson Richard, 39, threw a towel at it. He missed.
The sandwich leapt over the doorway and vanished into the chirping, velvety, dangerous night.
There were other dangers besides falling off the branch. One of the frogs was eaten by a lizard. Several others turned back as soon as they were out of the shade of their bromeliad because, as they pointed out... mipmip... mipmip...
The frog in the lead looked back at his dwindling group. There was one... and one... and one... and one... and one, which added up to - it wrinkled its forehead in the effort of calculation - yes, one.
Some of the one were getting frightened. The leading frog realised that if they were ever going to get to the new flower and survive there, there'd need to be a lot more than one frog. They need at least one, or possibly even one.
He gave them a croak of encouragement. Mipmip, he said.
Chapter 5
FLORIDA (or Floridia): A place where alligators, long-necked turtles, and space shuttles may be found. A place that is warm and wet, and there are geese. Only foolish people think it is really an orange drink. Bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches may be found here also. A lot more interesting than many other places. The shape when seen from the air is like a bit stuck on a bigger bit.
From A Scientific Encyclopaedia for the Enquiring Young Nome by Angalo de Haberdasheri.
Let the eye of your imagination be a camera...
This is the globe of the world, a glittering blue and white ball like the ornament on some unimaginable Christmas tree.
Find a continent... Focus.
This is a continent, a jigsaw of yellows, greens, and browns.
Find a place... Focus.
This is a bit of the continent, sticking out into the warmer sea to the south-east Most of its inhabitants call it Florida.
Actually, they don't. Most of its inhabitants don't call it anything. They don't even know it exists. Most of them
He looked down.
"Hurry up!" said Angalo. "The water's stopped again!" Boom-boom hoom whop boom whop...
Masklin pushed aside a drift of green stuff, grabbed the sandwich, hauled it to the edge of the tray and pushed it down onto the floor.
Foom boom boom HOOOOooooOOOOmmmmmWHOP.
The shower room door opened.
"Come on! Come on!" Angalo yelled.
Grandson Richard, 39, came out. He took a few steps, and stopped.
He looked at Masklin.
Masklin looked at him.
There are times when Time itself pauses.
Masklin realised that he was standing at one of those points where History takes a deep breath and decides what to do next.
I can stay here, he thought. I can use the Thing to translate, and I can try to explain everything to him. I can tell him how important it is for us to have a home of our own. I can ask him if he can do something to help the nomes in the quarry. I can tell him how the Store nomes thought that his grandfather created the World. He'll probably enjoy knowing that. He looks friendly, for a human.
He might help us.
Or he'll trap us somehow, and call other humans, and they'll all start milling around and mooing, and we'll be put in a cage or something, and prodded. It'll be just like the Concorde drivers. They probably didn't want to hurt us, they just didn't understand what we were. And we haven't got time to let them find out.
It's their world, not ours.
It's too risky. No. I never realised it before, but we've got to do it our way.
Grandson Richard, 39, slowly reached out a hand and said, Whoomp?
Masklin took a running jump.
Nomes can fall quite a long way without being hurt, and in any case a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich broke his fall.
There was a blur of activity and the sandwich rose on three pairs of legs. It raced across the floor, leaking mayonnaise.
Grandson Richard, 39, threw a towel at it. He missed.
The sandwich leapt over the doorway and vanished into the chirping, velvety, dangerous night.
There were other dangers besides falling off the branch. One of the frogs was eaten by a lizard. Several others turned back as soon as they were out of the shade of their bromeliad because, as they pointed out... mipmip... mipmip...
The frog in the lead looked back at his dwindling group. There was one... and one... and one... and one... and one, which added up to - it wrinkled its forehead in the effort of calculation - yes, one.
Some of the one were getting frightened. The leading frog realised that if they were ever going to get to the new flower and survive there, there'd need to be a lot more than one frog. They need at least one, or possibly even one.
He gave them a croak of encouragement. Mipmip, he said.
Chapter 5
FLORIDA (or Floridia): A place where alligators, long-necked turtles, and space shuttles may be found. A place that is warm and wet, and there are geese. Only foolish people think it is really an orange drink. Bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches may be found here also. A lot more interesting than many other places. The shape when seen from the air is like a bit stuck on a bigger bit.
From A Scientific Encyclopaedia for the Enquiring Young Nome by Angalo de Haberdasheri.
Let the eye of your imagination be a camera...
This is the globe of the world, a glittering blue and white ball like the ornament on some unimaginable Christmas tree.
Find a continent... Focus.
This is a continent, a jigsaw of yellows, greens, and browns.
Find a place... Focus.
This is a bit of the continent, sticking out into the warmer sea to the south-east Most of its inhabitants call it Florida.
Actually, they don't. Most of its inhabitants don't call it anything. They don't even know it exists. Most of them
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