Tangled Yarns: Failures

at you, and where are the bones? You guessed it! Right where you don't want them, and I think I'm probably talking too much. I'll shut up now."

The general forced a smile.

"No, no. Go right ahead," he said, "This is the land of free speech. We just won't listen to you if you go on too long."

"Ah!" said Zorble One, "The land of free deafness. We have a similar system on our planet. Its amazing how much crucial information is ignored where I come from!"

The general led the way through the crowd to his military machine. Zorble One and Zorble Two followed, and Zorble Three and Four came out of the space-ship, running to catch up. Zorble Three jumped into the pond and locked the space-ship door with his remote, then he ran to catch up with the others.

"So this is Earth?" said Zorble One as he sat beside the general in the front of the jeep, "Its awfully windy, isn't it."

"That's because we're doing 120 kilometers down the main road!" said the general.

Zorble Two, Three and Four were beginning to fall behind. "Could you slow down, just a wee tad?" asked Zorble One, "My men are having difficulty keeping up! We cannot run much faster!"

"Why don't they ride in the back seat?" asked the general.

"It is a Zorbelite custom for staff and workers to run behind vehicles when space-ship captains are being conveyed by motorized transport.

"Seems a bit rough on the workers?" shrugged the general, "But I guess you know what you're doing."

Zorble smiled inwardly (which involved puckering his mouth and curling his tongue sideways) because the real reason his fellow Zorbelites were running behind the jeep was because they had beaten him in a game of space putzi as they came past Jupiter.

The president was out, and dressed, and standing ready to meet the jeep as it turned in the drive of the White house. Zorble Two, Three and Four arrived a few minutes later, blue in the face and heaving like bread and milk pudding on the boil. They collapsed on the steps and rolled about for a while, gasping, while the president showed Zorble One his ingrowing toe-nail, then they all went through the main doors and sat in a plush reception room.