In The Morning The Ladder Is Gone

Saint Roley looks through the Shorebirds Identification Booklet.

Parrots, says Terence. Which is the best one?

None of them are parrots, says Saint Roley.

That one! says Terence, pointing out a comb-crested jacana.

Okay, says Saint Roley. See these red dots on the map? This is where you're going. And these dots are where you might spot a comb-crested jacana.

Terence stares at the red dots. They cover the Top End of Australia.

So you won't need me, says Saint Roley.

IF I find one, says Terence.

Take this booklet, says Saint Roley. There are two copies for some reason.

I was given two copies, says Gaius. Yes Terence, you may bring one booklet. It might help with your reading. Which bird are we looking at specifically?

This parrot, says Terence. It has a red hat and long feet.

A red comb and long toes, says Gaius. And it isn't a parrot. Aha! An  interesting note here: Walks on floating vegetation. That's what the long toes will be for. See this, Humboldt?

But Humboldt isn't listening. He is eavesdropping on Kobo, who is giving Pinky a lesson.

Kobo: There are two main types of sand.

Pinky: Which is the best type?

Kobo: It's a matter of opinion. And yet I am torn.

Pinky: I don't know any types. And yet I too am torn.

Kobo: You are torn physically. I am torn between silica and calcium carbonate.

Pinky: You are so clever.

Kobo: I have spent aeons reading.

Pinky: What is your favourite?

Kobo: The Woman in the Dunes by my namesake Kobo Abe.

Pinky: What happens in your favourite?

Kobo: A small fishing village, in the sand dunes. A school teacher comes, collecting insects. He misses the last bus home. The villagers show him to a woman's house in the dunes that is entered by climbing down a rope ladder. In the morning the ladder is gone.

Pinky: I LOVE this story.

Kobo: It's not finished.

Humboldt: What?

Kobo: It's not finished. Have you been eavesdropping?

Humboldt: I have. It fascinates me that you have such an interest in sand.

Kobo: Our interest is a female interest.

Pinky: Yes.

Humboldt: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude.

Gaius: What's this?

Humboldt: Kobo and Pinky were discussing aspects of sand. I seem to have interrupted....

Gaius: There will be plenty of sand where we're going.

Pinky: O super! How much?

Humboldt: To know that, you'd need Archimedes' Sand Reckoner.

Gaius: Ha ha! Yes, his good old Sand Reckoner! How did that work again?

Humboldt: You lay forty poppy seeds side by side......

If Kobo and Pinky had eyebrows, it's now they would raise them.