Spagetti Bolognese.

Unfortunately the date was WHAT? said Lavender. Have you forgotten?

No, said Anoctopus. Not exactly. Sorry about that. I don't usually stop talking.

So what happened? asked Lavender.

Well, said Anoctopus, it was as though someone else's words were coming out of my mouth..... and then....I don't know.... it was like whoever it was suddenly had to go off and do something else, like cook spagetti bolognaise....and they didn't come back.

Perhaps they were too busy to come back, said Baby Pierre.

It is always possible, said Gaius, that they had a lot of relatives staying at their house, and had no spare time in which to invent the next words to come out of your mouth. It happens, he added. But couldn't you have come up with something independently?

No, said Anoctopus. I had no means of remembering the date. And I had already begun the sentence. But I do know the date now. The professor landed on Krakatoa a week before it exploded on the 27th of August 1883.

Did he escape? asked Lavender. And what about the others?

They all escaped, said Anoctopus. Using twenty one balloons. The inhabitants had prepared an escape plan for just such an emergency.

Most unlikely, said Gaius. Are you quite sure it's true? I didn't think there were any inhabitants on Krakatoa at that time.

True-shmue! said Anoctopus. Who cares if it's true? It's not like there are any octopuses in it.

I want to hear more about the professor, and the inhabitants, said Baby Pierre.

Alright, said Anoctopus. But don't be surprised if I suddenly......