A Coincidence Averted

Baby Pierre and Daniel O'Connell are both silent, thinking about male redback spiders mating with immature females.

It makes sense, evolution-wise, says Tullio.

Because redback spiders are BAD! says Baby Pierre.

No, that's not why, says Tullio. The immature females haven't yet learned cannibalistic behaviour.

Let me understand this, says Daniel O'Connell. The male spiders don't get eaten. Okay. And they get to have .... (he looks at baby Pierre)....

Sex, says Baby Pierre. No need to pussy foot. I am a free thinker.

Okay, says Daniel O'Connell. And they get to have sex, but those females can't have any babies.

They do, later, says Tullio. The immature female redback spiders store the sperm in their sperm storage organs. The trick for the male spiders is to know how to pick the right window.

A window! says Baby Pierre. Woohoo!

Not that kind of window, says Daniel O'Connell. A window of opportunity.

So where is it? says Baby Pierre. I'm lost.

The window, says Tullio, is between the time the immature female develops genitalia, and the time she learns how to eat her ....

Boyfriend! says Baby Pierre. It's disgusting! Daniel doesn't want it.

Hang on, says Daniel O'Connell. Doesn't want what?

Research funding, says Baby Pierre. Daniel O'Connell is the Liberator!

True, says Daniel O'Connell. I am. Although..... I believe that the countryside teems with my natural children.

Perhaps you ought to try crowdfunding, says Tullio.

........

Kobo has been found. This is the way that it happened.

Ying reaches into her handbag, to search for her phone.

Her fingers close around something clam-shaped.

A dropped dumpling? No, it's too hard.

Oow! says Kobo as she is lifted out of the handbag and placed on the table, next to a dish of spicy chickens' feet.

Oh! says Ying. You were at the show, sitting next to me! Did you fall into my handbag?

Yes, says Kobo. I thought I had fallen into Margaret's, which is why I remained silent, till now.

A talking clam! says Li Feng. It's the first time I've seen one.

I don't get out much, says Kobo.

Hee hee, laughs Li Feng. She doesn't get out much.

To Kobo, it's not all that funny.

What did you think of Two Dogs? asks Ying.

Absurd yet thought provoking, says Kobo. It challenged the lifestyles and idealistic views of modern China. And of course, it was utterly hilarious.

I thought so too, says Ying.

Me too, says Li Feng, remembering the rude bits.

How will you get home? asks Ying.

I cannot, says Kobo.

May I offer you a lift? asks Ying. I have a bicycle.

It's dark, says Li Feng. I'll come with you. On my bicycle.

So kind of you, says Kobo. I do need to get home. My young nephew....

The young nephew is Baby Pierre.

(not her real nephew)

If Kobo had mentioned the name of her nephew, it would have meant nothing to Ying, but had Kobo mentioned the name of Gaius Plinius Secundus (at whose house she resides) Ying might have remembered that she met Gaius once, in Tasmania, when she was a student....

A coincidence has been averted.