That Our Lives Are Not Plotted

This could go either way.

Terence has remembered.

But he doesn't want Gaius to stop.

So he says nothing.

Gaius has forgotten about stopping to search for more spider eggs, but his feet hurt.

He stops near the rock that Arthur kicked with his shit-crusted shoe.

Never think that our lives are not plotted.

And so it is that Gaius spots exposed spider egg sacs wrapped in silk webbing.

He scoops them up and drops them into the shoe box.

He sits down. Loosens his Timberland boots.

Wiggles his toes, letting the air in.

Can we get going, says Terence.

Gaius puts his new boots back on, and gets going, dragging Terence in the shoebox.

At the top, Sweezus and Arthur are waiting, with the young Pesquet.

But the parent Pesquets have flown, thereby escaping the terrors of Terence's team.

They are following a bus back to Las Palmas, where they will wait for the next ferry to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and fly home behind it.

Where are the big parrots? asks Terence.

Gone home, says the Pesquet.

Wah! says Terence. Now I've only got one.

What are you talking about? asks the Pesquet.

His parrot team, says Gaius. Now you're the only one in it.

Come on guys! says Sweezus. Bus is coming!

Wait, says Gaius. Just putting on my Crocs. The new boots were pinching.

I'll have them, says Arthur.

Soon they are all on the bus.

Terence is sitting next to the shoe box.

Gaius is copying notes. 'Oceanic islands are excellent natural laboratories for revealing evolutionary mechanisms involved in colonisation and species diversity...'

Sweezus is thinking.

A parrot cycling team, that's heaps funny.

Not all that funny, says Arthur. Remember Ageless? Remember the dead jellyfish on wheels?

Yeah... says Sweezus. I guess crazy things happen. Hey, d'you know if Pablo's coming?

Probably, says Arthur.

That's three of us, says Sweezus. We need one more.

There's always the parrot, says Arthur.

Not gonna happen, says Sweezus. We need to work hard on a victory. I'm sick of not winning. I've got this dream of being King of the Mountain.

On Willy Hill, says Arthur. You'll do it.

But yeah, Peter Sagan..... says Sweezus.

Don't worry, says Arthur. I'll deal with Peter Sagan.

Sweezus relaxes. It's good to have a someone like Arthur on your team.

Pf! Pf! Pf! Pf!

Hear that? No one's listening. No one's watching.

The spider eggs pop, one by one