What Are We Here For?

Where are you? shouts Third Sister.

To your left! shouts the Freddo.

I still can't find you, says Third Sister. Bang on the lunch box!

The two Freddos bang on the lunch box.

Third Sister moves closer.

What's that rattling? asks Third Sister.

Bicycles, shouts the Freddo.

And a tube of black stuff, says his co-Freddo.

Whoops, says Third Sister. That's a secret. And how come you know that it's black?

A good question. It's dark in the flat pack.

It's blacker than black, says the Freddo. It's like a black hole. We're actually scared of it.

We are, agrees his co-Freddo.

Wait, says Third Sister. What you're saying is, it's too good?

Too bad, says the Freddo. And the top's come off.

Bugger and poo! says Third Sister.

You could say that, says the Freddo.

But we're the ones in here, says his co-Freddo.

And the bicycles! says Third Sister. I must tell Baby Pierre.

She wriggles herself into a returning position, and heads towards the cloth bag.

So much for that, says the Freddo.

We blew it, says his co-Freddo.

We gained time, says the Freddo.

I thought we made a decision, says his co-Freddo. A fast death is better than a slow one.

We may have saved the bicycles, says the Freddo.

What's the point of that? asks his co-Freddo.

The bigger picture, says the Freddo. What are we here for, and all that?

We're here to be eaten, says co-Freddo.

Glass half full, says the Freddo. Anyway, I hear something.

He does hear something. It's Baby Pierre, rapping on the lid of the lunch box.

This is the Captain. Open up, Freddos!

Do we have to answer to him? asks the co-Freddo.

Sadly, yes, says the Freddo.

........

Meanwhile......

Meanwhile, everything else in the universe.......

But let's pick on one.

Vello and David are admiring the world's most beautiful coal mine, in Essen

Beautiful, thanks to the fact that it is no longer a coal mine, and is heritage listed.

This is much more attractive than I expected, says David. The architecture has a pleasant modern feel with appealing symmetry.

Bauhaus, says Jacobi.

The will of the epoch, translated into space, says Vello.

They are such intellectuals.