A Bed With Pencil Wheels

Gaius's pencils are not under the snake.

Nor is the magic flow ring.

Terence rearranges the dead snake in the corner.

Maybe Sweezus meant one of the other snakes. The ones in the plum box.

Can I wake the snakes up? asks Terence.

No, says Gaius. They need to sleep. As do Humboldt and I, after staying up all night.

You go to sleep then, says Terence. I'll keep looking.

Humboldt and Gaius lie on their bunk beds with their clothes on, and soon fall asleep.

Gaius dreams of pencils. In the dream he knows where they are.

Humboldt dreams of Mount Chimborazo, and Pauline, the climber he met there. He has promised her something. But what was it? In the dream Pauline is saying (in Spanish) Look up!

Terence stares at the plum box. He is certain the pencils are in it, and his magic flow ring. Sweezus would not get it wrong.

Wait, no, he did get it wrong but if the lost things are in the plum box then not THAT wrong, just wrong about which snake they were under....

Ageless too is eyeing the plum box.

He sizes it up.

He has promised to make it into some kind of movable contraption for his beloved and her cocky companion.

He means Pinky.

What he needs is a diagram. And a pencil. Gaius had pencils. Ageless skitters over to Gaius's back pack. It has many zippered compartments. He opens them all.

From one, drops a box of eleven hardly used pencils.

He takes one, and starts sketching a vehicle, on the grey lino floor.

A box, like the plum box. With wheels. The wheels are the problem.

So is the means of propulsion, but he might find some string.

Pencils! says Terence spotting the pencil box, which now contains ten hardly used pencils.

Is my magic bracelet in there?

Have a look, mutters Ageless.

Terence looks in the pencil box, and all the unzippered compartments. Apple cores mainly. And notes. No magic bracelet.

What are YOU doing? asks Terence.

Designing wheels for this box, says Ageless. For the women.

I know! says Terence. Give me two pencils!

Ageless can't see why not. He gives Terence two pencils.

Terence opens the plum box and pokes at the snakes.

Hey! says Ageless. Too late though. The bandy bandies are awake.

Get out for a minute, says Terence. Then you can get back in. You can have what you wished for.

The bandy bandies have no idea what they wished for.

A bed with pencil wheels, says Terence.

Well that sounds nice, anyway......