The Lost Canoe

I know! says Terence. The canoe floats away with their brother!

Whose brother? asks Gloria.

Kobo and Pinky's brother, says Terence.

But wait, says Gloria. Are they related?

Yes, says Terence. By their brother.

Okay, says Gloria. But how does it follow?

By floating away, says Terence. The wheels fall off the plum box, and the canoe floats away.

No. The plum box floats away, says Gloria. There's no canoe in the story.

That's because it floated away with their brother, says Terence. I know it can happen. It happened to Saint Roley.

Saint Roley? Is there a Saint Roley? asks Gloria.

Yes, he's my parrot, says Terence. Not a very good parrot.

Why is that? asks Gloria.

He says he isn't a parrot, says Terence. He didn't even come. I've got no parrot, at the moment.

So what happened to his brother? asks Gloria.

Floated away on a cardboard, says Terence. It was the bottom piece of a box of potatoes. There was a pointing finger.

It must have been the side of the box, says Gloria. Or the top. They wouldn't put a pointing finger on the bottom. No one would see it.

No one did see it, says Terence. Except Saint Roley and his brother.

Sorry, says Gloria. Just being rational. Was it the ocean? Was his brother lost at sea?

Yes, says Terence.

Good story, says Gloria. It would make a good story pot. One brother on one side of the pot. The other brother on the other.

In a canoe, says Terence.

I thought it was a piece of cardboard, says Gloria.

Saint Roley is in a canoe, says Terence. Looking for his brother.

I like it, says Gloria. It has artistic balance.

There's no canoe, says Terence. I made up that part of the story.

Never mind, says Gloria. A story pot has to start somewhere.