You Could Eat Me

Carl Botanist has gone off in the opposite direction, in his Nachoo.

He is looking for a lettuce.

A small green lettuce floats by.

Stop! cries Carl-Botanist.

The small green lettuce keeps going.

Carl-Botanist follows.

Are you following me? asks the small green lettuce.

Yes, says Carl-Botanist. But only in a good way.

What are you? asks the small green lettuce.

An underwater botanist, says Carl-Botanist. 

You look like a cuttlefish at one end, says the small green lettuce.

I am a cuttlefish at both ends, says Carl-Botanist. But my back end is inside my Nachoo.

I see, says the small green lettuce. May I go now?

Of course, says Carl-Botanist. But first will you answer a question?

If it's a short one, says the small green lettuce.

Are you the Karenia cristata? asks Carl-Botanist.

No, says the small green lettuce. I may be small but I'm not that small and furthermore I'm not brevetoxic.

Brevetoxic? asks Carl-Botanist.

Yes, I'm not, says the small green lettuce. You could eat me with no ill effects.

I don't eat lettuce, says Carl-Botanist. 

I know, says the small green lettuce. Do you think I'd have said that if I didn't?

Do you know where I can find one? asks Carl-Botanist.

You've asked your one question, says the small green lettuce.

It floats away quickly.

Carl-Botanist feels much like Jean-Botanist felt when he met a small green lettuce.

Only partly successful.