Late Night Philosophical Bus Stop Conversations

Rabbie and Lavender were waiting for a bus to take them to Henley. It was late at night so they had been waiting for a long time.

Can I ask ye somethin' lassie? asked Rabbie. Why d'ye want to go to Henley?

I'm looking for the Mortal Jellyfish, said Lavender. Or the Immortal Jellyfish, I can never remember which.

'Tis my guess ye're lookin' for the Immortal Jellyfish, said Rabbie. Nobody wud want to waste their time on the other sort. I've been both Mortal and Immortal, so I should know.

Have you? said Lavender, impressed. That means you died.

Aye, indeed it does, said Rabbie. At the tender age of 37, I died after a tooth extraction, in 1796.

Cool, said Lavender. So how did you get to be immortal?

I'm a bard, said Rabbie. Ma poems made me immortal.

Oh, said Lavender, losing interest.

I wudna be surprised to find that ye're immortal too, said Rabbie. Ye bein' a kind of a fossilly wee shelly thing.

That's not me, said Lavender stiffly.

What's you then? said Rabbie.

The space where the shelly thing used to be, said Lavender.

A pretty idea, said Rabbie. I like ye better for it.

A thought struck Lavender.

I wonder what's in the space where you used to be? she said.

Why nothin' ye daft wee lassie, said Rabbie. I'm right here. I guarantee it.

No, said Lavender, there'll be something there. And not just your boots. I guarantee it.

D'ye have the second sight now? said Rabbie.

I'm an auger, said Lavender.

Where's this devil of a bus then? said Rabbie Burns, shifting on his stumps.

Sand and Yam Biscuits

So, said Lavender. When are we going to start looking for the Mortal Jellyfish?

It's the Immortal Jellyfish, said Baby Pierre. IM-mortal. That means it doesn't die. If it was a Mortal Jellyfish it would be just like all the other jellyfish.

Alright, the Immortal Jellyfish, said Lavender. Same difference. When?

Tomorrow morning, said Ageless. We'll go to Henley. Tonight we're going back to the library. We can stay there overnight. There are some things I want to take with me and ....

You talk like an old person, said Lavender. How old are you?

Two hundred and ninety, said Ageless. It's my birthday tomorrow.

Lavender looked at Baby Pierre, who looked shocked.

We're older than you then, said Baby Pierre. How come you seem older?

Because I'm more dangerous, said Ageless.

Yes, you are dangerous, said Baby Pierre, thinking of Frog.

Let's go, said Ageless. Soon the library will close.

They hurried back to North Terrace. Lavender couldn't help thinking about what Ageless had said. She wanted to be dangerous too. But she couldn't think of anything dangerous to do.

They were soon in the reading room at the library. Ageless shuffled around gathering books and tins of biscuits, and then discarding them only to pick them up again.

Which book? he muttered. Which tin?

Baby Pierre grew impatient.

Take the book about Sand, he said, and the tin of Yam bicuits.

Alright, said Ageless. Sorted. Now let's get some sleep.

Baby Pierre wasn't used to sleeping, but he decided to give it a try.

Now Lavender, said Ageless, you can sleep....hey! where's she gone?

But it seemed that Lavender had vanished.