Walking through the beautiful garden, Zobe slipped and fell headfirst into a pile of balloons. She tried to get out, but all she could hear was that funny squeaky sound, and all she could see was pinkness. Every move just pushed her further down. After just a few moments of struggle she stopped, exhausted, and tried to think. Now that the balloons had grown silent she could hear other noises. Not the noises she’s been hearing in the garden though. There were voices. Laughing and talking. Excited voices. She tried to hear what they were saying, and was just about to call for help when something grabbed hold of her head and started to pull. Her feet were stuck, but whatever was pulling was determined. Zobe screamed as she came free and fell out of the pile of balloons. When she opened her eyes she saw a kindly face looking down at her.
Ellie smiles and picks Zobe up. “You’re late,” she says, “but no worries.”
She turns to watch the game, but only a moment later the balloon tower topples over.
Everyone laughs and Ellie shouts out, “I think that’s enough Jenga for the moment. Now that everyone’s here, how ‘bout a game of scrabble?”
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
ch8) later 7.30pm
“Now that everyone’s here, how ‘bout a game of scrabble?”
Nobody is massively keen on this idea, but the party is only just starting and they’re all feeling too polite to argue. So the scrabble sets come out and the guests get into groups of four to play. Zobe is with Ellie and two other ‘phants she doesn’t recognise. After a few moments she notices that she can make an eight-letter word! That’s pretty special, and she’d be getting rid of all her letters at once!
“H-U-N-T-S-M-A-N,” she says proudly, placing the letters down carefully. She begins to count up the score, and doesn’t notice the uncomfortable looks passing between the olifunts. Her next two goes aren’t a lot better (although she continues to be unaware that she is committing a faux-pas) as she spells out P-O-A-C-H-E-D and F-U-D-G-E. One of the other guests, who has decided to play scrabble phonetically, spells Z-I-L-O-F-O-N-E. Ellie is beginning to regret her suggestion, and her face begins to gradually redden. A few minutes later she snaps. Standing up to get everyone’s attention she says, just a little too brightly, “I think the hippos are wanting to go on the bopaline why don’t we join them?”
The elephiphants scramble excitedly to their feet. In the commotion Ellie pulls Zobe aside, looking serious…
Nobody is massively keen on this idea, but the party is only just starting and they’re all feeling too polite to argue. So the scrabble sets come out and the guests get into groups of four to play. Zobe is with Ellie and two other ‘phants she doesn’t recognise. After a few moments she notices that she can make an eight-letter word! That’s pretty special, and she’d be getting rid of all her letters at once!
“H-U-N-T-S-M-A-N,” she says proudly, placing the letters down carefully. She begins to count up the score, and doesn’t notice the uncomfortable looks passing between the olifunts. Her next two goes aren’t a lot better (although she continues to be unaware that she is committing a faux-pas) as she spells out P-O-A-C-H-E-D and F-U-D-G-E. One of the other guests, who has decided to play scrabble phonetically, spells Z-I-L-O-F-O-N-E. Ellie is beginning to regret her suggestion, and her face begins to gradually redden. A few minutes later she snaps. Standing up to get everyone’s attention she says, just a little too brightly, “I think the hippos are wanting to go on the bopaline why don’t we join them?”
The elephiphants scramble excitedly to their feet. In the commotion Ellie pulls Zobe aside, looking serious…
Monday, October 16, 2006
ch6) earlier 4.30pm
Licking her lips happily Zobe thanked Gladys again and walked towards the library. She pushed the revolving doors and stepped out the other side into a maze. Luckily it was only about 18 inches high so she found her way out quickly, jumped over the stream and hopped towards the manor house where an inspector was waiting for her.
“Professor Plum, left food red.”
She met him at the door and apologised for her lateness. The inspector looked grave and led her silently into the conservatory, where the body was found. Zobe put the wig on and thought hard.
“Miss Scarlet, right hand green.”
She walked, apparently aimlessly, around the room as the inspector watched her sceptically.
“Reverend Green, left hand blue.”
“Hmmm,” said Zobe.
“Mrs White, left foot red.”
She decided to have a look round the rest of the house and question some of the suspects, but after 20 minutes of this she still had no clue, so the narrator quietly slipped her a note. Zobe read this and ran back to the inspector.
“Colonel Cowardy Custard, right hand yellow.”
“It was Mrs. White, in the conservatory, with the piano!” she said, proudly.
“Mrs Peacock, tail feathers blue.”
Mrs. White looked up shocked from the twister mat and started shouting. “How dare you! What evidence have you got? I’ll call my lawyer! This is an absolute disgrace!” and other such exclamations.
Zobe said calmly, “I think, inspector, that you will find a piano in Mrs. White’s pocket, slightly damaged from the impact with the victim’s head.”
The inspector checked and by gum she was right! Another mystery solved. He threw the piano onto the couch as he handcuffed Mrs. White. As he left to take her to the station (they needed to catch the 18:32 to Exeter) he thanked Zobe for her help.
“You can go now, if you like. You’ve been a wonderful help.”
After he left she looked at the piano. It was pretty high quality, with genuine ivory keys. She slipped it in her pocket, hoping they wouldn’t need it for the investigation (also hoping that her eliphant friends at the party later wouldn’t see it), and went outside.
“Spider Malice, all eight feet blue.”
“Professor Plum, left food red.”
She met him at the door and apologised for her lateness. The inspector looked grave and led her silently into the conservatory, where the body was found. Zobe put the wig on and thought hard.
“Miss Scarlet, right hand green.”
She walked, apparently aimlessly, around the room as the inspector watched her sceptically.
“Reverend Green, left hand blue.”
“Hmmm,” said Zobe.
“Mrs White, left foot red.”
She decided to have a look round the rest of the house and question some of the suspects, but after 20 minutes of this she still had no clue, so the narrator quietly slipped her a note. Zobe read this and ran back to the inspector.
“Colonel Cowardy Custard, right hand yellow.”
“It was Mrs. White, in the conservatory, with the piano!” she said, proudly.
“Mrs Peacock, tail feathers blue.”
Mrs. White looked up shocked from the twister mat and started shouting. “How dare you! What evidence have you got? I’ll call my lawyer! This is an absolute disgrace!” and other such exclamations.
Zobe said calmly, “I think, inspector, that you will find a piano in Mrs. White’s pocket, slightly damaged from the impact with the victim’s head.”
The inspector checked and by gum she was right! Another mystery solved. He threw the piano onto the couch as he handcuffed Mrs. White. As he left to take her to the station (they needed to catch the 18:32 to Exeter) he thanked Zobe for her help.
“You can go now, if you like. You’ve been a wonderful help.”
After he left she looked at the piano. It was pretty high quality, with genuine ivory keys. She slipped it in her pocket, hoping they wouldn’t need it for the investigation (also hoping that her eliphant friends at the party later wouldn’t see it), and went outside.
“Spider Malice, all eight feet blue.”
Saturday, October 07, 2006
ch9) later 8.25pm
The elephiphants scramble excitedly to their feet. In the commotion Ellie pulls Zobe aside, looking serious.
She speaks quietly, not wanting to be overheard or cause any embarrassment. “Zobe… there’s something I really need to ask you.” She begins.
#Moi je joue
Moi je joue à joue contre joue…#
Zobe sees the frown on her face and motions for her to carry on. “Well…it’s just that…you know the wig you were wearing when you first got here? Well, it kind of belongs to Al. He loves that wig, and he couldn’t understand where it had gone earlier.”
#…Je veux jouer à joue contre vous
Mais vous, le voulez-vous?…#
She pauses for a second to fend off the crows trying to eat her tail, and continues in a whisper barely audible over the sound of the hippos’ mmbopalining and singing behind them. “What happened to it today? It looked so scraggy! Some people don’t understand, like we elephants do, that wigs need to be cared for properly. I hope you haven’t been maltreating it.”
#…De tout coeur
Je veux gagner ce coeur à Coeur…#
Zobe is shocked to her very core. “I just…I didn’t mean to…I just thought it was a friendly wig!” she sputters, “I had no idea it belonged to Al. But I didn’t mistreat it. Honestly, Ellie, you have to believe me!”
#…Vous connaissez mon jeu par coeur
Alors défendez-vous…#
Ellie looks sympathetic. “OK, she says. I’m sure you didn’t mean any harm. You’re just a bit of an idiot – it’s not your fault.” She sighs. “What did you do to it though?”
Zobe tried to explain, “It helped me to fight a snake. I didn’t force it to, or anything, it just did. And then it came with me the rest of the day as well. There was nothing horrible. I don’t know. Please forgive me.”
Ellie is bored of Zobe’s whining, so she says not to worry about it and goes to join Jean-Luc (the hippo who has been singing frenchily all the while) on the bopaline. All the elephants are stood around it, their tails and trunks held high. There are a few murmurs as Ellie joins them, but the mmbopalining carries on uninterrupted.
She shakes her head and sighs as she wanders towards them. “I’ve never seen so much conformity amongst ollypants,” she mutters…
She speaks quietly, not wanting to be overheard or cause any embarrassment. “Zobe… there’s something I really need to ask you.” She begins.
#Moi je joue
Moi je joue à joue contre joue…#
Zobe sees the frown on her face and motions for her to carry on. “Well…it’s just that…you know the wig you were wearing when you first got here? Well, it kind of belongs to Al. He loves that wig, and he couldn’t understand where it had gone earlier.”
#…Je veux jouer à joue contre vous
Mais vous, le voulez-vous?…#
She pauses for a second to fend off the crows trying to eat her tail, and continues in a whisper barely audible over the sound of the hippos’ mmbopalining and singing behind them. “What happened to it today? It looked so scraggy! Some people don’t understand, like we elephants do, that wigs need to be cared for properly. I hope you haven’t been maltreating it.”
#…De tout coeur
Je veux gagner ce coeur à Coeur…#
Zobe is shocked to her very core. “I just…I didn’t mean to…I just thought it was a friendly wig!” she sputters, “I had no idea it belonged to Al. But I didn’t mistreat it. Honestly, Ellie, you have to believe me!”
#…Vous connaissez mon jeu par coeur
Alors défendez-vous…#
Ellie looks sympathetic. “OK, she says. I’m sure you didn’t mean any harm. You’re just a bit of an idiot – it’s not your fault.” She sighs. “What did you do to it though?”
Zobe tried to explain, “It helped me to fight a snake. I didn’t force it to, or anything, it just did. And then it came with me the rest of the day as well. There was nothing horrible. I don’t know. Please forgive me.”
Ellie is bored of Zobe’s whining, so she says not to worry about it and goes to join Jean-Luc (the hippo who has been singing frenchily all the while) on the bopaline. All the elephants are stood around it, their tails and trunks held high. There are a few murmurs as Ellie joins them, but the mmbopalining carries on uninterrupted.
She shakes her head and sighs as she wanders towards them. “I’ve never seen so much conformity amongst ollypants,” she mutters…
Monday, October 02, 2006
ch5) earlier 3.20pm
“Good afternoon, dear,” said the old lady, “I don’t suppose you could help me across the road? I’m having a little difficulty. Not as quick as I once was.”
Zobe was a bit confused because there was absolutely no traffic on the road, but she didn’t want to make a fuss and agreed to help the old lady.
She introduced herself.
“Oh!” said the old woman, clapping her hands together in delight, “what a polite young lady you are! My name is Gladys. I’m very pleased to meet you.”
Zobe contemplated the road for a moment and took Gladys’ hand. “Pawn to King Four,” she said (predictably) and watched as the black knight jumped forwards in response.
Trying to plan ahead, and to ignore the large chainsaws that the opposition’s bishops were wielding, she stretched to see across the board. It seemed that she was contemplating the board for hours, but finally she remembered a special set of moves that her uncle had taught her when she was very young. They were guaranteed to win any game of chess. She struggled to remember the name of the moves. Ah yes! That was it. The Tche-ts. Employing them with deadly skill, she worked her way around the board with Gladys, and in just a few minutes they were standing safely on the other side of the road.
“Thank you so much,” said Gladys, “let me buy you an ice cream.”
Zobe was very pleased. The day was warm and the journey to the manor house was turning out to be quite tiring. She accepted the offer graciously.
Gladys turned and walked a few steps along the pavement, where she started speaking to thin air, apparently ordering two choc-ices. Zobe was about to step in and explain that there was no shop there when Gladys came back, holding out an ice cream.
Zobe decided not to bother, and enjoyed her creamy ice.
Zobe was a bit confused because there was absolutely no traffic on the road, but she didn’t want to make a fuss and agreed to help the old lady.
She introduced herself.
“Oh!” said the old woman, clapping her hands together in delight, “what a polite young lady you are! My name is Gladys. I’m very pleased to meet you.”
Zobe contemplated the road for a moment and took Gladys’ hand. “Pawn to King Four,” she said (predictably) and watched as the black knight jumped forwards in response.
Trying to plan ahead, and to ignore the large chainsaws that the opposition’s bishops were wielding, she stretched to see across the board. It seemed that she was contemplating the board for hours, but finally she remembered a special set of moves that her uncle had taught her when she was very young. They were guaranteed to win any game of chess. She struggled to remember the name of the moves. Ah yes! That was it. The Tche-ts. Employing them with deadly skill, she worked her way around the board with Gladys, and in just a few minutes they were standing safely on the other side of the road.
“Thank you so much,” said Gladys, “let me buy you an ice cream.”
Zobe was very pleased. The day was warm and the journey to the manor house was turning out to be quite tiring. She accepted the offer graciously.
Gladys turned and walked a few steps along the pavement, where she started speaking to thin air, apparently ordering two choc-ices. Zobe was about to step in and explain that there was no shop there when Gladys came back, holding out an ice cream.
Zobe decided not to bother, and enjoyed her creamy ice.
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