Doodling

Taking Aim

Neville hurried away from the asteroid of the Toaster People. He looked around, scanning the other asteroids for signs of life. If one of the asteroids had been populated by humans, then surely there must be others. Not everybody that had let go of the world would want to settle in a place where a toaster was the ruling deity. All Neville had to do was find another inhabited asteroid. One occupied by people who were a little more sensible. Then, at last, he could find a home.

As Neville gazed across the great sea of celestial bodies, he couldn't help noticing for the first time how spectacularly awesome the scene before him was. It was like a vast hanging mobile where each individual piece had been specially crafted by a different sculptor. Each asteroid had its own unique shape and glowed with its own unique hue.

But there was one asteroid in particular that caught his attention. Smaller than most of the others, it moved unpredictably across the sky. First it would flit one way. Then suddenly it would stop and veer off in a completely different direction. It was like a small dog that had lost its master and didn't know where to start looking.

Neville was intrigued by this strange asteroid and decided to take a closer look. Approaching it was difficult. Every time he started to get close, the asteroid suddenly darted off at right angles, forcing Neville to quickly brake and change direction, a difficult task in zero gravity.

Finally, Neville made it to the asteroid. He reached out to grip it before it could change its trajectory again, then hauled himself aboard. He sat down for a minute, to get his bearings, and then tried to stand up.

Standing up was not a simple task. Neville felt like a surfer riding a particularly treacherous wave as he staggered and swayed to keep his balance atop the winding, twisting asteroid. He fell down and struggled back to his feet three times before he finally started to get the hang of it. Then he set off to explore this strange new place.

After walking for about a minute, Neville noticed something even odder. A bright orange beach umbrella. He approached the umbrella and saw a girl lying underneath it, on a large rock shaped somewhat like a banana lounge. She was wearing a swimming costume and a pair of dark sunglasses. Presently she spoke.

"Did you bring the sunscreen?" she asked in a fairly expressionless voice.

"No," replied Neville.

For a second there was an awkward silence. Then she spoke again. "I guess I'd better get back into the pool then."

"But there's no pool here," said Neville, somewhat perplexed by the nature of this conversation.

"There isn't?" The girl moved her head from side to side, quickly realising the truth of Neville's observation. "Well that's okay. I can't swim anyway."

"Then why are you wearing a swimming costume?" asked Neville.

"How tall are you?" replied the girl.

"I don't know," said Neville, as it had been a while since he'd last measured himself.

"My uncle is tall," said the girl.

"Oh really?" said Neville.

"His name is Ron and he has a moustache."

"Oh." Neville struggled for something else to say. Fortunately the girl's thoughts had already moved on.

"Maybe I'll go down to the newsagent. Buy myself a book."

"But there's no newsagent here," protested Neville. "We're in the middle of outer space."

Once again the girl made that movement of her head "There isn't? Well that's okay. I can't read anyway."

"But if you can't read, why would you want to buy a book?"