Writings from the Bookshelf
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Alice B. Patchbeary: We sent two of us to Florida and got four of us back.
Marta Pearl Beary: The pink one surely doesn't look like any of us!
Sam: That's a flamingo.
BettyBear: I like the one in red. She looks just like me.
Marta Pearl Beary: Well, she's holding a pillow, and she's a few sizes larger, but otherwise ... well, yes there is a resemblance.
Glory: What's a "flamingo"?
Wise Owl: It's a bird that has really long legs and is pink because it eats a lot of shrimp.
Branson: Ms. Mary eats shrimp and she's not pink.
Marta Pearl Beary: Not yet, anyway.
Wise Owl: She'd have to eat a lot of shrimp for a long time in order to turn pink.
Nanette DuBeary: Can we wake them up now? VEGAS! VEGAS!
Alice B. Patchbeary: SIR! SIR!
Mr. Vegas: <yawn> Is it time to wake up?
Nanette DuBeary: Yes. YES! It's time to tell us all about it.
Mystique: We've been waiting forever to hear about Florida.
Giraffiti: You were gone so long. And you didn't come back alone.
Patriot Bear SIR: This is Blaze, and this is Francis. Francis is a flamingo.
Branson: He's pink because he eats a lot of shrimp. How come Blaze is in a red suit like BettyBear?
Nanette DuBeary: Tell us that later. I want to hear about the trip.
Mr. Vegas: We went all the way around the world!
Patriot Bear SIR: It certainly seemed as if we did. We lost three hours flying east so it was almost midnight when we landed at the airport in Florida.
Mr. Vegas: What do you mean: "We lost three hours"?
Patriot Bear SIR: Never mind, Vegas. We got them back on the way home.
Mr. Vegas: What do you mean: "We got them back"?
Patriot Bear SIR: Remember when I told you the whole world was divided into 24 time zones and each one was one hour earlier than the one to the east of it?
Mr. Vegas: I remember that. And you said if the world was small, I could walk around the middle of it, and when I got back to the starting place, it would be the day before I left because a day is 24 hours and I would walk through all 24 of those time zone things. That is funny!
Patriot Bear SIR: And what would happen if you walked the other way around the world? East?
Mr. Vegas: I would get back to the starting place 24 hours after I left it.
Patriot Bear SIR: And what would happen if you walked from California to Florida?
Mr. Vegas: Well, that's only three, so it would be three hours difference on the clock at the same time. We just moved our clock time to match Florida and then moved it back to California when we got home. You said we "lost" three hours, and we didn't "lose" them because we knew where they were all along.
Patriot Bear SIR: <clears his throat> You are right, Vegas. The word "lose" was not accurate. Do you have a better word?
Mr. Vegas: "Lose" is okay now that I know what we're talking about. Can we tell people what we were doing in Florida?
Patriot Bear SIR: Our secret mission is not a secret any more. We accomplished what we set out to do, and now we can tell people about our success.
Mr. Vegas: That's what our socks were for. Remember, everybody, when Ms. Mary bought us socks to wear in Florida and you asked what they were for? They were for the secret mission.