20. Seeing things

As usual, by the time Yaya came to the end of his story, he was feeling a little peckish. He had his own, idiosyncratic manner of eating: he stood firmly on the ground while drinking something that looked like tomato juice. Of that, Little Hairy-Harry was convinced, because after each meal Yaya had such a healthy glow. It had to be more than just beta carotene!

At that moment, Little Hairy-Harry was struck by a particular detail. Everywhere that Yaya drank, he left behind a rosy spot which puffed up shortly thereafter and seemed to attract that enormous, bizarre object that had nearly given him a heart attack the other day.

‘Mayday! Mayday! The big thingumy-whatsit is back!’

Little Hairy-Harry bellowed into his little walkie-talkie to alert one of his superiors to the danger. Despite this, time after time, the big thingumy-whatsit disappeared and nobody came to his rescue.

Yaya watched him, taken aback. He wondered if it wasn’t time to hit the road.

‘Hey, who ya talking to, nitwit?’

‘I’m afraid I can’t disclose that, Yaya. It’s top secret and highly confidential.’