Neb and Gem Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Neb and Gem took Ralph to their Mom’s house. After introductions and the expected nasty words over Ralph not liking to be called a little man, even by somebody’s Mom, and a good laugh over his T-shirt, they sat down to cookies and milk. Ralph had his milk in a thimble, and even so, he had to hold it with both hands. Mom asked some questions that Neb and Gem had not thought to ask, like how had Ralph got loose from the jar, and what kind of people were driving the space ship. It turned out most PeeWeers are pretty good acrobats, and so they had climbed on each other’s shoulders to make a ladder all the way to the top of the jar. There had just been enough of them to get one all the way to the top, and that one had been Ralph. It was quite a fall down the other side off the jar after he got to the top, but luckily he had been able to do a couple of somersaults at the bottom that kept him from hurting himself. Then he had snuck under a crack in the door and found himself by the lake which was known as Lake Rubabegonia, which is where he ran into Gem.
As to the people who were driving the spaceship, they weemed to be some sort of very large (very large to Ralph, that is) Frog people. In fact they had stopped at Lake Rubabegonia for a little swim. Ralph asked Mom what she thought about the situation, and did she have any ideas as to how he could get his people back to their planet?
She said that it might be a good idea to talk things out with the Frog people. She suggested that if the Frog people knew how the PeeWeers and the WeePeers felt about being taken away from their homes so abruptly, they might be persuaded to return them to their planets. Ralph told Mom that the last WeePeer who had tried to reason with a Frog person had been eaten like a bug. His name had been Harold.
When Mom heard about Harold she said that Ralph was certainly welcome to stay with her and Neb and Gem, and possibly the Frog people would learn to behave better in the future. Meanwhile there was not much anyone could do about it. Neb, Gem and Ralph told her thank you very much, finished their cookies and milk and called Dad on the phone to see if he had any ideas.
The phone call was hard to do. First Gem would hold Ralph up to the ear piece so he could listen, but when he wanted to talk she had to put him down to the mouth piece. When he was done talking, back up to the ear piece. Before too long, Ralph was sick to his stomach from going up and down so often, and they settled on Neb and Gem telling Dad what Ralph said and telling Ralph what Dad said.
Any how, once they explained the situation, Dad had a few suggestions. He thought they should make some signs saying “Frog people Unfair” and “Free the WeePeers and PeeWeers” and call the TV people and march around the space ship and be sure to tell the TV people about poor Harold.
Gem and Neb and Ralph thanked him very much and hung up the phone. They talked it over and decided that Mom and Dad might have ok ideas for grown ups, but since Gem and Neb were kids, they had better stick to their own ideas. They decided to sneak around the Frog people’s space ship and see what they could see and do what they could do.
Very quietly they approached the ship. It was big and round and spookey looking. It was about the size of Mc Donald’s arches and shaped like a ball. There was a ladder coming out of the middle of it, leading to a door. Neb led the way. He was followed by Gem and Ralph was standing on Gem’s shoulder. Very slowly they climbed up the ladder. Finally they got to the top of the stairs. Carefully Neb looked. He looked right. He looked straight ahead. He turned around and whispered to Gem and Ralph “All clear”. Then, just when he turned back and started to step inside, a big, ugly green Frog person jumped at him, caught him and gave him a big kiss on the lips (ugh) Neb turned around to run, but it was too late. Before Gem and Ralph’s eyes, he was already turning green. His face was turning froggy and green webs were forming between his fingers. “Ribit” he said sadly.
Well, I guess you’ll want to find out what happened to our friends. Did they all turn into frogs and win the Olympic swimming contest? Did Neb develop a taste for flys? Maybe we’ll find all that out in the next chapter.
Neb and Gem took Ralph to their Mom’s house. After introductions and the expected nasty words over Ralph not liking to be called a little man, even by somebody’s Mom, and a good laugh over his T-shirt, they sat down to cookies and milk. Ralph had his milk in a thimble, and even so, he had to hold it with both hands. Mom asked some questions that Neb and Gem had not thought to ask, like how had Ralph got loose from the jar, and what kind of people were driving the space ship. It turned out most PeeWeers are pretty good acrobats, and so they had climbed on each other’s shoulders to make a ladder all the way to the top of the jar. There had just been enough of them to get one all the way to the top, and that one had been Ralph. It was quite a fall down the other side off the jar after he got to the top, but luckily he had been able to do a couple of somersaults at the bottom that kept him from hurting himself. Then he had snuck under a crack in the door and found himself by the lake which was known as Lake Rubabegonia, which is where he ran into Gem.
As to the people who were driving the spaceship, they weemed to be some sort of very large (very large to Ralph, that is) Frog people. In fact they had stopped at Lake Rubabegonia for a little swim. Ralph asked Mom what she thought about the situation, and did she have any ideas as to how he could get his people back to their planet?
She said that it might be a good idea to talk things out with the Frog people. She suggested that if the Frog people knew how the PeeWeers and the WeePeers felt about being taken away from their homes so abruptly, they might be persuaded to return them to their planets. Ralph told Mom that the last WeePeer who had tried to reason with a Frog person had been eaten like a bug. His name had been Harold.
When Mom heard about Harold she said that Ralph was certainly welcome to stay with her and Neb and Gem, and possibly the Frog people would learn to behave better in the future. Meanwhile there was not much anyone could do about it. Neb, Gem and Ralph told her thank you very much, finished their cookies and milk and called Dad on the phone to see if he had any ideas.
The phone call was hard to do. First Gem would hold Ralph up to the ear piece so he could listen, but when he wanted to talk she had to put him down to the mouth piece. When he was done talking, back up to the ear piece. Before too long, Ralph was sick to his stomach from going up and down so often, and they settled on Neb and Gem telling Dad what Ralph said and telling Ralph what Dad said.
Any how, once they explained the situation, Dad had a few suggestions. He thought they should make some signs saying “Frog people Unfair” and “Free the WeePeers and PeeWeers” and call the TV people and march around the space ship and be sure to tell the TV people about poor Harold.
Gem and Neb and Ralph thanked him very much and hung up the phone. They talked it over and decided that Mom and Dad might have ok ideas for grown ups, but since Gem and Neb were kids, they had better stick to their own ideas. They decided to sneak around the Frog people’s space ship and see what they could see and do what they could do.
Very quietly they approached the ship. It was big and round and spookey looking. It was about the size of Mc Donald’s arches and shaped like a ball. There was a ladder coming out of the middle of it, leading to a door. Neb led the way. He was followed by Gem and Ralph was standing on Gem’s shoulder. Very slowly they climbed up the ladder. Finally they got to the top of the stairs. Carefully Neb looked. He looked right. He looked straight ahead. He turned around and whispered to Gem and Ralph “All clear”. Then, just when he turned back and started to step inside, a big, ugly green Frog person jumped at him, caught him and gave him a big kiss on the lips (ugh) Neb turned around to run, but it was too late. Before Gem and Ralph’s eyes, he was already turning green. His face was turning froggy and green webs were forming between his fingers. “Ribit” he said sadly.
Well, I guess you’ll want to find out what happened to our friends. Did they all turn into frogs and win the Olympic swimming contest? Did Neb develop a taste for flys? Maybe we’ll find all that out in the next chapter.