“Voofarallen,” she giggled. ”Voof!”
Rudy roared with laughter in response. ”Yes,” he said, “yes that’s exactly what it was!”
Margot continued, “Voof! Oh god, those things, do you rememb– yes, Oh god!”
With a sigh, Rudy leaned back on the wooden chair. ”I love you, you know that?”
“Oh, honey. I love you. Do you want your cake now or—”
“Yeah, I’ll take some,” he said, and added after a moment, a quick “thank you. You didn’t have to—” he abruptly stopped. He sat there swallowing for a moment, teeth clenched.
“Rudy? Whats wrong? Rudy?!”
—
“Tell me something,” said John. ”We’ve been together for a few years. I’m curious if there’s something I don’t know about you.”
“Well, there was— Oh, God, there was this one time when,” laughed Margot, “when we went down— we, being my late husband– we would go down to the surface and look at the Voo—.” Margot stopped talking, and leaned back on the metal chair. ”We— t–the Voo—”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.”
“No, no, you don’t understand. It was so funny. The Voof.” Margot giggles again, and she feels like she could go on giggling forever. Just sit there and shake her body and feel the tears streaming down her eyes. ”The Voofarallen!”
“The what?”
“The Voofarallen! Oh, God!”
“The Vooparalin?”
“No, the Voofarallen! The little things down there! I haven’t laughed so much in my life.”
“Oh, those. I don’t see what’s so funny? I mean, after all, they’re just two-legged creatures with those weird little arms—”
“Yes, those! Weird little things, Voofarallen!” Margot throws her head back in a guffaw. ”Oh, ha ha ha, yes! Rudy, yes, you know Rudy, I’ve talked about him often, but yes, Rudy, Rudy was down on the surface and noticed something interesting— those weird little arms moved and grasped and moved impressively for such huge beings!”
“I still fail to see what’s so funny.”
“Look! For such a big head, sharp teeth, and strong legs and that tail—look at those arms!” Margot begins laughing again. “It just keeps on going and eating all those other terrible lizards.”
