EPISODE 16: ONE MAN'S STORY

CHAPTER 71: MAN OF THE HOUSE

At the Ratchet home we find ourselves once again eavesdropping on those best friends, Mikey Small and Alice Ratchet:

Mikey (she of the red hair): "Boy, are we ever lucky we got picked to take care of these guys."

"Yeah, I hope it takes a long time to fix their cages at school. It's neat how they figured out how to escape."

"So are we gonna use your bathtub until we can find some other place for them?"

"Yep. Come on. We can put some sand and grass and stuff in there. Cleaning up after them will be easy--we'll just rinse it all down the drain and put in new stuff."

"But--won't your parents mind?"

"My dad's the only one home right now and he won't even notice. He's been kind of out of it since he lost his job at the shop. Just lays around watching soap operas."

"Are you sure? Maybe he'll notice today."

"Well, let me check."

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, Sweetheart."

"Anna took the car and caused a terrible accident, there are two cops at the door with four tickets and they want to know what you're going to do about it."

"Tell them we can't afford it this year, but we thank them for helping underprivileged children."

"And, by the way, Mom said she won't be home for the rest of the year. She took off for Hawaii with one of Henry's friends from the high school."

"Did she remember to take her check book?"

"Okay, we're good to go."