I play solo Risk -

< previous ... next > ... email home >> Saturday 11th August ‘01 - 23.35pm: Hetty had a large bowl of cereal - honey nut loops with Weetabix - at about ten past ten and this seemed to revive her a little. She phoned her mum and dad and told them where she is and a bit about the work she had been doing at the twitchers’ nest. She said they seemed really proud of her, and this made her feel much better. Although they were annoyed a little about her lying to them. Her mum said that if she’d told them from the off that she wanted to join an unusual environmental action group they would have supported her 150% (despite this amount of support being impossible - which I pointed out, but Hetty wasn’t listening). She told me she felt better for speaking to her mum. I suggested a long game of the classic strategy game Risk, but Hetty wanted to read her book (“Why The Planet Needs Plants - Volume 1”.) She said that she’s got all 18 volumes at home, and that this is the fourth time she has embarked on reading the whole set in sequence. I said, “Surely you must know why the planet needs plants, Hetty. After all, you’re an environmentalist. Even I know that and I didn’t get my Biology GCSE.” Then she went onto how many GCSE’s did you get, and I was going to change the subject because - as you know, sir - I only got four GCSE’s at school, and one of them was a ‘D’. We ended up talking about how land without trees and plants would be just a barren desert, and she asked me, “Would you like to see a desert reaching from the Peak District right across to The Wash?” Not being sure where The Wash is, I feigned ignorance and replied that deserts can’t be all bad as they facilitate quite a large variety of plant and mammal life, including cacti and camels. I even made a joke about “one lump or two” when I gave her her coffee (quickly realising soon afterwards that it should have been “one hump or two” - but I’m glad I didn’t say that really. She retreated into her book soon after I’d made her a drink, so I had a quick game of Risk on my own (or solo Risk as we call it in our family) and went to get ready for bed. When I went downstairs to say goodnight and popped my head round the door, she was in her makeshift bed with the lights off. I said, “I might not see you till tomorrow night, Hetty, as I’m going to the zoo.” She just kind of grunted. “We’ll sort out where you can stay then,” I said (more hopeful than actually as if we would). “OK?” I said. There was no reply. I’ve just come upstairs again now, and I’m going to phone up Sam and Phil in Stockport first thing in the morning. How long does a cigarette and wine run to France take anyway? Sunday 12th August ‘01 - 06.08am, from Sir Art: Edward, please bring Hetty in to see me in my office on Monday morning at 9 o’clock. It’s important that I see her at that time so please be on time. It may be best if you come with her to show her where to come, but you don’t need to stay for the meeting. Sunday 12th August ‘01 - 08.41am: Can I come anyway? I’ll have to phone up Petra at work and tell her I’m coming in late, but it should be OK. Please boss? < previous ... next > ... email home >>

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