“Did I write down what the final exam is going to be?” Huge explosions can be heard in the background.
“That sounds like a puzzle to me.” Doug is not amused. “No, you didn’t write it down. I have TWO different schedules from you now, neither of which has anything about a final.”
“Whew! That is the most exciting news I’ve heard all day.” Something crying in the background gives Doug the creeps, but it soon dies, so all is good.
“Babe, what are you killing? And what is the final exam?” Doug is now ignoring the funny looks he’s getting from two very intrigued female teachers.
“Heh heh heh, I gave you two notes. You have all you need to figure this out. I love you. Good luck.” And with that, the call ends.
“So, what was that face for?” Jo eagerly asks.
“Trust me,” he says, “ya don’t wanna’ know. All I got from that conversation was that we don’t have a set final exam.”
“YAY!” The teens rejoice.
“We’re going to have an exam,” Doug insists.
“Aww!” The teens whine.
“But you’re all going to automatically pass,” Jo suggests. “It’s a weird day, so you all get 100’s.”
“Yay!” They repeat, though cautiously.
Before Doug can argue, Mercy jumps in. “You all get 100’s if you get all our questions right.”
“Aww, come on!”
The girls high five as Doug catches on to their cruelty. He likes having friends like this.
Suddenly, a loud voice from down the hall calls out, “All rise for Prince Phillip Dunn of France!” The class, along with everyone else present, stands and watches as the blue-clad young man identified as the prince happily approaches our group. As he reaches Doug, he heartily commences a handshake we would recognize as a Roman type of thing from the movies, where allies reach for one another’s forearms rather than the hands. On some occasions, there’s even the fist over the chest, but such is not the case this time. This is a common greeting across various System galaxies, interchangeable with the standard hand shake. Enough of customs, let’s hear what Prince Phillip has to say.
“My good friend, Doug Rug, it is an honor to meet you all here. Where is Lady Duplica?” As the introductions are made and the circumstances behind Lady Rug’s absence are detailed, the prince considers this a possible providential balance to the queen’s recently made appointment. “I hate to admit this, but I didn’t tell my queen, and now she’s made plans of her own. I suppose it has worked itself out as we are both without our lovely wives, ha ha. Still, my mind has me quite embarrassed.” In truth, Prince Phillip simply forgot to tell his wife in time, thus she’s missing out on something she would very much enjoy.
This dilemma fixes itself, however, as the queen has not yet left for the appointment and hears her husband’s voice, piquing her interest. As she approaches, the same routine from earlier briefly repeats, and shortly thereafter, little Queen Katie Elizabeth Broadmire of France is charmed to be surrounded by the teenagers of her friends Duplica and Jocelyn.
“Phillip, why didn’t you tell me they’d be coming? I wouldn’t have made my appointment with Elisha and Kielie to play golf.” Moments after asking this, Queen Katie is mesmerized by Faye Worley’s height as the little monarch instantly sees a kindred spirit.
“My dear,” her husband explains, “I meant to tell you, but circumstances and my mind, you know how that can happen. But Lady Duplica is not here, so feel free to enjoy your time with the girls.”
Walking over to the girl in her sights, Katie declares, with a joyful smile, “Nonsense, the girls can golf with me anytime, but this is a treasure that’s been rare to me. As often as Duplica visits, this is the first time I’ve met her children and their friends, and I had no idea they were my height, he he he!”
Inner Man Theatre 