On the same day that Migo was banished from the village, Percy Patterson was taping a segment for a television show deep in a snowy forest with his assistant, Brenda.
“Few can survive the cold, brutal environment of the Himalayas . . . but this ingenious creature defies the odds,” Percy said, smiling brightly into the camera. Still smiling, he held up his left arm, where a spider was slowly making its way up to his shoulder. Dramatically he continued, “The rare Himalayan jumping spider! This week on Percy Patterson’s Wildlife.”
Brenda stood nearby and watched, nodding her head in approval as Percy kept speaking.
“This agile arachnid can lay one thousand eggs at a time and jump fifty feet into the air!” Percy looked at his arm, shook it a bit, and then blew on the spider. It didn’t move.
“Hmm. There’s an element of mental preparation, I’m sure,” he said.
Percy glanced up and saw that the cameraman was yawning. He glanced over at Brenda, who gave him an encouraging thumbs-up. In desperation, Percy snatched the spider off his arm and threw it on his face.
“It’s attacking!” he shouted. “Oh no! The venom! It’s going to my brain! I can’t feel my face!” He whispered softly to Brenda and the cameraman, “Keep rolling, keep rolling.” Percy clutched his throat as if he’d been poisoned.
“Cut,” Brenda said.
Percy continued to ham it up for the camera. He covered one eye with his hand.
“My eye! My eye!” he yelled.
Brenda put her hand over the camera lens.
“CUT!” she shouted. “Percy, what are you doing?”
“Saving our show,” Percy replied. He placed the spider back on his arm. “Me getting attacked by a spider would get fantastic ratings!”
Brenda sighed. “Percy, our show is educational and enlightening, a show that promotes respect of our fellow creatures on this planet.”
“I know. That’s why no one is watching it,” Percy answered.
“That’s why I don’t watch it,” the cameraman agreed.
“Look, Brenda, unless our spider jumps, it’s boring.” As if on cue, the spider jumped off Percy’s arm.
“Hey! It jumped!” Percy shouted happily.
The spider landed on the cameraman, who screamed and ran straight into a wall, shattering his camera.
“Now that was exciting!” Percy said. “Did we get that on film?”
“No,” the cameraman muttered.
“Of course not,” Percy said. “All right. I’ll just have to go over here and interview a piece of bark, shall I?”
Percy turned to leave and WHAM! He slammed right into the pilot, who stared up at Percy with wild eyes.
“Y-y-yeti,” he said.
“What did you say?” Percy asked.
The pilot took a deep breath. “My plane . . . crashed. In the snow. Teeth, claws, huge!” He grabbed Percy by the shoulders. “I SAW A YETI!” he shouted.
Percy’s face suddenly lit up. He had an idea. He smiled at the pilot.
“A Yeti, you say? Let me buy you a cup of coffee and you can tell me all about it.”
The pilot looked anxiously at Percy. “You believe me, don’t you?”
Percy grinned again and patted the pilot’s arm reassuringly. “Of course I believe you. I can’t wait for you to tell me alllllll about it.”