‘But it can’t be the same fly,’ said Terry. ‘It was eaten by the bog toad—we saw it happen.’
‘Actually,’ said Jill, ‘I don’t think we did see it happen. We saw the bog toad try to eat the fly but when it opened its mouth, all the mud came gushing out. Maybe the bog toad didn’t get a chance to swallow the fly.’
The fly buzzed excitedly as if to confirm what Jill was saying. Or it could have just been buzzing because it was a really annoying fly.
‘That’s the sound we heard just before we were released from the belly of the bog toad!’ said one of the blobs. ‘Three cheers for the fly!’
‘Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!’ shouted the blobs. ‘Let us sing!’
‘Go figure!’ I whispered to Terry and Jill. ‘On Earth that fly was just an annoying pest, but here on Blobdromeda it’s a hero!’
‘I’m just glad that the fly—and the blobs—are all okay!’ said Jill.
‘Well, I guess we should think about getting back home,’ I said.
‘Can’t you stay here with us?’ said the blob. ‘We could spend our days wallowing and singing in the mud together.’
‘That sounds like fun,’ I said, ‘but we really have to get home and write our next book. We can’t write it here—the mud would get all over the paper.’
‘I understand,’ said the blob. ‘There’s no place like home. But can we ask a favour before you go?’
‘Of course,’ I said. ‘What is it?’
‘Can your fly stay with us? We would honour it as a hero and it would give us great comfort to know it’s here—just in case any blobs get swallowed by the bog toad in the future.’
‘Are you kidding?’ I said. ‘That would be more than okay with me!’
‘Andy,’ said Jill, ‘it’s not actually your decision to make. It’s really up to the fly.’
The blobs turned towards the fly. ‘Will you please stay with us forever and ever and ever?’ they said. ‘Please, please, please?’
The fly buzzed. It buzzed and buzzed and buzzed and buzzed and buzzed.
‘What’s it saying?’ I said.
‘Be quiet,’ said Jill. ‘It hasn’t finished buzzing yet!’
Finally, incredibly, against all odds, the fly was silent.
‘Has it finished now?’ I said.
‘I think so,’ said Jill.
‘What did it say?’
‘Well,’ said Jill, taking a deep breath, ‘it said … YES!’
This triggered another celebration and at least another thousand rounds of ‘Fly, glorious fly’ among the blobs.
‘Let’s get going,’ I said to Terry and Jill. ‘Before they realise how annoying that fly is and change their minds about keeping it.’
‘Um, there’s just one small problem, though,’ said Terry. ‘Well, when I say “one small problem”, I mean three small problems, and when I say “three small problems”, I mean three big problems: our rocket boosters are all clogged up with mud.’
‘Fear not,’ said the blob. ‘We can super-slingshot you at super-speed back to Earth. You’ll be there in no time.’
‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘That would be an amazing help.’
‘It’s the least we can do after all you’ve done to help us,’ said the blob. ‘Get ready for the ride of your life—and hold on tight!’
We climbed back up into the tree … and held on tight.