10 The Really Rainy Day

The Really Rainy Day

"Hey, Andy," said Terry, "how long has it been raining?" "About three hours," I said. "Oh," said Terry. "How long now?" "About three hours and five seconds," I said. "And how long now?"

"About three hours and ten seconds," I said. "And now?" "About three hours and fifteen seconds," I said. "Are you going to keep asking me how long it's been raining for the entire day?" "No," said Terry. "Only until it stops raining. Which reminds me… how long has it been raining now?"

"About three thousand million billion years!" I shouted. "Now stop asking me how long it's been raining. Let's do something else." "Like what?" said Terry. "Let's play a game." "Yay!" said Terry. "I love games. How about we play LET'S PRETEND?" "Okay," I said. "What should we pretend?" "You pretend to be a weather forecaster," said Terry, "and I'll ask you how long it's been raining and then you tell me."

"No, that's a terrible idea," I said. "Besides, we've been playing that all morning anyway. Let's play Snake Catcher!" "Only if I can be the snake catcher," said Terry. "No," I said. "That's my job. You have to be the snake." "But I was the snake last time," said Terry. "I know," I said. "And you were really good at it!" "Then why did you hit me with a mallet?"

"Because you were going to bite me." "But I was a snake!" said Terry. "That's what snakes are supposed to do, isn't it? And you were supposed to catch me, not hit me." "I was going to catch you," I said. "But how do you expect me to catch you if I don't hit you first?" "I don't know," said Terry. "That's why you can't be the snake catcher," I said. "Because you don't know anything about catching snakes."