Cloogurt’s Mysterious Find
by Tracy Helixon
Cloogurt had just finished his chores on Planet Dorzbot when a small object fell from above and landed right next to him. He stared down at it. Shiny, silver, and thin, it gleamed and sparkled under Dorzbot’s twelve bright suns. The object had a narrow handle, but at the top, the handle widened and divided into four smaller parts. What could it be?
Cloogurt leaned over and carefully touched the object. Was it alive? To Cloogurt’s relief, it did not sting or bite him. In fact, it just laid there on the ground. Cloogurt picked it up. The smooth, shiny handle fit perfectly in one of his six hands. He studied the object. What was it?
Maybe it was a musical instrument. Cloogurt held the object up to his snout and blew air through it. No noise escaped from the object.
Maybe it was a comb. Cloogurt tried to pull the object through his long, prickly fur. It twisted and stuck. Cloogurt untangled it from his fur and studied it again.
Maybe it was a tiny computer. Cloogurt turned it over, looking for an “on” button, but he could not find one anywhere.
Maybe it was a plant. Cloogurt stuck it into the mushy Dorzbot soil and left it there for two weeks. It did not grow. Cloogurt pulled the object out from the soil. He stared and stared at it.
Maybe it was a telephone. Cloogurt put the object next to one of his seventeen ears and said “Moogpar” (which is Dorzbot for “hello,” of course). He used his most friendly voice, but no one answered.
Maybe it was a boomerang. Cloogurt gripped the object tightly in one of his hands, circled round and round on his seven polk-a-dot feet, and threw the object into the air with all his might. Just then, a strong wind picked up the object and flung it all the way out into space. Cloogurt waited. And waited. And waited some more. After a while, he realized that the object was not a boomerang.
Cloogurt sighed. Looking up, he reached into the air and waved goodbye with all six of his fluffy purple hands. Then, he turned around and walked home.
Meanwhile, the object passed through all of the clouds on Dorzbot, into the Dorzbot sky, and past all twelve of Dorzbot’s shiny green suns. It whizzed past Planet Gomfitz, circled around Planet Wurgoot, and sailed on through space. After passing hundreds of moons and thousands of shiny stars, it floated toward a space dock made by Planet Earth.
An astronaut happened to be at work outside the space dock. When the object floated by, it caught the astronaut’s eye. “There it is!” said the astronaut. He reached out, grabbed the shiny object, and placed it snug inside his space pack.
Later, inside the space dock’s kitchen, the astronaut pulled out the shiny metal object and smiled.
Like Cloogurt, the astronaut knew these things:
It was not a musical instrument.
It was not a comb.
It was not a tiny computer.
It was not a plant.
It was not a telephone.
And…
It was not a boomerang.
It was a shiny, thin, silver object. It started with a narrow handle. At the top of the handle, it spread out wider and divided into four smaller parts.
The astronauts had used it to eat their dinners.
And on Earth, some of us call it…
a fork.
Question Time
1. How many suns did Dorzbot have?
2. Why did Cloogurt pick up the shiny object and blow through it?
3. Name something Cloogurt thought it might be.
4. After Cloogurt threw the object, where did it end up?
5. Who picked up the object, and what did he use it for?