Human Toys

What is it with humans and books?

Our world is simple.  The things we care about are food, water, a comfy bed, food, a loving home, walks, food, toys, chews and food.  Humans, on the other hand, care about so many things it’s impossible to count them.  It’s also impossible to understand why they care about most of them.

Annabelle cares passionately about books.  She can sit staring at a book for an hour or more, focusing all her attention on it like she’s stalking a rabbit, and  when she’s not doing that she’s making books for other people to look at.  I can’t see what the attraction is – you can’t eat a book or play with it, and you certainly can’t live on it.  Books don’t smell or taste good, either.  I tried chewing one once, just to see what the fuss was about, but it was most unsatisfactory – I’d much rather chew on a ball.

Or a stick.

Annabelle says books are made of sticks, but that makes no sense to me.  Nor do the pictures I see in Annabelle’s head when she’s looking at a book – pictures of strange people and places that have nothing to do with us…

Then there’s the computer, where the Internet lives.  The Internet is magic, I know that – I can transmit my thoughts onto it through Annabelle so anyone else who has a computer can read them.  Annabelle uses it to conjure up food, which has to be a good thing.  And Pearl can watch her dog idol Boy Gorgeous do clever stuff (see https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152849730210061 for more unique sound effects from this cutting edge music star).    But it’s dangerous, too – I fear for Pearl, falling for someone she’s only ever seen on the Internet.  How can she trust someone she’s never even smelled?

Annabelle doesn’t always get on with the computer.  Sometimes it decides it doesn’t want to work for her, and then she and the computer have a fight.  She shouts at it, and the computer just sits there like it’s above such displays of temper, which makes Annabelle shout even more.  These are terrible times, when Annabelle’s aura is filled with rage; it’s like the whole house is full of toxic fumes, and the picture in her head is a fearsome image of a computer flying through a window amid exploding glass.

It makes me wonder if we’d be better off without it.  Maybe Annabelle should stick to just looking at books.  Or better still, take us for more walks – the woods are a good place to be right now.

So come on, Annabelle, wake up – there’s a world out there!