First of all I apparently need to tie up some loose ends from last week’s musings. We will start with Poor Ludlow and then Brick Strong, CPA. The last we heard of Ludlow, the yellow rubber ducky he was surfing on the top of a very large rogue wave in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Actually, Ludlow rather enjoyed his ride, but he noticed that the wave was getting smaller and smaller and before long he was gently placed on the sandy shore of an island. He had not been there long when he saw people running and shouting toward him.
The excited natives surrounded him and gazed in awe. They murmured, “It is our great god, TikiWicket in miniature. It is a sign”. So they picked him up and took him to their high priest at their place of worship. Now the high priest had to admit that Ludlow did look like TikiWicket, but he did not like the competition as he wanted to be the main focus of their religion. However, he had to appear to be very happy and he placed Ludlow on the altar with great ceremony. His worst fears were soon realized as the natives came streaming to see Ludlow and paid him no mind.
Ludlow did not know what all the excitement was about, but he was wondering if there was any chance that the natives might turn him green or even red. Nothing happened on that score however, but the high priest was getting more and more perturbed at Ludlow’s popularity. Therefore, one night he grabbed Ludlow from his perch, and ran to his boat. He then rowed out into the ocean where he knew the current would take Ludlow away from the island. He then threw Ludlow as far as he could into the ocean water. Poor Ludlow!
Back at the ship, Brick Strong was relaxing as the incriminating CPA report on Thorgard Slime’s nefarious pilfering of the Ruten Cruise Line’s funds had been delivered, and he knew that Slime was headed back to jail, He did feel a little sorry for Slime’s assistant Veronica Goodbody (although he didn’t mention that to his fiancé, Judy Goodgirl). She was alone, and none of the wives and significant others would let their men near her, so she spent a lot of time in her cabin reading Mark Twain’s writings. Slime in his efforts to save money had stocked the ship’s library with some old books that he had picked up at Goodwill. Veronica picked Twain because she had vaguely heard of him.
She had briefly looked at “The Last of the Mohicans”, but she had never heard of that family so it was Twain that she read. She was so impressed that she determined to quit her wicked ways and become a standup comedian and could hardly wait to return to shore. (She ultimately became a rousing success). However, all of this was unknown to Brick. He and Judy decided to go ashore and walk the sandy beaches. They left Aunt Clare and Uncle Gary on the ship as they wanted to have a philosophic discussion – or so they said!
As they were walking Judy said, “Remember that story about the yellow ducky you told me”. Brick allowed as he had, and Judy pointed toward a pier where she saw something yellow. They went over and sure enough there was a yellow rubber ducky lying there. Brick picked it up and studied it with his keen CPA eyes, and said, “I think this might be the very ducky as it has some green specks on it which are most likely from falling in the paint can”. They took Ludlow back to the ship to see if they could find the owner’s address. Now everyone on the ship from the Captain on down was grateful to Brick for putting Slime behind bars, so they went all out to find the address – which they did.
When the cruise was over, they called the owners and took Ludlow to his house where the little blonde girl was very happy. Ludlow was placed back on the little blonde girl’s bed, and he was content after his adventures. It turned into a great time by all as the little blonde girl’s dad was also a CPA. He was not quite as stalwart as Brick, but he was 6’ 2.5” and a muscular 250 pounds. He was not a championship wrestler, but he had won the state knitting championship for four years running. CPA’s are very versatile!
They all lived happily ever after, although Ludlow wondered about Christmas and if there were any chance that he might be able to get his wish to turn green or red!
Barry Evans writes about Life in The Villages for Villages-News.com
