the inquisitive one

In a panic, the inquisitive one grabbed the mangled reporter’s notepad and took off running.

The inquisitive one is a very good runner.

The inquisitive one has finished 574 ultramarathons.

In fact, the inquisitive one finished in second place, in every single one of these 574 ultramarathons.

So the inquisitive one is a very fast runner.

But the inquisitive one wants to finish in first place, so the inquisitive one keeps on entering ultramarathons.

Anyway, the point is, the inquisitive one grabbed the mangled reporter’s notepad and took off running, and all the reporters and photographers and varied DC paparazzi took off running after the inquisitive one, but the i.o. soon left them in the dust.

The inquisitive one, afraid to look back and lose speed, not to mention risk bringing upon some sort of Orphean curse, did not know that the DC paparazzi were left in the dust.

So the inquisitive one kept running.

And running.

And running.

And running.

And eventually, the inquisitive one came to a fire. It was a very large fire. Actually, it was a very, very large fire. In fact, it wasn’t even a megafire. It was a gigafire.

That was when the inquisitive one stood on the top of a mountain and threw the mangled reporter’s notepad down into the pit of this megafire.

Taking a deep breath, the i.o. reached into the bag, pulled out the water bottle, and took a swig. Next (and not without trepidation), the i.o. pulled out the mobile phone.

The inquisitive one scrolled through the headlines, and was relieved to see that they no longer featured the inquisitive one!

“Whew!” said the i.o.

But just then, the inquisitive one felt a heat wave.

“Did I accidentally run to the equator?” wondered the inquisitive one.

And then the i.o. looked around in horror, seeing a massive wall of flames coming up the Californian mountain on all sides and threatening to engulf not just the mobile phone and the bag, but also the meagre amount of water in the bottle, not to mention the inquisitive . . .