‘Jonah’ and the Whale

The girl’s phone made an odd sound, like a lip smacking kissing noise. Grinning, she looked down and scooped it up from her knee, swiping the screen to life and tapping away at it for a few moments. When she was done whatever it was she was doing, she set in down between her legs and pulled the shoebox up onto her lap. “So, thanks to the others, it looks like we are going to have to find you guys a new little home,” she said, nodding slowly.

Josh turned his head to Julian, “I have an idea,” he said, motioning with his head for the slender man to follow him aware from the middle and deeper into the recesses of the bookshelf.

“What is it?” Julian asked.

“You were right when you said we couldn’t stay here,” Josh said. “It will only be a matter of time before she finds us.”

“It’s about goddamn time you saw reason,” Julian replied, getting gup onto his hands and knees.

“No, wait, I still don’t think we can get safely across that space with her hovering there like a giant bloody vulture on a branch. I suggest we see if we can open up one of these plush toys and hide inside. She’ll never think to look there and when she lets her guard down, we make our break,” Josh proposed.

“Hide inside?” Julian frowned. “Like Luke in the tauntaun or Leonardo and his horse in Revenant?” he asked, making a face.

“Something like that, less guts and gore though,” Josh replied.

Julian seemed to think about it for a moment, “That actually makes a lot of sense,” he agreed, nodding slowly. If they could part a few threads on one of the seams and get up inside one of the toys, they might not necessarily be safe, but they would definitely be safer than their current location.

“I’ll go and scout the toys and see if any have a compromised seam, but I think you should stay here and keep an eye on her,” he instructed, nodding his head toward the girl.

“Okay,” Julian replied, “but be careful,” he urged, angling his head slightly to the side.

Josh nodded. Navigating around the back of the toys along the rear of the shelf, he was very diligent to not jostle any for fear the movement might attract the attention of the girl. Working his way down the rear of the queue, he used his tiny fingers and stealthily checked the seams on the backs of each of the toys. For the most part, the toys themselves were well constructed with super tight stitches, offering no hope of getting into it. Except one, near the opposite end of the shelf. Approximately 25’ in length and easily fat enough to accommodate both men, it was a black and white plush killer whale with the name Orla the Orca written on the sewn in tag, large oversized eyes. While the stitching near the tag wasn’t broken, it certainly was loose enough to give them an opportunity to get at it.

Hustling back, but cautiously so, Josh returned to Julian and fill him in on the discovery of a possible place to hide themselves. Together the pair returned to where the large killer whale sat on the shelf.

“Hey? What did I tell you?” Josh said with a smile, pointing at the loose threads near the tag, “that’s exactly what we are looking for.”

“I don’t know about this, I mean, it looks like that thread is as big around as my thumb. How the hell do you propose we cut it?” Julian asked.

“We are going to have to chew though it,” Josh replied, bring his hands up near his face and gnashing his teeth in a gesture very similar to eating corn on the cob.

“Chew it? You mean like Bucky the Beaver working his way through a tree or something?” Julian asked, shaking his head, a dubious expression on his face.

Josh nodded. “We only have to create one break in the line then we can pull the stitching out and make a gap big enough for us to climb through. Once we are inside, we sew it back up by hand and then tie a dummy knot from the inside. The toy will look like new and she will never find us,” he explained. “We can slip in and out of Orla here and when she leaves or goes to sleep we can use the opportunity to get ourselves the hell out of here,” he added with an emphatic nod.

Pursing his lips, Julian nodded and squinted his eyes, tapping a forefinger to the side of his head, “I knew it was right to team up with you,” he praised, “you’re thinker, a schemer.”

Josh nodded, “By no means are we out of danger. There is still the issue of escape and more pressing, food and water will become a problem shortly,” he advised.

“One step at a time,” Julian said, nodding his head. “So rock, paper, scissors to see who gets the privilege of chewing though the thread here?” he queried.

Josh nodded, Fair enough,” he said. Each man simultaneously curled up a fist brought it down into the open palm of his opposite hand three times. On the third stroke, when fist hit hand, Julian kept his tight, while Josh flattened his out palm to palm.

“Ha, paper beats rock!” Josh exclaimed triumphantly, moving his hand and curling it hand around Julian’s fist.

“Crap,” Julian muttered half under his breath. “Best two out of three?” he asked hopefully.

Josh shook his head, grin on his face, “Nope, you may feel free to commence chewing,” he said.

Julian let out a long breath and took the loose thread between his hands.

“I’ll go up front and keep watch on our hostess,” Josh offered, dropping low and crawling between the toys and out on the shelf to see what the girl was up to.