George and Martha

“The Flying Machine” is sillier than “The Tooth,” but it’s still weirdly moving.

George’s problem is that he wants to feel special. His attempt at a solution: He has purchased a “flying machine,” and he plans to be “the first of the species” to go airborne.

Gently, like Frog addressing Toad, Martha observes that George actually is *not* flying.

A quick fix: Lighten the basket. Remove the hippo from the structure. But of course this is an over-correction, and the machine sails away.

And here--oddly enough--is where George gets his resolution. Martha says, “It’s OK. I like it better when you’re down here, on Earth, with me.” And George feels special. The End.

Why do I feel--more and more, as I get older--that all of life is contained within the covers of “George and Martha: The Anthology”? Some day, I might try to write about adult characters again. We’ll have to see!

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