Pembroke

“What was that Patty?” Arthur shouts, trying to hear what Patty is saying.

 “What? I can’t hear you, Arthur.” Patty yells back.

But, Arthur can’t be heard either. Spinning left, then right, round and round and sometimes rolling over and over Patty and Arthur are submerged in urine, being worked through the nephrons. They can do nothing to stop being drawn closer to Renal Falls and the mighty Urine River that flows out of Pembroke!

 “We’re trapped in a one way collecting tube, heading for the falls. Try digging into the sides of the tube, Arthur.”

Arthur focuses all his attention on Patty’s lips in an attempt to understand what she is saying. Putting together reading her lips with all her hand gyrations, he is able to get the idea of what she wants him to do. As hard as he can, Arthur tries to claw into the collecting tube. Then, miracle-of-miracles, he manages to cling onto the tube.

 “I’ve done it, Patty, I’ve done it!”

But, Patty can’t hear him because she and the kayak are tumbling toward the falls, leaving Arthur hanging all alone. Renal Falls come up fast for Patty and she braces herself in the kayak before going over.

 “I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid,” Patty keeps saying to herself.

Arthur is doing well to hang on in the collecting tube, as long as he can, but he loses his grip and spills headlong through the convoluted tube to the falls.

 “Patty! Patty!” Arthur cries in vain.

Meanwhile, Patty has gone over the falls, kayak and all, and splashes down safely in Bladder Lake. She paddles around, waiting for Arthur to drop in.

 “Patty! Patty! Patty!” Arthur screams, “I’m about to go!”

Arthur is dumped at the edge of the falls. He looks over and can’t see the bottom. Small stones roll by him and plunge down the falls. Arthur takes one last look for Patty. Not seeing her hanging anywhere, he makes a decision.

 “I guess I’m next,” he thinks, as he rolls over the falls.

Patty can hear him screaming centimeters away, when ploop, into Bladder Lake falls Arthur.

 Surfacing, Arthur says, “Patty, Patty, Patty, I thought I’d never see you again.”

Patty smiles and helps him into the kayak. Paddling the lake for a half an hour, they notice the urine level creep higher and higher.

 “What’s happening?” Arthur asks.

 “I think Bladder Lake is getting full, Arthur”

 “What’s going to happen to us, Patty?” Arthur continues.

 “We’ll have two choices. We can try to hold on to the shore of the lake. Or, we can take a quick trip outside of Pembroke.”

 “What do you mean, Patty? I’ve never been outside of Pembroke.

Before Patty can answer Arthur’s question, the muscles surrounding the bladder receive instructions to empty Bladder Lake.

 “Then, hold on tight!” Patty calls to Arthur.

 “Oh no!” Cries Arthur.

Hitting the great expanse outside of Pembroke, Arthur mistakenly stands up and is thrown out of the kayak, somewhere in the grasses of the Monroe’s back yard. Patty and the kayak fling in another direction. They land safely; but they only have a vague idea where each other have landed, as the sun brightly shines down on them.

 Patty calls out, “Arthur, get out of the sun or you will dry you up and die