Ten minutes before midnight, Snooze Puk stood on top of the Tendo home's roof and whistled for his pigeon. She came immediately.
"Here, have some before we go," he told her and once again offered her some barley grits.
After she was finished with eating, they set off. On their way to the library, they could see how the other Puks were approaching on their own pigeons.
After they all landed on the library's roof, they struggled to slip through the small hole underneath the roof tile. But no one got impatient, and no one complained. Naggy Puk had some trouble pulling his suitcase through the hole.
Naggy Puk got his name because he always nags about the houses he lives in. He changes houses constantly, so he almost always carries his big suitcase with him, whenever he attends Puk meetings.
Every 33 years, the Puks are holding an Ordinary Puk Meeting. They usually meet in the bell tower of their town's church (or some other high building when there's no church with a high tower in the neighborhood), they dance and laugh, sing Puk's songs, eat barley grits and drink wine. But before the sun rises again, the party is always over. And that's why no human knows how cheerful and jolly Puks can be.
Extraordinary Puk Meetings are only held on especially serious occasions. And the Tendo's financial problems were serious.
One after another, the Puks were sliding down the stair rail, until they reached the first floor. The Library Puk welcomed them in front of the door which was leading towards Reading Room B.
At a long table, many chairs were standing. The Chief Puk sat down on the back of the chair at the front end. The other Puks sat down on the other chairs' backs.
"Grits Greeting!" they chorused, and started eating. Every Puk meeting, may it be ordinary or extraordinary, begins with a grits meal. And the Puks never talk while eating. They wouldn't honor the grits if they did.
At that moment, the Scyscraper Puk entered the room.
"I'm sorry I'm late," he excused himself. "But the elevator got stuck again."
Without saying anything, the Chief Puk gestured at one empty chair, where the Skyscraper Puk sat down and started eating as well.
After they had finished, the Puks cleaned their spoons and put their grit pots down on the table in front of them. But they kept the spoons in their hands.
When the Chief Puk saw that everyone was ready, he cleared his throat. "Welcome," he said. "To our first Extraordinary Puk Meeting in Japan." And then, he called out the names of every single Puk among his clan.
Snooze Puk, the Library Puk, the Newspaper Puk, the Mail Puk, the Bank Puk, the Wool Puk, the Skyscraper Puk, the Church Puk, Naggy Puk and Sweetie Puk responded with "Here!"
"Very well," the Chief Puk finally nodded. "We'll start, as usual, with the complaints and propositions."
Naggy Puk raised his spoon immediately. "My humans bought a new car," he nagged. "And they've been stingy with the barley grits ever since."
The Chief Puk was used to Naggy's complaints. "Humans need a new car every once in a while. If you're not satisfied... well, then move. Anything else?"
And then the Library Puk raised his spoon. And that was extremely rare.
"Huh?" the Chief Puk asked in confusion. "Do you want to complain about how the libraries are being managed here in Japan?"
The Library Puk shook his head.
"Well, then what do you want?"
"I want to propose something."
"Propose what? A little more detail, please!"
"We have to hold an Ordinary Puk Meeting every eleven years," the Library Puk said and added: "Absolutely!"
"But why?"
"I have the feeling that the humans change too much within 33 years," the Library Puk explained.
"If I understood you right," the Chief Puk spoke up. "You're suggesting that we should hold an Ordinary Puk meeting every eleven years. Because there are so many changes regarding the humans in such a short time. Is that right?"
The Library Puk nodded.
"Well, whoever votes for his proposal, please raise your spoon!" And the Chief Puk raised his own spoon before the others did.
All the other Puks raised their spoons as well. Except for one.
"And who is against it?" the Chief Puk asked.
Naggy Puk raised his spoon.
"Proposal accepted with one contra spoon. From now on, we will have an Ordinary Puk Meeting every eleven years... and now Snooze Puk may speak."
"I found a nice house to live in," Snooze Puk explained. "The family living there owns a martial arts dojo, and they have four teenaged children. And... they make delicious barley grits."
Naggy Puk got jealous and wanted to start nagging right away, but the Chief Puk looked at him sternly. "Please, no interruptions! Go on, Snooze Puk!"
Snooze Puk nodded. "I've been so happy about my new home that I arranged my new living place at once. But then, I heard about the bad news... The Tendos, along with the Saotomes, who are living with them, have big financial problems. One of the three sisters, Nabiki, even said that they might have to sell the house. And I don't want to let that happen."
The Bank Puk pulled out some envelopes he brought with him. "I took the liberty of bringing the Tendo's bank statements, as soon as I heard about those problems from the Chief Puk," he explained. "And from what I saw, they shouldn't have such problems at all. But, strangely enough, a big amount of money that had been placed on their accounts, had been withdrawn. But... not by the Tendos. I'm ashamed to admit that the bank computers couldn't give me any data regarding that mysterious person..."
"A conspiracy!" the Newspaper Puk spoke up in excitement. "Now that's big news!"
"But... but what shall we do if the Tendos and Saotomes don't manage to gather enough money in time?" Snooze Puk asked.
"Well, they just have to sell the house, right?" Naggy Puk shrugged.
And then all of the Puks tried speaking at once.
"It's always the same with the humans," the Church Puk complained. "They're always constructing buildings with such flat roofs, without any attics... where's a Puk to live?"
"Even worse!" The Newspaper Puk waved his spoon through the air. "They build those awful-looking skyscrapers." The Newspaper Puk didn't like tall buildings, as he was living in the cellar of the newspaper publishing company.
"What's so wrong about tall buildings?" the Skyscraper Puk asked in an offended tone of voice. "I like them. I can see the farthest from all of us."
"Don't forget that your elevator might get stuck sometimes," Naggy Puk reminded him.
Sweetie Puk, the fattest Puk, also had something to say: "You never find some jam jars to lick out. They're always throwing them into the glass containers."
"That's big news!" the Newspaper Puk shouted.
The Wool Puk didn't say anything. He simply kept on knitting a pair of green tights for his friend, the Church Puk.
And then the Chief Puk sighed, so loud that all of the other Puks became silent.
"I know, I know..." the Chief Puk sighed. "Understanding the humans' way of thinking is becoming more and more difficult for us Puks. But they'll never understand that they just harm themselves if they don't grant us Puks a place to live."
The Library Puk raised his spoon. "Could we please get back to the topic?"
"Right, right," the Chief Puk nodded. "Well, let's think of a solution together."
And the Puks started thinking. They were rubbing their knobby noses and played around with their spoons, but no one got an idea.
Finally, the Wool Puk put aside his knitting and said: "I think I know what to do."
The Puks waited tensely for what he had to say. They all knew that the Wool Puk could get the most brilliant ideas while knitting.
The Wool Puk cleared his throat and started to explain his plan...
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(Posted Wed, 31 Jan 2007 12:41)
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