Parents Solve A Problem Together [FICTOID]

“How do you prepare a woolly rhinoceros?” Ugh-ooh-ahh asked.  “Boil it?”

“We don’t have a pot that big,” said Ooh-ahh-ugh, his mate.  

“In fact, we don’t have pots at all,” said Ahh-ugh-ooh, their next cave neighbor.  “We’re troglodytes, after all.”

Ugh-ooh-ahh plucked a bug out of Ooh-ahh-ugh’s hair and casually ate it.

“Don’t snack between meals,” Ooh-ahh-ugh said.  “It sets a bad example for the children.”

Ugh-ooh-ahh glanced at their children, busy playing by throwing rocks at one another.  “I think that would be hard,” he said, poking through Ooh-ahh-ugh’s hair for more insects.

“We could barbecue it,” said “Ahh-ugh-ooh.

“Can’t,” said Ugh-ooh-ahh.  “We burned down the last forest a week ago, remember?”

“I can’t even remember yesterday,” said Ahh-ugh-ooh.  “Hello.  My name’s Ahh-ugh-ooh.”

“Hi, Ahh-ugh-ooh,” said Ugh-ooh-ahh and Ooh-ahh-ugh in unison (they had been through this routine with Ahh-ugh-ooh many times before).

“We could roast it,” Ooh-ahh-ugh said, snapping her fingers.  “There’s a volcano just down the street.  We could dump it in there and it would be ready by dinner.”

“Good idea,” said Ugh-ooh-ahh.  Standing up with a wobble -- walking erect was a new thing for him -- he shouted to the cave children.  “Kids!  An announcement!  Gather up some fruit and flower petals and dirt and rocks and feathers -- we’re going to roast this woolly rhinoceros!”

As the kids scampered off to father the seasoning, Ooh-ahh-ugh said, “I’ll bring placemats.”

“I’ll bring drinks,” Ahh-ugh-ooh said.  “I just invented something to carry liquids.”  He sketched it out in the dirt with his big toe.  “I call it an umbrella.”

© Buzz Dixon