Smile when you say that, Mister, or you’re off my cookie list.
Excited = panicked dismay?
Excited = exhilarated joy?
Your brain-in-a-jar,
Myron
Imbibo, ergo sum.
Answers for everybody:
Was the coal spilled from something?
Yes.
Would you expect to find coal in this habitat?
No.
Is the number of people significant in any way?
Not really. I mean, the story could be told with anywhere from one to maybe a dozen people.
Are they excited because of the coal?
Yes.
Is the sandy area terrestial?
I looked up terrestrial and found that it has many definitions. Which one do you mean?
Has the coal been in Cameron’s boboheiny? [paraphrased]
No.
The coal isn’t post-processed into diamonds in other words?
No.
Are they about to land on the moon?
No.
Excited = exhilarated joy
They’re castaways who just floated ashore? The coal is a sign of human habitation?
Your brain-in-a-jar,
Myron
Imbibo, ergo sum.
They’re scuba divers looking for a shipwreck
(circa 1850-1920 when coal was still used rather than oil)?
The coal indicates that they’re close.
Finagle wins the prize (my eternal respect). Actually, I intended them to be searchers for the Titanic, travelling in a submersible research vehicle, but scuba divers are close enough.
Actually, Finagle’s “terrestrial” question was a real killer: if I interpreted it to mean “on earth” the answer was yes; if I interpreted it to mean “on land” the answer was no; answering both made it obvious it was in the sea. But at least I had you cooking up idea for a while…
Just so you want think I’m a slave to mass media, I’ll have you know I made this sucker up before I saw the movie Titanic. (And after I saw the movie Raise the Titanic, but that’s a minor detail.)
[sidetrack] phouka, was your stamp one an Ellery Queen? I’ve read it, but I can’t remember. And the answer in the story was that there were two stamps, and one was placed on top of the other, I think. [/sidetrack]
Cogita tute
The first one is easy. To steal a stamp like that, unique it out of the room.
< ducks, runs, leaves town and changes name>
Cecil said it. I believe it. That settles it.