Sternvogel, who’s waited a long time before getting another chance to be passing the ball. Suddenly, a gale kicks up, and the Doperball, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind…
into twickster rowboat, whereupon we all join hands and sing “twickster row the boat ashore.” so I do, only to be met by…
Feydeau, soggy from wading out to meet the boat. He grabs the ball and runs up the sand to pass it to…
danceswithcats who appeals: Ask not what doperball can do for you, but what you can do to defeat these uppercase SOBS. Transforming the doperball into a repeating sequence of prime numbers, it is sent to the star Vega where we’ll see if there are dopers who wish to play the game, however it will take 26 years to see if the ball is received by…
twickster, for whom the 26 years passed as though it were only a few hours. She’s still 3/4 asleep, so she won’t try to be clever, just pass the ball to …
gardentraveler, whose tea has not yet kicked in and hopes the Doperball contains some residual transdermally delivered caffeine as she passes it to…
(twickster very carefully does not touch the ball as she points out to teammate gardentraveler that the latter is in a position to score.)
However EarthStone777 foils that hope, snatches the ball and dashes off with it, this time not looking back to see who is following* and instead looking ahead to see who is waiting down the street. Unfortunatly this means he didn’t see the open manhole cover. Ploomp! He drops down out of side leaving the ball spinning in midair, about to fall, when it is snatched by…
*I learned my lesson after my last dash down the street
twickster, who’s not laughing, no, really she’s not, as she grabs the ball and swivels to look for another Luckie …
Sternvogel, who is relieved to see that the score has not changed while he slept, woke up, ate breakfast, and washed dishes. Hoping that his team’s 4-2 lead is about to increase, he passes to…
Oops, it was twickster from whom I took the ball.
a long black dripping arm* reaches from the sewer hole, palms the ball, and yanks it back down into the tunnels. EarthStone777 flees into the darkness trying to keep the ball out of twicksters grasp but…
- black and dripping because it’s covered with sewer muck
…nope, twickster is on the job. It’s back to the laundromat to clean off the ball; while on her way there, she meets …
Sternvogel, who has just emerged from City News with a magazine of crossword and other language-related puzzles. Wondering if twickster helped edit the publication, I toss the pelota* to…
*Spanish for “ball”
**
EarthStone777** , who’s happy that the ball is nice and clean now, but who is getting thirsty from all this running around. He takes tbe ball into the bar (still next door) and orders a drink. While he’s whetting his whistle* the ball is taken off the bar by…
- a nice shiny whistle that he got from one of those bubble gum machines for a quarter! He’s just not sure why it’s important to keep it wet.
twickster (whose initials IRL are “JW” and who’s usually the second name on the masthead – if you bought the wrong magazine, email me and I’ll set you straight 
). She grabs a handful of peanuts with one hand – is it lunchtime yet? – and the ball with the other hand, and, moving with her usual feline grace, saunters outside, where …
Sternvogel, who apparently got the wrong magazine (at least as far as twickster is concerned), but has already started a puzzle and thus can’t return the purchase, hopes a teammate (perhaps a ten-letter phrase signifying “Doper whose name is now indelibly attached to the concept of sex with sheep”) is on the receiving end of this pass.
Instead it is EarthStone777 who invites Sternvogel and twickster to a nearby cafe for lunch. While looking at menues, the waiter brings water and fresh hot rolls, and clears space to put them on the small table* by removing the doper ball that is taking up too much room. The waiter moves the ball to the wall, where coats are hung, and it noticed by…
- why are many tables so small they can barely hold the plates of food? It’s just silly I tell you.
…twickster, who gets up and touches the to keep it in play, but then returns to the table to order lunch. Would a chicken caesar salad be too girly>
Not that I’d ever mention it. I think I’ll get the Cobb salad myself. Those rolls look yummy, but first I need to wash my hands* before eating.
EarthStone777 gets up to wash his hands and on the way back to the table he shifts the ball (it was close to rolling off the shelf and could have been a hazard to waiters walking past with their arms full of dishes). Seats himself, grabs a hot roll and starts lathering on the butter.
- He was just down in the sewers after all.