Chapter 8 chapter eight

Arthur woke up feeling great, refreshed, full of joy to be home and full of energy.Even finding out it was mid-February didn't disappoint him at all. He almost danced to the refrigerator, found three hairy things inside, and put them on a plate and stared at them intently for two minutes.The things made no attempt to move during this time, so Arthur ate them for breakfast.This breakfast killed a space virus in him.Arthur had contracted the virus while in Frygarsen Gas Swamp without knowing it.If it weren't for this breakfast, the virus would have killed half the people in the western hemisphere, blinded the other half, and left the rest insane and sterile for life.So Earth's luck is really good.

He feels strong, he feels healthy.He cleaned up the junk mail with a shovel, then buried the cat. He had just finished this when the phone rang.He let the phone ring, and he remained respectfully silent.Whoever is calling will call again if it is important. He kicked the mud off his shoes before going back inside. There were also some important letters in the junk mail - papers from the council three years ago about a proposal to demolish his house; The whole plan to build the passageway; and an old letter from Greenpeace, for which he also occasionally does things, and now they're writing to ask him to be part of a project to protect dolphins and orcas; and some friends Postcards from them tactfully reprimanding him for not having contacted them recently.

He gathered them all together and put them in a paper bag labeled "To Do."He even added the word "Urgent!" because he was feeling energized and alive this morning. He got his own towels and other odd odds and ends out of the plastic shopping bag at the Port Brysta big box store.The slogan on the side of the paper bag is a witty and well-crafted pun in the Centaur language that is completely incomprehensible in any other language and would make no sense to a duty-free shop in a spaceport.There was a hole in the bottom of the bag, so he threw it away. He was suddenly and painfully aware that something had fallen on the little ship that was taking him back to Earth, the very kind ship that had strayed from its course and placed him beside the A303.He's lost the book that helped him navigate his way through an unbelievably desolate space.He lost his copy.

Well, he said to himself, I really don't need it this time. He's going to make a few calls. He had already figured out how to deal with the mass of contradictions caused by his sudden return, and he had already made up an explanation. He called the BBC and got through to his department head. "Oh, hello, I'm Arthur Dent. You see, I'm sorry I haven't been here for six months, but I was crazy." "Oh, it's okay. Don't worry if something like this happens. It happens all the time around here. So when do you come to work?" "When do hedgehogs end hibernation?"

"Sometime in spring, I think." "I was able to go to work very quickly after that." "OK." He flipped through the yellow pages and listed several phone numbers to try one by one. "Uh, hello, is this the Old Elm Hospital? Yes, I want to ask if I can find Finara, uh...Fenara -- God, I'm so stupid, I will forget my name next time Yes, er, Finara—absurd, isn't it? One of your patients, a dark-haired girl, came last night...' "I'm afraid we don't have a patient named Finara." "Oh, no? Of course, I'm talking about Fiora, we usually call her Fern..."

"sorry, see you again." click. Six such conversations in a row were beginning to drain his energetic, buoyant optimism, and he decided to hit the tavern and show it off before it was exhausted. He had the perfect plan to explain all the inexplicable oddities at once, and he whistled as he pushed open the door that had frustrated him so much the night before. Arthur! ! ! He smiled happily at the surprised looks from all corners of the saloon, and started telling them how happy he was in Southern California.