{"product_id":"2940014015547","title":"DROOZLE","description":"Jean Lanni could see that his girl friend, Judy Stokes, thought it was\u003cbr\u003ethe lamest excuse she had ever heard. If your ballpoint pen won't write\u003cbr\u003eas you want it to, your life doesn't stop, she probably was thinking.\u003cbr\u003eYou just get yourself another pen--You don't call off a marriage....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSkeptically the girl with the long, golden red hair pointed at his\u003cbr\u003ebreast pocket. \"This Droozle I must see. And who's that other member of\u003cbr\u003ethe partnership there beside him? An Eversharp pencil named Blackie?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"No, that is the other end of Droozle. Permit me to introduce you.\"\u003cbr\u003eBlandly the tall, young artist slid Droozle from his breast pocket,\u003cbr\u003estraightened him from his U-shape and handed his twelve-inch pen to her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A snake!\" she shrieked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What else?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Why, I thought those ruby eyes were jewels! I must have squeezed right\u003cbr\u003eup against him when I kissed you,\" she cried indignantly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You did. I felt him squirm a little.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh! And here I thought it was your heart beating wildly.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well, maybe it was. It does that sometimes.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Let's try again. And this time hold your snake behind you.\" The\u003cbr\u003elong-legged girl stood on tiptoe to reach him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It _was_ your heart beating wildly,\" she decided a moment later. \"Which\u003cbr\u003emakes me think you might not just be trying to get rid of me by a silly\u003cbr\u003eexcuse.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Believe me, I'm not,\" he urged. \"Droozle is the key to all my\u003cbr\u003efortunes.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"All right, tell me about it. But first tell me where in the universe\u003cbr\u003eyou got him.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh, that was just after I graduated from art school. I was on my grand\u003cbr\u003etour. We had an unexpected stopover at the Coffin planetary system. I\u003cbr\u003ediscovered ballpoint snakes are the chief export of Coffin Two. When we\u003cbr\u003elifted ship, I had acquired my little puppy snake, Droozle.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Is a puppy snake like a puppy dog?\" she asked, fascinated. \"I mean, do\u003cbr\u003ethey have their little domestic troubles, such as the calls of nature?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh, he was thoroughly pocket-broken before I acquired him. But he did\u003cbr\u003elike his little jokes, and I learned to leave him curled up in a\u003cbr\u003ecircular ashtray until maturity sobered him.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e       *       *       *       *       *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well, I should say! You drew sketches with him, didn't you tell me?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe nodded. \"At first he only had one color of ink--red--and if I\u003cbr\u003esketched with him all day he would commence to look wretchedly anemic.\u003cbr\u003eHe took two days to refill, normally. But I could use him again in only\u003cbr\u003eone day's time provided I didn't mind the top three-fourths of my pen\u003cbr\u003elaying on my arm.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I hope his weight didn't get tiresome,\" she commiserated, holding in\u003cbr\u003eher amusement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I coped somehow,\" he answered sturdily. \"Later he learned--after I\u003cbr\u003esqueezed him on the liver a few times just to show him how--to switch to\u003cbr\u003ea lovely shade of ochre, which was delightful on pale green or pink\u003cbr\u003epaper. Why, what's the matter, Judy?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Go on,\" she choked. \"Go go go!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe beamed. \"I write my letters with him too. Every day I wrote with him,\u003cbr\u003efirst in red, and then in ochre to give him a rest. He seemed to love to\u003cbr\u003ewrite more than to sketch. He would jump into my hand with tail happily\u003cbr\u003epointed downward as I sat down to my writing desk. And when I later saw\u003cbr\u003ehis dark green stripes turning pastel and knew that anemia was imminent,\u003cbr\u003eand started to lay him down for a earned rest, he would stiffen himself\u003cbr\u003eas if to say, 'Oh, come, come! I'm good for half a page yet!'\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It sounds as though he was a willing worker, but I still can't see why\u003cbr\u003ehis malfunction makes our marriage impossible.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I haven't gotten to his career as a novelist yet. There lies the heart\u003cbr\u003eof the tragedy.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Please proceed to the heart of the tragedy.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e       *       *       *       *       *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It all began when I found him arched up one morning, writing by\u003cbr\u003ehimself--with difficulty, it is true. His first message to the world\u003cbr\u003ewas, '_I hold that the supine viewpoint is seldom downward!_'\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I don't see how he could stand up on end to write for very long, even\u003cbr\u003ewith such a magnificent philosophy to bolster him.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What a terrible pun,\" Jean groaned. \"He couldn't stand up very long at\u003cbr\u003efirst. But I saw he had talent. I gladly learned the skill of holding\u003cbr\u003ehim upright in a relaxed manner so that he could express himself on\u003cbr\u003epaper. In no time at all, he had written what was to be his first,\u003cbr\u003esensational, best-selling shocker, _Naked Bellies in the Grass_.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"That does sound sensational.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Not for snakes. He neglected to mention his characters were snakes. _I\u003cbr\u003eFang You Very Much_ followed swiftly afterward and was just as\u003cbr\u003esuccessful. Mothers were amused with its lispy title and got it for the\u003cbr\u003echildren.\"","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47083408818416,"sku":"2940014015547","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014015547_p0.jpg?v=1763599073","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014015547","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}