Page 42 - Just Deserts

Excessories

hasty process of clearing a work space—then stopped in his tracks
and read it again, very slowly:

Djibouti (Reuters): The United Nations High Commission on
Civil Atrocities today released a report from a field worker in
Bechuanaland detailing a grisly discovery at the construction site
of a housing complex for foreign consultants. According to this
unconfirmed preliminary information the remains of several
thousand people in a large mass shallow grave were uncovered by
a bulldozer early last week. The site was formerly occupied by a
village whose inhabitants it was thought had left the area during
the recent drought and famine. It now appears that most if not all
were victims of starvation and died in or near their homes. The
government of Bechuanaland continues to deny reports of a
mounting death toll from failed relief efforts and rejects the
recurrent rumors that secret army burial squads are at work in the
countryside. The bodies showed no bullet or other wounds but
almost all were missing their teeth. The spokesman for the High
Commission had no comment on this aspect of the find. He stated
that a formal enquiry had been lodged with Bechuanaland officials
and he expected a reply within a few days.

Edwin’s eyes bulged. This was it! The missing link! He swept the
remainder of his mail to one side and sat down in front of his word
processor. If he hurried he could make the morning edition.

* * * * *

The organizers of Preserve Our Pachyderms, a small but militant
group of loxodontophiles, held an extraordinary meeting to discuss
their sudden success in several areas. The president, Andrew
Scattergood, took the floor first.
“Good morning,” he beamed, tutorial manner intact in the retired
high school biology teacher. “Today we have a lot of good news to
report, for a change. Although we have labored in obscurity since our
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