Howard and Vince stood outside the Reptile House,
A drum roll would have been handy here. Howard thought and pushed open the doors;
"Today," Announced Howard proudly walking over to a small table in the centre of the room, "I am going to create a full length film!"
"What? Are you gonna film it and everything?" Said Vince, his eyes brimming with excitement.
"Yes, that is why it's called a film, Vince." Howard sighed.
"Wow!" Said Vince; smiling broadly.
"What are you doing?" Howard asked as Vince bent over one of his characters and began prodding it with the rubber-end of his pencil.
"How are you gonna make a movie if all your characters are made out of that really cheap plasticine?" Vince inquired, now trying to pull a plasticine model off the table. It was completely stuck- like an algae-eating fish to the side of it's algae-ridden tank.
"Get off!" Howard snapped, so suddenly that he made Vince jump; thus pulling the head off the character's body.
"Oops," Vince smiled apologetically from under the brim of his hat.
"That was my favourite!" Howard wailed, desperately trying to repair the slightly warped model.
Vince, however, was preoccupied. He was looking at each of the other plasticine characters; each of which looked identical, except for their clothing.
"Howard," He said straightening up, "They all look like Mrs Gideon!"
Howard's face burned, he bent in closer over the model Vince had wrecked and pretended not to hear him.
Vince sniggered and walked over to the nearest coffee machine, he was desperately in need of a caffeine boost. He dug around in his pocket for some money and scanned the list of coffees available:
Cappuccino,
Americano,
Mocha,
Latte,
Regular,
Black,
Not So Black,
More Whitish,
Somewhere Between A Latte And A Mocha,
Mocha Without The Beneficial Chocolaty Taste… and so on.
After making a very hard decision Vince walked back over to Howard with a Latte,
"Oh, thanks Vince." Howard said pulling the coffee out of his grasp.
"Hey! Do you mind?" Vince yelled his hand closing around thin air instead of the coffee he had just been deprived of.
"Huh?" Said Howard, sipping the coffee
"That's my Latte," Vince pointed out,
Howard looked down at the coffee in his hands;
"Well, just think; you have given up this coffee and in doing so have regenerated the greatest mind the world has ever seen."
"Who's?" Asked a disappointed Vince; who was looking slightly baffled.
"Who do you think?" Howard said, a little offended; and pointed at himself. Vince simply laughed.
"What's so funny?" Howard scowled.
"You,"
"I'm a very serious character, do you mind?" Howard said pulling himself up to his full height. Vince thought about putting on some hugely heeled shoes to conceal his shortness and tower above Howard. No, that would take too long, he decided.
"But you don't do anything-" He said absently, gazing at his Latte, it was his! HIS!
"Hey!" Howard interrupted.
"I bet you won't even finish that Latte!" Vince said, pointing at the coffee and laughing.
"You've done it now," Howard said, slamming his hand down onto the table and squashing one of his models in the process.
"Done what?" Vince asked,
"You've crossed the line." Vince looked intently at the floor; trying to find the 'line' Howard was on about.
"I'll show you Vince," Howard was saying, "I'll finish this…"
Mrs Gideon burst though the doors to the reptile house, knocking into Howard in her hurry to ask yet another favour of Vince. The Latte went flying; hot coffee drenched the table along with Howard's 'Work of Genius', melting every plasticine copy of the woman that was now asking for permission to touch Vince's hair in exchange for a coffee.
Howard simply stared at the melted puddle of plasticine and coffee that had been the hopes of a new career; while Vince was enjoying one of his seven Lattes, and letting an overjoyed Mrs Gideon tenderly plat his wonderful hair.