Disclaimer: Douglas Adams obviously owns all characters in this story. And he pwnz everyone. He also wrote some variations of some of the dialogue.
Oh and I would love reviews especially cc.
Ford yelled a bit louder. Honestly, it was not like this place was completely deserted. Someone had to hear him
eventually. Though, he had to admit, judging by his luck no one would. Nine years on a planet he meant to
spend around a week on, and he just had to make it worse.
"Oh dear," said the voice of someone who had finally heard him, "You seem to have fallen down a thirty-foot
well, are you all right?"
"No," Ford replied.
"Would you like some help then?" The man asked.
"Yes."
"Oh."
The man was at a loss. He had never actually gotten anyone out of a well before. He saw a dog on TV once
help rescue a boy from a well, but it was a movie, and it involved the dog tying one end of the rope to a car with
his teeth, while the other end was tied around the boy. It did not give him very many ideas.
"Do you think I should get a ladder?" He finally asked.
"Do you have a thirty-foot ladder?" Ford asked.
"No," the man realized.
"Then no," said Ford.
The man could not think of anything else so he finally decided that the rope might actually be a good idea.
"I could get a ropeā¦"
"Yes, that would be nice." Ford was starting to wish he had fallen down a well on any other planet.
"I'll go get one then."
Oddly enough the man had a rope in the boot of his car. It was really an odd, but uninteresting, story that
involved buying the car, finding out there was a coil of rope in it and never taking the rope out. He finally found a
use for it.
"Oh dear," the man said for the second time in their conversation. "It isn't long enough."
"Do you have a towel with you?" Ford asked.
The man looked utterly lost. Ford reached into his bag to pull out his own somewhat ratty towel.
"Then you can use mine," Ford said and tossed it up.
The man still looked lost.
"Tie it to the end of the rope and lower it down a bit further."
"I'm not strong enough," said the man after he tied the towel on and Ford jumped to catch it. "I saw this movie
once where this dog got a boy out from a well by tying the end of the rope to the back end of the boy's father's
car with his teeth."
"Couldn't the father just have pulled the boy up?" Ford asked. He found movies were not very logical on this
planet.
"I hadn't thought of that," said the man. He paused to ponder. "Yes, yes he could have. But the point was that I
can tie it to my car and get you out that way."
"Yes," Ford said, "You could."
He did. And it worked.
"Thank you." Ford said.
"You're welcome. My name is Arthur Dent, by the way."
"Mine is Ford Prefect," said Ford. "And I could use a drink."
"So could I," Arthur replied. "It's a nice day."
