|
"Truth Scores"
Rating: PG Ponderous (4) Hoshi glanced up when the door of the observation room opened. She watched Eartik walk in with a book tucked under his arm and sit down on the bench across from her. Hoshi smiled, turning back to her own book. She reached into the bag sitting on her stomach, popped an Animal Cracker in her mouth and then turned the page. Hoshi slowly became aware of a presence nearby and looked up, and then down. Eartik was kneeling on the floor beside her, staring at her. “Hi,” Hoshi said. He smiled. “Hi.” “What’s up?” she asked him. “What are you eating?” “Animal Crackers. Want one?” “Yes, please.” Hoshi handed him one. Eartik took it and looked at the imprint of a giraffe on the cookie. He took a bite and chewed it for a few seconds. He looked back up at Hoshi. “What’s wrong?” Hoshi asked. “This doesn’t taste like a cracker.” Hoshi smiled. “Well, no. It doesn’t taste like a cracker.” “Then how come you called it an Animal Cracker?” “That’s what they’re called.” “But it tastes sweet. Like a cookie. Shouldn’t it be called an animal cookie?” “I suppose that makes sense, but that’s not what they’re called.” “Why not?” “I don’t know.” Eartik looked at the cookie. “It doesn’t taste like an animal either. It tastes like a cookie.” “They probably called them Animal Crackers partly because they have the shapes of animals.” Eartik looked up at Hoshi. “Animals from where?” “From Earth.” Eartik looked at the cookie in his hand. He leaned up on his knees and reached in the bag without asking. He pulled out another cookie, looking at it. He held it up for Hoshi to see. “What’s this?” “That’s a rhinoceros.” “What’s that?” “It’s an animal that lives in Africa.” “Is Africa a city?” “No. It’s a continent.” “Is it big?” “Fairly big.” Hoshi sat her book down and slid off the bench to sit down beside Eartik. She reached in the bag and dug out another shape. She held it up for Eartik to see. “This is a tiger. But in real life it’s orange and black. Some live in Africa, but some also live in a country called India.” “Do all the animals in there live in Africa?” “No. Not all.” “What ones don’t?” Hoshi dropped the cookie in the bag and dug around. She looked up when the door opened again and watched T’Pol walk in. T’Pol glanced at the two but continued to the back. She turned to face a planet they were orbiting and began writing on the PADD in her hand. Hoshi turned back to the bag of cookies. She pulled out a polar bear and handed it to Eartik. “This is a polar bear. They live where it’s cold. Mostly around Canada.” “Is that a continent too?” “It’s a country that is the northern most part of a continent.” “My dad said that the northern part of Aphripa was too cold for anything to live.” “It’s pretty much the same on Earth, but people go visit it.” “What other ones don’t live in Africa?” Hoshi fished out a kangaroo. “This one lives on a continent called Australia. It’s called a kangaroo.” “It looks funny.” “The Animal Crackers don’t make them look exactly like they do in real life.” “Do they really have short arms like this?” “Yes. They really do. They hop around on these really strong hind legs and can go really fast. When they fight, they box like people do and kick with their hind feet too. Sometimes they bite and claw.” “What else is in there?” Eartik leaned forward to see inside the bag Hoshi reached in and pulled out a lion. “This is a lion. It lives in Africa too. And so do…” Hoshi dug out a zebra and leopard, placing them in Eartik’s hand. “This one is a zebra and this one is a leopard. Zebras are black and white and leopards are orange and yellow with black spots.” Hoshi pulled out an elephant. “Elephants live in Africa, in India and in another country called Egypt. They’re usually gray and,” She pointed to the trunk on the elephant. “This is their nose. It’s called a trunk. They use their trunks to pick things up and drink with.” “They drink through their noses?” “Not really. They suck the water up and then put the trunk in their mouth and shoot it in to drink.” “They can pick things up with their noses too?” “They’re very long noses. They hang almost to the ground.” “Are their tails really that short?” “Yes. Really.” “What else is in there?” Eartik leaned over so he could see in the bag. “This is a camel. They live in Egypt and Africa. They can go a long time without food or water, because— Do you see this hump here?” Eartik nodded. “This hump carries fat and water. They use it when they have to go a long time without food or water. They’re called the ships of the desert. And some camels have two humps instead of one.” “Does that mean they can go longer without food or water?” “I don’t think so, but I don’t know.” “What’s next?” “This is a bear. Bears live all over Earth in all sorts of shapes and sizes.” “Is the polar bear a bear?” “Yes. Just a different kind of bear.” “What’s this kind?” “Well…I bet it’s a brown bear.” “Where do brown bears live?” “They live in the countries United States and Canada mostly.” “Are they like my teddy bear?” “No. They aren’t nice like your teddy bear. You wouldn’t want to try to pet this bear.” “What else?” Hoshi dug around for a few seconds. “Looks like this is the last one.” Hoshi placed the last Animal Cracker in Eartik’s hand. “This is called a bison. They don’t exist any more, but they have always been in Animal Crackers.” “Why don’t they exist anymore?” “A long, long time ago on Earth, people hunted them for fun. They were very irresponsible about it and they almost killed them off. Then people tried to bring them back, but we had terrible wars on Earth and eventually they became extinct.” “Extinct means they don’t exist any more, right?” “Yeah.” Eartik put the cookies back in the bag. “How come they call them Animal Crackers? They taste like cookies.” Hoshi laughed. “Eartik, I don’t know why they call them Animal Crackers other than they are in the shape of animals. I’m sorry.” “That’s okay. Can I ask you a question?” “What?” “Tomorrow when you get off work, could we go to the classroom and you show me pictures of animals from Earth? The ones that we looked at today? I would like to know what they look like for real.” “It’s a date. I’ll come find you when I get off, we can eat some supper and then go look at animals.” “Okay. Well, I’d better get home and go to bed.” “Okay.” Eartik got up and picked up his book. “Good night Hoshi. Good night T’Pol.” Eartik turned and ran out of the room. Hoshi got up and picked up her book. She turned to wish T’Pol goodnight and found the Vulcan watching her. “Is something wrong?” Hoshi asked. “You’re culture does have interesting facts about it.” “I’m sorry?” “I find it interesting that you have crackers in the shape of animals.” Hoshi popped one in her mouth. “You’d find it more interesting if you ate one.” T’Pol thought a moment and then held out her hand for one. Hoshi, surprised by the gesture, stared. “You want to try one?” Hoshi asked. “Yes. If you do not mind.” Hoshi placed a cracker in T’Pol’s hand. T’Pol put it in her mouth and for a few minutes she contemplated the taste of the cookie. She swallowed it before speaking. “Eartik is correct that it does not taste like a cracker. And you do not know the reason behind this?” “I’m sorry, T’Pol. I don’t. It’s one of man’s many mysteries. Perhaps you should research it for Eartik. I’m sure he’d enjoy it if you found the answer for him.” “I may do that if I have available time.” “Good-night T’Pol.” Hoshi turned and left. # Hoshi jumped when someone sat down next to her in haste. She stared at Trip, who was still holding T’Pol by the arm. “You started a madness, you know that Hoshi?” “Excuse me?” Hoshi asked with a growing smile. “This woman,” Trip pointed at T’Pol. “Has been asking every person on board why Animal Crackers are called Animal Crackers and if that wasn’t bad enough, so is Eartik. So now you need to go with her and find the answer to this driving question of her and Eartik’s so they’ll stop asking everyone why Animal Crackers are called Animal Crackers.” Hoshi started to reply. “I know why,” a voice said behind Trip. Trip, T’Pol and Hoshi both looked at the table behind Trip. Malcolm was reading a PADD while he sipped a mug of tea. “You know why Animal Crackers are called Animal Crackers?” Trip asked. “Perhaps,” Malcolm came back, a sly grin creeping onto his lips. “You know?” Hoshi asked. “How could you know?” “Because it’s a British trivial answer.” “British?” Trip got up, led T’Pol over to Malcolm’s table and sat down. T’Pol pulled her arm free and sat down in the chair across from Malcolm. “Spill it,” Hoshi said, sitting down on Malcolm’s right. “It started back in the nineteen hundreds.” Malcolm looked up at her. “You’ve heard of Barnum Bailey’s Circus?” “Of course.” Malcolm looked at Trip. He smiled, nodding. “Well, they came to Europe. At the time the Europeans already had an item called animal biscuits. Quaint, actually, they came in these little bags. A company called National Biscuit Company, later to be known as Nabisco, marketed the idea as Barnum’s Animal Crackers, putting them on American shelves in nineteen-oh-two.” “And how does that explain the cracker part? Other than a company named them that.” Hoshi asked. “It’s all in the translation.” Malcolm sipped his tea. “You, Hoshi, of anyone, should know when a word is translated to other languages the meaning may be another word.” “Yes. But this one I don’t get.” “To get to the word cracker, one must start with the animal biscuits that were already being produced in Europe, you see. Biscuit, in British, can mean cookie or cracker. Crackers, however, are not solely dried bread, or rather tasteless wafers. They are also a sweetened baked bits of flour and water, often times without a leavening or rising agent, that is served with tea.” Malcolm held up his mug to stress the tea. “And you know we British have a love of tea, don’t you?” Hoshi laughed. “You’ve had this information this whole time and you didn’t tell anyone?” Malcolm’s grin became ornery. “I wanted to see how long it would take before someone asked me.” Hoshi playfully slapped Malcolm’s arm. “I hate you!” Malcolm laughed. “Do ya get it now? Will stop asking everyone alive about this stupid Animal Cracker thing?” Trip asked T’Pol. “Yes.” “She was about to drive me batty!” Trip told Hoshi. “Batty is another interesting interpretation, that—” “Oh look at that time,” Trip said getting up. “I have to get back to work. Thanks for the answer Malcolm,” Hoshi said, following Trip toward the door. Malcolm chuckled, turning back to the PADD in his hand. “Did you know the answer when I asked you two days ago, Lieutenant Reed?” T’Pol asked Malcolm Malcolm looked at her. “No. I wrote to a friend back home. He found the answer for me and I received it last night.” “Then why did you lie to Commander Tucker and Ensign Sato?” Malcolm smiled at T’Pol. “One day you may actually comprehend the concept of teasing, T’Pol. But until then,” Malcolm raised his mug to her. “Enjoy the tea and Animal Crackers.” Malcolm looked back at his PADD and continued reading. |
Like it? Hate it? Just want to point out a typo? Join the discussion now.
Disclaimer: Star Trek in all its various forms and its characters are the property of CBS/Paramount. No copyright infringement is intended by the authors of this site, which is solely for the purpose of entertainment and is not for profit. This site is owned by CX and was opened to the public in February 2008.