Chapter 1 - Friends

Xander Land and Beeba Boeboo were bored. This was unusual, because the two boys were best friends and usually they had a lot of fun when they played together at XL's house, as they were doing today. They were both 10 years old, and they enjoyed the same kinds of activities. But it was early afternoon and they had already played their favorite video games several times that morning. Plus, Beeba's tablet had run out of battery, and he forgot to bring his charger. So they couldn't play an online game together.

XL was tired of sitting around, so he suggested to Beeba that they go skating together. Beeba had brought his skates in case they might wish to do that, and there was a skating rink within walking distance of XL's house. But Beeba was feeling in a lazy mood. "Don't you have any other kinds of game that we could play?" he asked. "How about one of your board games?"

There was a stack of board games on a shelf at one end of the recreation room where XL and Beeba were sitting. They were fun to play, but XL had played them all many times. "Board games make me bored," said XL. It wasn't true, but he wasn't keen on playing one right now.

"Oh look, there's Monotony!" said Beeba. "I've played that before, and I love it. All the players go round and round the board for hours, collecting money."

"I already have enough money," said XL.

"You don't have any money at all," said Beeba. "You used up all your spending money as usual."

"Right, and this is play money," said XL.

They sat for a minute without doing anything, and then XL said, "So, how will we decide what to do?"

Beeba replied: "We could take turns, to divide our time doing what each of us wants."

"But we only have an hour left," said XL, "which is only enough time for skating or one game. I have an idea. Let's list the advantages of each alternative, and then decide."

Reader, click to choose the next part of the story:

How should Beeba answer?

Choice A	I already told you I don't want to go skating, and once I tell you something I never change my mind.
Choice B	O.K., let's consider each alternative further.

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