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Chapter 18 continued...

XL waited a moment for David Flint to catch his breath, and then he said, "Mr. Flint, I am not very happy about this situation."

"Well, I'm not happy about it either," said Mr. Flint.

"Why can't we do the rides? Don't you know that we spent all day yesterday to get here? Did you forget that we were coming, like you almost forgot to bring the movie just now?" XL demanded.

"Yes, I know you were coming, and no I didn't forget it," replied Mr. Flint. "But you need to know that people are here now for the movie."

"Did you also forget that we agreed there would be rides at 1 PM?" said XL.

"No," said Mr. Flint, "but apparently you forgot to order the hats on time."

"Well," said XL, "I insist that we begin the rides now."

"But these people are lined up for the movie."

"Look," said XL, "don't you see that people are lined up to go for their Saucer1 tour? That is the main attraction here."

"I'm sorry but the Saucer1 ride wasn't advertised for 1 PM, so that's not what they are here for now."

"You screwed up the advertising? So what are you going to do about it?"

"Look, I'm pretty fed up with your attitude, kid!" exclaimed Mr. Flint, "I have taken care of the problem, as you would know if you would just stop to listen."

"Yes, I can see just how well you have taken care of it!" retorted XL.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" interjected Beeba, "calm down. Let's pause a minute, and find out first what happened."

"The hats that we were going to give to the kids are late!" Mr. Flint exclaimed. "They were supposed to arrive at Prince Albert two days ago, so I could pick them up. I went to pick them up yesterday, but the clerk said they weren't there yet."

"That's not my fault," said XL.

"I didn't say it was," replied Mr. Flint. "The point is, that they arrived this morning. So I'm doing my very best to solve the problem. I arranged for my brother to fetch them this morning. He is on his way back with them now, as quickly as possible, but it will take another half an hour."

"Oh," said XL.

"Not only that," he added, "but the advertisements that were published went out without a time. So everyone expects that the Saturday afternoon show will begin at the usual time, which is 1:30. That's why they are showing up now. So I decided to proceed with the movie at 1:30 instead of 2:30."

"So you cancelled the Saucer1 tour? How could you?" exclaimed XL.

"No, I did not cancel it," said Mr. Flint. "We'll do the tour later, after the movie. Everything is taken care of. It's only the time that is changed."

XL was about to continue the speech he had prepared in his mind, to demand that the tour proceed. But this time he actually paid attention to what Mr. Flint had said, so instead he stopped to listen. Mr. Flint continued: "In the advertising, we distributed draw tickets for the hat prizes and saucer ride. On the back side, the parent fills in their name, phone number, and e-mail address, and signs the ride consent. So everything will work out fine."

Turning to the clerk, Mr. Flint asked, "Donald, have you been collecting those tickets?"

"Yes Mr. Flint," he replied. "And if a family didn't have one already, I gave them one to fill out. See, I have been collecting them in this bucket."

Mr. Flint turned back to XL. "The rides were rescheduled to 3 PM, so that the hats would be ready, all the consents would be signed, and everyone would see the movie when they expected to."

XL wasn't sure what to say. He had accused Mr. Flint of cancelling the tour, but that wasn't what had happened at all. "Couldn't you have told me that in the first place?" XL asked.

"I think he was trying to," said Beeba.

XL felt a little bit embarrassed. If he had asked a few questions instead of making accusations, he could have avoided the whole argument. He could see that Mr. Flint was looking pretty upset.

XL turned to Beeba, "What do you think of these changes to the schedule?"

"I think it's an excellent solution," replied Beeba. "In fact, I think it will work out even better than the original plan."

"Yes, it will," said XL. Then he turned to Mr. Flint. "Sir, I apoligize. I totally misunderstood the situation. I can see that you have done everything you can to make things work out well."

Mr. Flint's expression softened. "Apology accepted," he said.

XL continued. "You know, I was told earlier today that I should be assertive--that I should express how I feel and what I want. I'm not sure I quite understand that assertiveness thing, but I can express how I feel. I feel really embarrassed."

"It's O.K.," said Mr. Flint. "Everyone makes mistakes. What matters is to learn from them."

XL looked at the line of people, which was getting shorter as they entered the theatre. Beeba had noticed too, and he asked Mr. Flint, "How many children do you estimate are there?"

"Less than the 200 hats that we ordered," said Mr. Flint. "But more may show up here when they notice Saucer1 floating over the town for the next hour and a half."

Mr. Flint went into his theatre, while XL and Beeba waited.

"I sure screwed that up," said XL to his friend.

"True, but you also unscrewed it," replied Beeba. If that argument had continued, Mr. Flint might have cancelled the whole thing. It is good that you apologized.

"Thanks for intervening," said XL. "I should have asked him at the beginning what the problem was."

"Yes," replied Beeba. "It is a common mistake. People often know what they want to say, and they are so busy saying it that they don't ask questions and they barely listen to the other person. The other person reacts the same way. It's like two deaf people talking to each other."

"Next time I'll ask questions until I understand the situation, before I make any speeches," said XL. "I guess this assertiveness business, of expressing how I feel and what I want, isn't always a good thing."

"Perhaps it is only works well if you express your feelings at the right time. Actually you did express how you felt. You said you felt embarrassed. And that helped. You see that Mr. Flint has forgiven you."

"Well that's good," said XL, "though I still feel embarrassed."

Right after that, XL's mom and sister returned. Beeba explained to them that the Saucer1 tour had been rescheduled to 3 PM, and that the movie was playing first.

After the movie started, a few families showed up who missed the movie, and XL gave them tours of the saucer. It was only a short tour of about 5 minutes per group, but the kids went up the elevator, and from Saucer1 they could look over the whole valley. Also XL had put movie posters up around the inside, for the families to look at.

Then, shortly after 3:00 the movie was over. Mr. Flint gave out the hats (which, fortunately, had arrived before 3 PM), and the families began their saucer tours. Each family was given a pass with a time on it, so they didn't have to stand in line to wait for their turn. They could relax in the town, at the playground, or by the beach, and then come back for their tour.

As the children came to the elevator to get on, Anna would ask their names. Before long, Anna discovered that Susan's children, Dana and Tina, were coming on board with their parents. She used the intercom to inform XL that the "special guests" had arrived.

At the top of the elevator, XL greeted their parents, Susan and Terry. He introduced himself, and they introduced themselves. Having verified that at last he had found them, he said to Susan, "I have something special for you. It turns out that by coincidence, I have gotten to know your mother, Florence, and she gave me this letter for you. I have delivered it to you personally, because she did not know the address."

No doubt this would have been a surprise to Susan, but she paused only a moment. Then she smiled and said, "That is very thoughtful of you. Thank you very much."

Susan and her family continued their tour. They looked out the windows all around, and at the posters, and XL showed them the computer controls for the Saucer. Then the family returned to the ground as XL guided other tourists.

The tours continued until about 7 PM. It is fortunate that little children need to depart early, to be home for supper or bedtime; therefore, all rides were done by then. XL, Beeba, Anna, and Larissa were glad, because they were hungry. XL commanded Saucer1 to return to the camp site, while they sat inside eating sandwiches.

The day had a rough start, but it ended nicely. It was fun giving the tours, and moreover they were pleased to have completed their mission, to give the letter to Susan.

Copyright Arthur de Leyssac, 2017. All rights reserved.