“You know how difficult it is trying to cast a net and balance on a canoe at the same time, like those guys over there are doing” Philip sighed .
“Yeah”
“Well , I’m trying to design a canoe of some sort that shoots out the net in a wide arc. People can then use this instead of hurting a shoulder trying to throw a net ” Philip replied .
“Are you sure people will prefer your device to traditional swing they have been used to for years?” Zell asked his brother.
“You know it’s difficult trying to swing your arm through that perfect arc , then you miss just because the canoe wobbled at the wrong time . Well, when people see my mechanism at work, no One will ask them to change their minds” Philip responded .
“That would be huge thing if you can get people to make that shift” Zell said with a smile.
“I could even turn into a commercial venture” Philip continued .
“What’s a commercial venture?” Zell asked ignorantly
“Once people begin to wish they owned this device , there will be demand for it . We can then meet this demand by making more gadgets and selling them” Philip explained .
Zell burst out laughing , “Sell this device in this place ? Ha, people don’t even have money to buy mosquito coils and you want them to spend the little they have on some fancy gadgets? Nah , I don’t see that happening” Zell shook his head, still trying to contain his laughter.
“Well, I guessed you have a point there” Philip frowned.
“Maybe we could use it for barter trading” he suggested, “We give you one for free in return for provision , goat, meat or a live cockerel…”
“… or a new shirt ; or a pair of sandals , or better still , a bicycle. Can you imagine that ?”
For a while the two brothers laughed and tried to outdo each other’s wish list .
“Hey, do you still carry that little round mirror around with you? Zell asked Philip all of a sudden .
“Yes, You know I don’t go anywhere without my mirror on me right?” Philip relied . “What do you need it for ?”
“I had a kebab on my way here, a piece of it is stuck in my teeth and I just can’t reach it with my fingernails”
Philip reached into his back pocket , pulled out his small mirror and handed it over zell, it was one of those things Zell knew his brother did that no one had explanation for.
Philip had a strange liking for the number seven and he always carry his small mirror with him, zell broke off one of the leaves of the palm fronds and make a toothpick out of it, Using Philip mirror he successfully managed to pull out the offending strip of meat .
Philip turned as something from a distance caught his eyes, all of a sudden screams filled the late afternoon air .
They both quickly ran out of the shelter towards the noise, the disturbance was coming from the little kids who had been swimming upstream, One of the older ones , the six-years-old was still in the water wildly waving his hands and screaming for help.
The other kids had already scrambled out of the water and were standing on the bank wailing, that was when zell realised the youngest of the children was nowhere to be found .
“I think one of those kids is in there drowning ,” he hastily told Philip, “I saw a very young boy with them on my way here, He’s not there anymore”
Philip quickly threw his t-shirt off , took a short run and dived into the lake with strong stokes he swam towards the terrified kids, he was way better at swimming than zell was , so Zell ran along the bank to meet up with with him.
By the time he got there Philip had already gone beneath the water, after a while he surfaced empty handed.
“Where’s the kid?” Zell asked frantically.
“Can’t find him” Philip signed, “I think the current’s pulled him further down the river ” seeing the desperation on zell’s face, Philip took a deep breath and disappeared again under the water.
The kids on the bank had quieted down a bit but they still look shaken, Zell was beginning to get anxious himself, Philip looked like he had been under water for what seemed forever when suddenly he surfaced gasping for breath.