She tried holding her nose and breathing with her mouth,
but that was hardly a dignified pose for the Queen of all Oz. When the
stench became absolutely unbearable, she found herself face to face with
a little boy who sported the tiniest nose she could have imagined. It
was about the same size as that of a ladybug. His feet, on the other
hand, were enormous. "Who are you?" asked the lad.
"I amb Queen Ozba of Oz," she said with some difficulty. "I amb here to
visit with President Stinky McFoot of the Stinkfoot Nation."
"I thought your nose was too small to make you a Sniffer," he said. "But
it is sure a lot bigger than any Stinkfoot's. Hey, why are you holding
it like that?"
"I'mb afraid that I'mb having a hard time dealing with the sbell of the
stinkweeds," she explained, not wanting to hurt the boy's feelings by
mentioning his feet, which Ozma felt certain were the real source of the
offensive smell. She believed that it would be better to avoid any
statement that might be taken as a gesture of insult.
"The stinkweeds?" replied the boy. "But they are delicious. They are our
primary food."
This was not going very well, and the little Queen was already feeling
nauseated by the stench.
Pages:
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64