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  "Well, I can't give you a job," she said. "I think you're under age. But I guess if you're hungry I could have you clear some of those tables and give you some food."

  This was acceptable to me.

  "Poor kid," she said to the other human as I turned away. "A little off in the head, maybe. But a good-looking boy."

  I soon discovered what she meant by clearing tables. In this part of the mall there are many tables, surrounded by eating places. The tables were littered with delicious things!

  On the first table I found thin, crisp, salty-greasy triangles covered with a bright yellow secretion. I ate them and they were very good. . . .

  Then at last, I saw what I wanted. Two large, steaming hot, glistening cinnamon buns. Two humans were sitting very near the cinnamon buns.

  They were going to eat my buns!

  I raced over as quickly as my wobbly human legs could go. "I am clearing these tables!" I cried.

  The humans looked at me. "We haven't eaten yet."

  167 "Good," I said, relieved. I grabbed the two cinnamon buns and carried them away.

  "Hey! Hey, stop!"

  I began to shove the first bun into my mouth. . . .

  "What are you doing?" the manager cried as she came running over.

  "I amm glearing khe khables," I said. It is very difficult to speak while eating. Just one of the many design flaws in humans. . . .

  She pulled me away, causing me to drop a small portion of them from my mouth. . . .

  "Okay, now look, son, if you're that desperate for food, there's a tray of buns here that are just a bit stale. You can help yourself. You poor kid."

  "For me?" I asked in a voice choked with emotion.

  "Sure, son. Go ahead and have one."

  Let me make one final point here: human mouth-sound language is very fuzzy at times. "Have one," she'd said.

  One mouthful? One bun?

  One tray?

  It was certainly not my fault if there was any confusion.

  168 Mosquitoes seem like the perfect

  creatures to morph. They're small. Small enough to slip by : A unsuspecting Veerks. But big enough to cause a huge problem. For Ax, this means a chance to ;-o return to his own people. For the Animorphs, it means there may be no way to get back to Earth.'

  ANIMORPHS #1 THE DECISION