Voices exchange

Voice exchange

Billy sat at the dinner table on the terrace pestering his mother. He was pestering her about chewing gum, and chocolate and soda water and bathing trunks and electric trains. Yes, he pleagued her until his voice couldn't cope with him any more. It left the vocal cords in Billy's throat, flew out of his mouth and sat down to rest on the floor.

"Ah, what a relief," Billy's dad sighed when Billy's voice disappeared. "Yes, finally I can hear my own thoughts," Billy's mother said when she came out with the pancakes. The silence made it possible for them to hear a fly singing on the branch over the dinner table. It was a Rock 'a Billy fly playing the guitar with his hind legs. Billy put jam on his pancake, irritated over the bothersome fly - but suddenly the fly became quiet. The fly had been singing so much that it lost its voice. The fly-voice fell from the tree, and plop, down into Billy's throat.

Suddenly Billy started to speak with the fly's voice. "Bzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzz, bzzzzz?" Billy said, while he tried to say: "Can I have some milk please?" He was afraid when he heard the fly-voice coming out of his throat. He tried again: "Bzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzz, bzzzzz," he said in despair. His mother and father started to laugh. But Billy started to cry. It sounded like this: "Bzzzz, zzzzz, bzzzz, zzzz."

Billy's voice became jealous when it realised that a fly-voice had taken its place in Billy's throat. It wanted to throw out the pirate-voice, when the fly came zooming by, snatching Billy's voice into its throat. The fly landed on the branch and started to sing again. Billy's voice came crisp and clear out of the fly's mouth: "A thousand, million fleas can't be wrooooong - Dirt is good!"

Billy rose from his chair and went towards the fly with his mouth open, saying: Bz, bz, bz, BZZZ." The fly answered with Billy's voice: "OK, you nuisance." "Bzzzzzz, zz, bz," Billy said impatiently. The fly flew down into Billy's throat and changed back his fly-voice with Billy's fuzzy-voice. Then it flew back up in the tree and continued to sing.

"At last," Billy said with relief. "Can I have a glass of milk now please?" "Yes," his mother said while laughing. "But only if you sing that fly-song once more."