Conundrum

He groaned to himself when he saw who was coming up the drive.

It was the kid from next door. He caught sight of him through the front window. Unfortunately, the kid saw him at the same time. There was no chance of pretending that no one was home. School must have finished, he thought. He knew how important it was to be patient with children, despite having none of his own, but this kid was… well, he was weird, and that’s all there is to it. He was precocious and dumb at the same time.

When he let him in, he was full of some conundrum they’d been given at school. He sat down and immediately went rabbiting on about it. It was a about animals trying to cross a river, and some guy on the other side with a small raft. One was a crocodile and the other was a horse. The raft is only big enough to carry himself and one animal. Left to their own devices these animals may very well kill one another. The horse could trample the crocodile and the crocodile could bite the horse. How do you save them? He couldn’t help thinking that the kid had got it wrong somehow. After all, both of these animals could swim. He decided to let that go.

Trying to jog his memory, the man asked, “What about the third thing.”

“What third thing?”

“Isn’t there supposed to be three things the man is trying to get across the river?”

“No. Only two.”

“OK. What was the answer?”

 “Dunno yet. We’re supposed to think about it. What would you do?”

“Well, first I would ask why they aren’t attacking one another where they are.”

“Yes, I forgot about the fence.”

“What fence?”

“There’s a fence right across the island.”

“So, they’re on an island?”

“Yes, and the fence keeps them safe, you see?”

“OK, in that case, why move them?”

“Because of the fire.”

“What fire?”

“The one that’s on the other side of the island and coming up behind them.”

The neighbour, thoroughly sick of the whole thing, said, “In that case I would go across and save the horse.”

“What about the crocodile?”

“Well, if there is no fence where the man starts from, I’d leave the crocodile.”

The boy’s eyebrows raised. “Why would you do that?”

“I suppose, because I like horses, but I’ve never liked crocodiles.”

The boy grunted with contempt and stood up. Shaking his head, he made his way to the front door. On the way, he said, “That’s discrimination, that is!”

Half way down the drive he turned and called out, “You can be reported for that!”

At that point the man realised that he disliked the kid even more than crocodiles.

In future, he decided, when school’s out, he’d stay away from the front window.