Elmo shook the oracle and turned it bottom-up. He waited as the luminescent blue words became clear through the inky haze: “Future cloudy — ask again.”
So he did. “Will spring return anytime soon?” he asked and shook. “My sources say ‘No,'” the ball replied.
Still pretty vague. Elmo needed answers, and fast. The time had come to break the only rule more binding than, “Never cross the streams.”
“What,” he asked, “will the weather be like today?” He shook the ball; the answer floated into view.
“Today will be windy and cloudy with a high in the middle 20s. Wednesday will be more of the same, but a few degrees warmer.”
Elmo smiled; he might never be so lucky again.
Magic Elmo Ball
Published April 8, 1997
