Here's a short version of the story:
Quote:
"My Hovercraft is Full of Eels, now what do you think of that particular title, Mrs. Featherbottom?"
Featherbottom, her face powdered white with concern, let out a small and not incosiderable grunt of displeasure.
"Mr. Dickens, I have been your confident and housekeeper nigh on fifteen years, and as yet I have never heard such an absurd notion. What, pray, is a Hovercraft and why would it be filled with eels?"
Dickens rubbed his beard thoughtfully.
"It came to me in a dream, Mrs. Featherbottom. The title as fully formed as any statue resting now within the gardens of this very estate. A young boy, orphaned and impoverished becomes entangled with a group of street urchins and a charismatic pickpocket thief who leads them all into adventure."
"And this...this odd title will remain?"
"Do you have any other suggestions?" Dickens said.
Mrs. Featherbottom smiled. "Of course I do, Mr.Dickens. Why not name the book after the young orphaned boy?"
A light clearer than any gas lantern bloomed in Dickens' eyes.
"Yes, yes, and a thousand times yes!" He cried, and with a freshly dipped pen, he began to scrawl out the new title upon a spare piece of parchment. "Done!" With a flourish, Mr.Dickens handed the paper over to his friend and trusted housekeeper.
She perused the scrawled words for a moment, her face at first confused and then gleeful.
"Mr.Dickens, I think this is the title you should stick with."
Dickens nodded, and then reached for another loose parchment upon the desk. "And what of this?" he said.
"The first title? The odd title?" Mrs. Featherbottom questioned.
"The very same."
"Place it in my hand, Mr.Dickens, and this very afteroon I shall feed this strangeness to the ducks along with the stale bread."
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