day, month by
month, year by year, the reality of everyday existence etches deeply
into our consciousness, if we will but have the fortitude to expose
ourselves to it."

Droozle unavoidably centrifuged this time, but did manage, with
laborious lateral movements, to mix the hemoglobin back with the plasma
again.

He complained, "It is cruel of you to condemn me to this ugliness. I
want only to read my books and hear a few simple fugues by Bach."

"It is not cruel. You will have exactly the same existence I have chosen
for myself as an artist. It is fundamental that if you are to write
serious literature, you must rub your nose against the realities of
life."

Droozle wriggled unhappily for a moment. Finally he wrote, "Actually my
writing may not be as serious as the title implies. Misunderstandings
conceivably arise over titles. Instead of _The Rise and Fall of the
Western Plainsman_, how about changing it to _Those Lowdown Scaly
Rustlers_?"

"That's really getting down to earth," cried Jean, concealing his
elation. "But if you aren't going to write serious literature, who will
I get to go on my painting trips with me?"

"Take that female of yours," suggested Droozle. "If she refuses to go,
inform her that we shall be forced to hand her over to the dog catcher."

"Do you suppose he means that?" wondered Jean.

"Of course not, silly," said Judy, bright-eyed. "He's only negotiating."

--FRANK BANTA

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy December 1962.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright
on this publication was renewed.]

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Droozle, by Frank Banta

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DROOZLE ***

***** This file should be named 23148.txt or 23148.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/1/4/23148/

Produced by Greg Weeks, Rebecca Hoath and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
c