Worm.

Nick McCarthy is a worm. A notorious worm at that. He loves dirt. He eats the dirt. It's good!!

But Nick is in a band so he's not supposed to eat dirt. He's supposed to eat human food and beer like the Bavarian Sausage he is. His friends (also in a band) don't want him eating dirt because it makes a mess in the studio. He still brings in dirt.

They are all in the studio. They have to make a new album because that's what bands do. Nick walks in with a cup filled with dirt. Alex frowns.

"I don't want your dirt in my studio," he complained.

"It's just dirt," Nick said. He made the ':-)' face.

"It makes a mess. How am I supposed to do my drum things if you're making a mess with dirt?" Paul was also upset with the dirt.

"Why do you even eat dirt in the first place," Bob asked. He wasn't as upset by the dirt as everyone else, but he was still concerned.

"I just really like dirt," Nick smiled. He was still making the ':-)' face.

"If you're just going to bring dirt in here every time we come to the studio, you might as well leave with it," Alex spat. Like he literally spat. Nick frowned at it. He never frowned. Worms don't frown.

Nick put the cup of dirt on a table. He sat in a chair and looked at it. Why can't he be in a band and eat dirt?

Paul grabbed the cup of dirt from the table. He opened a window, and tossed the cup out of it. He closed the window and sat back at his drums like nothing happened. They all grabbed their instruments, including Nick. They played for a while. But Nick was still frowning.

They were halfway through recording a song and suddenly Nick stopped playing. He put his guitar down and walked out of the studio. Everyone kept playing.

Nick walked outside and saw the discarded cup. The dirt had spilled all over the ground. He could still recover it.

He approached the dirt and sat beside it. He ate some of it. It was good. He wasn't frowning anymore.

From the window, they all watched him eat dirt. They said nothing. After an hour, they left the studio, where Nick was still outside eating dirt. Nobody said anything to him.

The next morning, they all showed up at the studio. Everyone was there besides Nick.

"Let's just record without him. We can just add his guitar parts after," Paul said.

"He knows he's supposed to be here. So where is he then?" Alex huffed.

"Outside," Bob said. He was standing by the window. They all gathered to the window and looked to see the pile of dirt and cup Paul had thrown was still there. And beside it was Nick. He had never left. He was still eating the dirt. And he was still making the ':-)' face.

They all went outside. The man was laying in the dirt, eating it. Nick was talking to someone, but they didn't see anyone around.

"Who are you talking to?" Bob asked.

"Oh, this is my friend here," Nick pointed at the ground. They saw nothing. They looked closer. There wasn't just nothing. There was a worm.

"You're talking to a worm?" Alex asked as if it was something unusual.

"Yeah!"

"About what?"

"I told him about my cat," Nick smiled. He made the ':-)' face.

"You have a cat?" Paul asked.

"Well, I don't, but I like to think I do," Nick still smiled. He continued talking to the worm about his non-existent cat in very broken English.