Zervs eats more Berries, it all adds up quickly to a Lot of Berries. And when the Zervs eat whenever they want, rather than having some kind of agreement that some get to eat sooner and others get to eat later, then the Berry Factory has to be able to make a whole lot of Berries during part of the day—sometimes more than it can handle—and yet at other times, like two o’clock in the morning, the Factory produces almost no Berries because most of the Zervs are hibernating then.


“And, unlike regular food, Zerv Berries are very special. They must be eaten within a few seconds of when they are made, or the Berry evaporates! Also, they all have to be made exactly the same or the Zervs will get sick.  If the Zerv Berries aren’t perfect, the Zervs can’t eat them, and if they can’t eat, they won’t work! As you can see, it takes a very special factory to make millions of perfect Zerv Berries.”

“Wow. This is really interesting, and it is really complicated! I don’t think I can take in much more right now,” said Bobby. “I’ll tell my mom and dad all about what you said. Thanks so much for the tour of the Berry Factory!”



“WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT?”

Bobby rode back home. He was hungry and his head was full of questions. At home, he told his mom and dad what he learned about Zervs from Steve. While they were talking, Berries began to arrive again; the Zervs woke up and started doing their chores. The Zerv Refrigerator began to hum. The Zerv lights in the kitchen went on. The whole family let out a small cheer! Hooray!


“We can get back to normal now” said Ralph.


“No, wait, no we can’t!” said Linda. “If we keep doing what we’ve been doing, and everyone else does what they’ve been doing, this is going to happen again, maybe even later today or tomorrow! We have to talk