What the citizens of Kansas City do not realize when they stroll by the Busy Bee Cafe is that, while the place appears to be a grubby joint with dirty windows frequented by writers, photographers, travelers, artists and other mysterious hang-outers, it is much more. The Busy Bee Cafe houses a very strange wonderful device, the Alternate Reality Generator. The ARG as we say in the comics. So today, when the entire staff at the Bee so very earnestly insisted that the suspicious looking object in the popcorn hopper could not possibly be a cigarette butt, I did a little research and discovered what, indeed, they are trying to hide.
This photo was taken by Judie Ellis, an unsuspecting Brit, while on holiday in the Maldives with her husband Tony. What Judie and Tony did not realize is that the quaint little thatched-roof Maldives beach bar where they had just had lunch and a few too many beers, resulting in Tony dropping his ciggies in the sand to the delight of a couple of smoker crows, regulars who routinely entertain tourists in hope of the occasional peanut or bit of beer-soaked chapitis, is actually an alternate reality to the Busy Bee.
We all know crows, like ravens, are frequent travelers and emissaries between alternate realities. Obviously, Judie took her lucky shot just as the ARG rang back at the Bee. Blow back happens. It's simple, my dear Watson. The bell rang, it startled the crow causing him to drop his cigarette just as reality went into flux and that cigarette fell into the popcorn hopper back at the Bee.
But is this an isolated incident? I wonder, given the odd disclaimer on the hopper. "Busy Bee Popcorn . . . Mmm mmm good--no butts about it!"
