Chapter 6: Plum Soup

"I'm late. I don't have a minute to spare..." panted Mr. Blom as he pulled up in front of the big soup company building. The clock said five to nine. He quickly parked his car and ran up the steps, through the revolving door, past the front desk, into the lift, down the corridor, and with exactly thirty seconds to go to nine o'clock, he was sitting at his desk in his own office, trying to catch his breath: nice and punctual.
"So..." mumbled Mr. Blom to himself. "And now to work. I'll start with this pile of letters."
He reached into his pocket for his glasses and felt something soft. It was hair.
"It's only me," said a voice.
"Bother!" exclaimed Mr. Blom angrily. "What are you doing in my pocket?"
"I wanted to see the soup factory," said Wiplala. "So I hid in your pocket."
Mr. Blom picked up the little fellow and put him down on his desk.