Christmas on a Rational Planet

>>> He claimed that the physical form of the caillou was a mere fragment of it's vast "multi-dimensional" form, and that - like the proverbial iceberg - most of it went unseen by the human eye, existing in a mysterious realm he liked to call "meta-space".

The Professor would point out (at great length, as any of his students would testify) that wherever a caillou was found, remarkable coincidences would occur. "When a caillou's life is threatened, or it finds itself in a situation where escape seems impossible, curious episodes transpire as if by chance." he'd written in his treatise On the Habits and Occupations of Astral Personages. "Weather conditions inexplicably change, distracting the enemy long enough for the caillou to slip away. Mysterious thrid parties just happen to pass by, inadvertently saving the caillou from its fate. Even when put in a place of confinement, doors which are thought to be secure are found to have been left unlocked, and competent guards look the other way at precisely the wrong moment."

Professor Hulot would insist that these things weren't accidents at all; the caillou's invisible influence was at work in "meta-space", he'd claim, pushing people and objects into convenient places though it's three-dimensional form might seem to be "sitting on it's backside doing nothing at all".​