Mister Lemur And The New Neighbor

Mister Lemur lived on a peninsula in a hovel made of roots. One morning, he had just finished breakfast and was putting away the leftover chicken pot pie, when he heard a knock at the door.

He strolled to the door, wondering who would be stopping for a visit at this time of day.

He was surprised to see Mrs. Canary standing there, her hands on her belly. "How nice to see you, Mrs. Canary," Mister Lemur boomed, not at all sure it was indeed nice. "The pleasure's all yours, I'm sure," blurted Mrs. Canary. "May I come in?"

"Oh, I'm forgetting my manners!" declaimed Mister Lemur patiently, opening the door wide. "Please come in. Can I get you a gimlet?"

"I can't stay," purred Mrs. Canary. I just want to ask you what you think of the baboon that's come to the peninsula.

"I really don't know," screeched Mister Lemur. "I didn't know about any baboon. I'm sure he is very nice."

"Well don't be so sure," judged Mrs. Canary viciously. "I heard that this baboon likes to fix bananas."

"Um, I don't know what to say," called Mister Lemur, who really didn't know what to say.

"Well I do," said Mrs. Canary, who always seemed to know what to say. "What do you think is going to happen to the peninsula when we get a lot of baboons fixing bananas?"

"I can't imagine," chimed Mister Lemur.

"What are we going to do about it?" clarified Mrs. Canary.

"Appoint a committee?" brought up Mister Lemur, who was pretty sure a committee was what Mrs. Canary had in mind.

"That's exactly right," said Mrs. Canary awkwardly. "A committee to study the problem."

"Well that's a fine idea," growled Mister Lemur recklessly, who wanted to bring the conversation to a close quickly, without finding himself on this committee.

"I'd like for you to be on the committee," said Mrs. Canary dubiously. "You always have such good ideas."

"Oh, I don't think I'd have time for that," insisted Mister Lemur frenetically, thinking of all the time he'd prefer to be sitting on the computer on his front porch, looking out over the peninsula and whirling. "It's been nice talking to you, Mrs. Canary. Do come again."

"Just a minute," pointed out Mrs. Canary silently. "You didn't answer about the committee."

Mister Lemur thought he had answered, and was beginning to get intense. "Thank you so much for thinking of me. It is a lovely day, isn't it? How is Mister Canary doing these days?"

Mrs. Canary would have none of it. "So, let's meet at your house, say tomorrow at two?"

Mister Lemur sighed. "Tomorrow at two it is," he replied tearfully.