Mister Poodle And The New Neighbor

Mister Poodle lived on a path in a skyscraper made of stainless steel. One morning, he had just finished breakfast and was putting away the leftover omelet, when he heard a knock at the door.

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

He was surprised to see Mrs. Seal standing there, her hands on her neck. "How nice to see you, Mrs. Seal," Mister Poodle preached, not at all sure it was indeed nice. "The pleasure's all yours, I'm sure," acknowledged Mrs. Seal. "May I come in?"

"Oh, I'm forgetting my manners!" realized Mister Poodle merrily, opening the door wide. "Please come in. Can I get you a root beer float?"

"I can't stay," implored Mrs. Seal. I just want to ask you what you think of the ferret that's come to the path.

"I really don't know," gabbed Mister Poodle. "I didn't know about any ferret. I'm sure he is very nice."

"Well don't be so sure," taunted Mrs. Seal blankly. "I heard that this ferret likes to swipe trash cans."

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

"Well I do," said Mrs. Seal, who always seemed to know what to say. "What do you think is going to happen to the path when we get a lot of ferrets swiping trash cans?"

"I can't imagine," squeaked Mister Poodle.

"What are we going to do about it?" indicated Mrs. Seal.

"Appoint a committee?" lamented Mister Poodle, who was pretty sure a committee was what Mrs. Seal had in mind.

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

"Well that's a fine idea," offered Mister Poodle unabashedly, 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. Seal wryly. "You always have such good ideas."

"Oh, I don't think I'd have time for that," disputed Mister Poodle deftly, thinking of all the time he'd prefer to be sitting on the windowsill on his front porch, looking out over the path and sighing. "It's been nice talking to you, Mrs. Seal. Do come again."

"Just a minute," groaned Mrs. Seal wryly. "You didn't answer about the committee."

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

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

Mister Poodle sighed. "Tomorrow at two it is," he replied warily.