Miss Parakeet And The New Neighbor

Miss Parakeet lived in a cornfield in a mud hut made of paper. One morning, she had just finished breakfast and was putting away the leftover waffles, when she heard a knock at the door.

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

She was surprised to see Mrs. Zebra standing there, her hands on her pride. "How nice to see you, Mrs. Zebra," Miss Parakeet inquired, not at all sure it was indeed nice. "The pleasure's all yours, I'm sure," joked Mrs. Zebra. "May I come in?"

"Oh, I'm forgetting my manners!" reasoned Miss Parakeet innocently, opening the door wide. "Please come in. Can I get you an old fashioned?"

"I can't stay," smiled Mrs. Zebra. I just want to ask you what you think of the manticore that's come to the cornfield.

"I really don't know," guessed Miss Parakeet. "I didn't know about any manticore. I'm sure she is very nice."

"Well don't be so sure," begged Mrs. Zebra slowly. "I heard that this manticore likes to protect clarinets."

"Um, I don't know what to say," exploded Miss Parakeet, who really didn't know what to say.

"Well I do," said Mrs. Zebra, who always seemed to know what to say. "What do you think is going to happen to the cornfield when we get a lot of manticores protecting clarinets?"

"I can't imagine," cajoled Miss Parakeet.

"What are we going to do about it?" vowed Mrs. Zebra.

"Appoint a committee?" fretted Miss Parakeet, who was pretty sure a committee was what Mrs. Zebra had in mind.

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

"Well that's a fine idea," acknowledged Miss Parakeet quietly, who wanted to bring the conversation to a close quickly, without finding herself on this committee.

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

"Oh, I don't think I'd have time for that," reacted Miss Parakeet sleepily, thinking of all the time she'd prefer to be sitting on the hope chest on her front porch, looking out over the cornfield and cheering. "It's been nice talking to you, Mrs. Zebra. Do come again."

"Just a minute," railed Mrs. Zebra anxiously. "You didn't answer about the committee."

Miss Parakeet thought she had answered, and was beginning to get vile. "Thank you so much for thinking of me. It is a lovely day, isn't it? How is Mister Zebra doing these days?"

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

Miss Parakeet sighed. "Tomorrow at two it is," she replied nicely.