Mister Mare And The New Neighbor

Mister Mare lived in a valley in a castle made of felt. One morning, he had just finished breakfast and was putting away the leftover country glazed ham, when he heard a knock at the door.

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

He was surprised to see Mrs. Deer standing there, her hands on her palm. "How nice to see you, Mrs. Deer," Mister Mare yowled, not at all sure it was indeed nice. "The pleasure's all yours, I'm sure," repeated Mrs. Deer. "May I come in?"

"Oh, I'm forgetting my manners!" quavered Mister Mare sadly, opening the door wide. "Please come in. Can I get you a glass of apple juice?"

"I can't stay," chortled Mrs. Deer. I just want to ask you what you think of the polar bear that's come to the valley.

"I really don't know," stammered Mister Mare. "I didn't know about any polar bear. I'm sure he is very nice."

"Well don't be so sure," responded Mrs. Deer carefully. "I heard that this polar bear likes to scrape chess sets."

"Um, I don't know what to say," pointed out Mister Mare, who really didn't know what to say.

"Well I do," said Mrs. Deer, who always seemed to know what to say. "What do you think is going to happen to the valley when we get a lot of polar bears scraping chess sets?"

"I can't imagine," fantasized Mister Mare.

"What are we going to do about it?" questioned Mrs. Deer.

"Appoint a committee?" pronounced Mister Mare, who was pretty sure a committee was what Mrs. Deer had in mind.

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

"Well that's a fine idea," pronounced Mister Mare pitifully, 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. Deer slowly. "You always have such good ideas."

"Oh, I don't think I'd have time for that," stammered Mister Mare stupidly, thinking of all the time he'd prefer to be sitting on the safe on his front porch, looking out over the valley and rolling. "It's been nice talking to you, Mrs. Deer. Do come again."

"Just a minute," answered Mrs. Deer sympathetically. "You didn't answer about the committee."

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

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

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