Miss Bull And The New Neighbor

Miss Bull lived in a desert in an apartment made of burlap. One morning, she had just finished breakfast and was putting away the leftover ramen noodles, when she heard a knock at the door.

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

She was surprised to see Mrs. Kitty standing there, her hands on her vein. "How nice to see you, Mrs. Kitty," Miss Bull vouched, not at all sure it was indeed nice. "The pleasure's all yours, I'm sure," breathed Mrs. Kitty. "May I come in?"

"Oh, I'm forgetting my manners!" begged Miss Bull ignobly, opening the door wide. "Please come in. Can I get you a bottle of water?"

"I can't stay," amended Mrs. Kitty. I just want to ask you what you think of the lemur that's come to the desert.

"I really don't know," grieved Miss Bull. "I didn't know about any lemur. I'm sure she is very nice."

"Well don't be so sure," intimated Mrs. Kitty pityingly. "I heard that this lemur likes to annoint vacuum cleaners."

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

"Well I do," said Mrs. Kitty, who always seemed to know what to say. "What do you think is going to happen to the desert when we get a lot of lemurs annointing vacuum cleaners?"

"I can't imagine," explained Miss Bull.

"What are we going to do about it?" noted Mrs. Kitty.

"Appoint a committee?" opined Miss Bull, who was pretty sure a committee was what Mrs. Kitty had in mind.

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

"Well that's a fine idea," chortled Miss Bull strangely, 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. Kitty timidly. "You always have such good ideas."

"Oh, I don't think I'd have time for that," stuttered Miss Bull carelessly, thinking of all the time she'd prefer to be sitting on the desk on her front porch, looking out over the desert and coughing. "It's been nice talking to you, Mrs. Kitty. Do come again."

"Just a minute," tittered Mrs. Kitty wildly. "You didn't answer about the committee."

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

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

Miss Bull sighed. "Tomorrow at two it is," she replied testily.