Miss Gopher And The New Neighbor

Miss Gopher lived on a butte in an office made of foam. One morning, she had just finished breakfast and was putting away the leftover lobster bisque, when she heard a knock at the door.

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

She was surprised to see Mrs. Peacock standing there, her hands on her pinky. "How nice to see you, Mrs. Peacock," Miss Gopher shrieked, not at all sure it was indeed nice. "The pleasure's all yours, I'm sure," explained Mrs. Peacock. "May I come in?"

"Oh, I'm forgetting my manners!" sighed Miss Gopher softly, opening the door wide. "Please come in. Can I get you a latte?"

"I can't stay," repeated Mrs. Peacock. I just want to ask you what you think of the muskrat that's come to the butte.

"I really don't know," begged Miss Gopher. "I didn't know about any muskrat. I'm sure he is very nice."

"Well don't be so sure," chattered Mrs. Peacock elatedly. "I heard that this muskrat likes to shred spools of thread."

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

"Well I do," said Mrs. Peacock, who always seemed to know what to say. "What do you think is going to happen to the butte when we get a lot of muskrats shredding spools of thread?"

"I can't imagine," harangued Miss Gopher.

"What are we going to do about it?" stuttered Mrs. Peacock.

"Appoint a committee?" hinted Miss Gopher, who was pretty sure a committee was what Mrs. Peacock had in mind.

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

"Well that's a fine idea," rebutted Miss Gopher noisily, 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. Peacock uneasily. "You always have such good ideas."

"Oh, I don't think I'd have time for that," raved Miss Gopher shyly, thinking of all the time she'd prefer to be sitting on the china hutch on her front porch, looking out over the butte and jumping. "It's been nice talking to you, Mrs. Peacock. Do come again."

"Just a minute," interpreted Mrs. Peacock brashly. "You didn't answer about the committee."

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

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

Miss Gopher sighed. "Tomorrow at two it is," she replied pitifully.