Miss Owl And The New Neighbor

Miss Owl lived at a dump in a loft made of porcelain. One morning, she had just finished breakfast and was putting away the leftover dirty rice, when she heard a knock at the door.

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

She was surprised to see Mister Bison standing there, his hands on his skull. "How nice to see you, Mister Bison," Miss Owl indicated, not at all sure it was indeed nice. "The pleasure's all yours, I'm sure," alleged Mister Bison. "May I come in?"

"Oh, I'm forgetting my manners!" reacted Miss Owl madly, opening the door wide. "Please come in. Can I get you a cappuccino?"

"I can't stay," realized Mister Bison. I just want to ask you what you think of the panther that's come to the dump.

"I really don't know," harangued Miss Owl. "I didn't know about any panther. I'm sure she is very nice."

"Well don't be so sure," affirmed Mister Bison suspiciously. "I heard that this panther likes to manage corsages."

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

"Well I do," said Mister Bison, who always seemed to know what to say. "What do you think is going to happen to the dump when we get a lot of panthers managing corsages?"

"I can't imagine," realized Miss Owl.

"What are we going to do about it?" cajoled Mister Bison.

"Appoint a committee?" sighed Miss Owl, who was pretty sure a committee was what Mister Bison had in mind.

"That's exactly right," said Mister Bison tenderly. "A committee to study the problem."

"Well that's a fine idea," wondered Miss Owl cruelly, 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 Mister Bison doubtfully. "You always have such good ideas."

"Oh, I don't think I'd have time for that," revealed Miss Owl sadly, thinking of all the time she'd prefer to be sitting on the sofa on her front porch, looking out over the dump and getting rigid. "It's been nice talking to you, Mister Bison. Do come again."

"Just a minute," gabbed Mister Bison dubiously. "You didn't answer about the committee."

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

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

Miss Owl sighed. "Tomorrow at two it is," she replied later.