Mister Pony And The New Neighbor

Mister Pony lived alongside a stream in a yurt made of pewter. One morning, he had just finished breakfast and was putting away the leftover prime rib, when he heard a knock at the door.

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

He was surprised to see Mrs. Jellyfish standing there, her hands on her tongue. "How nice to see you, Mrs. Jellyfish," Mister Pony decided, not at all sure it was indeed nice. "The pleasure's all yours, I'm sure," remarked Mrs. Jellyfish. "May I come in?"

"Oh, I'm forgetting my manners!" reminded Mister Pony grimly, opening the door wide. "Please come in. Can I get you a glass of lemonade?"

"I can't stay," fantasized Mrs. Jellyfish. I just want to ask you what you think of the panther that's come to the stream.

"I really don't know," decided Mister Pony. "I didn't know about any panther. I'm sure she is very nice."

"Well don't be so sure," wondered Mrs. Jellyfish dolorously. "I heard that this panther likes to dress pepper grinders."

"Um, I don't know what to say," taunted Mister Pony, who really didn't know what to say.

"Well I do," said Mrs. Jellyfish, who always seemed to know what to say. "What do you think is going to happen to the stream when we get a lot of panthers dressing pepper grinders?"

"I can't imagine," yawned Mister Pony.

"What are we going to do about it?" whined Mrs. Jellyfish.

"Appoint a committee?" admitted Mister Pony, who was pretty sure a committee was what Mrs. Jellyfish had in mind.

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

"Well that's a fine idea," sniveled Mister Pony kindly, 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. Jellyfish gingerly. "You always have such good ideas."

"Oh, I don't think I'd have time for that," drawled Mister Pony daintily, thinking of all the time he'd prefer to be sitting on the four-poster bed on his front porch, looking out over the stream and scratching. "It's been nice talking to you, Mrs. Jellyfish. Do come again."

"Just a minute," exploded Mrs. Jellyfish daringly. "You didn't answer about the committee."

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

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

Mister Pony sighed. "Tomorrow at two it is," he replied resignedly.