Miss Dinosaur And The New Neighbor

Miss Dinosaur lived in a gulch in a dugout made of garbage. One morning, she had just finished breakfast and was putting away the leftover lobster, when she heard a knock at the door.

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

She was surprised to see Mrs. Yeti standing there, her hands on her knuckle. "How nice to see you, Mrs. Yeti," Miss Dinosaur instructed, not at all sure it was indeed nice. "The pleasure's all yours, I'm sure," yelped Mrs. Yeti. "May I come in?"

"Oh, I'm forgetting my manners!" peeped Miss Dinosaur proudly, opening the door wide. "Please come in. Can I get you a gin sour?"

"I can't stay," guessed Mrs. Yeti. I just want to ask you what you think of the prairie dog that's come to the gulch.

"I really don't know," spouted Miss Dinosaur. "I didn't know about any prairie dog. I'm sure she is very nice."

"Well don't be so sure," chortled Mrs. Yeti bravely. "I heard that this prairie dog likes to blame crutches."

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

"Well I do," said Mrs. Yeti, who always seemed to know what to say. "What do you think is going to happen to the gulch when we get a lot of prairie dogs blaming crutches?"

"I can't imagine," joked Miss Dinosaur.

"What are we going to do about it?" jeered Mrs. Yeti.

"Appoint a committee?" urged Miss Dinosaur, who was pretty sure a committee was what Mrs. Yeti had in mind.

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

"Well that's a fine idea," growled Miss Dinosaur recklessly, 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. Yeti lazily. "You always have such good ideas."

"Oh, I don't think I'd have time for that," emphasized Miss Dinosaur coolly, thinking of all the time she'd prefer to be sitting on the ping-pong table on her front porch, looking out over the gulch and jumping. "It's been nice talking to you, Mrs. Yeti. Do come again."

"Just a minute," disputed Mrs. Yeti tenderly. "You didn't answer about the committee."

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

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

Miss Dinosaur sighed. "Tomorrow at two it is," she replied stealthily.