Friday, April 9, 2010

The Abbreviated Adventures of Mogey & Smush Volume CCCXVIII

One day Mogey and Smush were passing by the town store when something caught Mogey's fancy. Hanging in the store window was a little wicker cage containing a canary as bright yellow as a a half-eaten jar of spicy mustard. Mogey knew then and there that the canary would be his, and he walked inside with an air of purpose he normally reserved for food-related activities.

"How much for the birdie?" he asked the proprietor.

"Free," the shopkeeper said with a sigh of relief. "Just take it off my hands. The durned thing won't clam up!"

"Cheep cheep," the little canary tweeted.

"Is that all he does?" Mogey said. "That cheeping ain't so bad."

"It don't seem so bad now," the shopkeeper replied, "but try listening to it for a few days...it's enough to drive a man to madness!"

"It doesn't bother me any," Mogey said. "As a matter of fact I quite like it. I'll take the little guy."

"Cheep cheep," the bird called.

"Now, Mogey," Smush cautioned, "are you quite sure? You always take a shine to these little animals and then get bored of them the next week. It's a lot of work to take care of that little canary...."

"P'shaw," Mogey replied. "P'shaw." So the pals headed on home, Mogey carrying the little canary in his wicker cage, Smush holding a sack of bird feed. By the time they were strolling up the front walk an hour later, Mogey's eyes had the hollow look of someone who might snap at any moment.

"I can't stand it any more!" he cried. "The thing just doesn't stop that ridiculous cheeping! Doesn't his throat ever get tired? This bird is pure evil, Smush, pure evil, I tell you! He must be destroyed!"

"Cheep cheep," the canary said.

"Alright," Smush replied, heaving a great sigh. "I'll go tell Mittens and Whiskers they're getting something special for dinner tonight."

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