"It's time I set about achieving my dearest ambition," announced Mogey.
"Jumping into a ball pit full of mozzarella sticks?" Smush said with a sigh. "Alright, I'll call Ragazzo Grasso and put an order in--"
"No, not jumping into a ball pit full of mozzarella sticks," Mogey interrupted.
"Jumping into a ball pit full of rice pudding? Alright, I'll call Old Tyme Country Diner and put an order in--"
"Enough with the ball pits! You know very well that my dearest ambition is to be the cause of a ticker-tape parade."
"What even is ticker-tape?" Smush inquired.
"I don't know," Mogey replied, jamming a pair of sunglasses onto his face so hard they boinked his nose, "but I'm about to find out."
Three hours later, Smush noticed the porcelain porcupine figurine on his desk trembling slightly. In a few more moments, the whole house began to shake. Smush heard a rumble outside that could only be the thundering of hooves. He looked through the window to see three elephants, a band of jackals, seven antelope, and a camel who appeared to be reluctantly "going with the flow," galloping down the street.
Mogey burst through the door, covered in sweat and hay, trailing a strong odor of exotic manure. "Do you think it'll be enough?" he asked breathlessly. "Forty-seven animals by my count - all now embracing the sweet scent of freedom. Surely that's sufficient to earn me a ticker-tape parade?"
"Oh no, Mogey," Smush said. "You didn't..."
Before Smush could admonish his pal further, a sturdy fist knocked at the door. Smush opened the portal to reveal a man clad entirely in khaki - including a splendid pair of khaki earrings - save for his pith helmet. He gasped.
"Are you Brent Strongbody, the world's greatest investigator of zoos and zoo-related crimes?"
"The same," said Brent Strongbody. "And I'm afraid to say you're under arrest for the theft of..." here Strongbody removed a notebook from one of his many pockets and flipped it open, "forty-nine animals from the West Bingle Zoo."
"Nice!" shouted Mogey. "I thought I might've missed a couple!"
And that is how, several weeks thereafter, Mogey and Smush found themselves being paraded through the streets inside a wrought-iron cage as crowds of adoring fans cheered on the legendary Brent Strongbody for bringing another pair of miscreants to justice.
"Happy now?" Smush asked miserably from the floor of the cage.
Mogey's only response was to snatch two more pieces of ticker-tape through the bars of the cage and rub them over his face and shoulders. "Ticker-tape..." he mumbled dreamily. "At last...."
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