Riddler

Chapter 17
All in the family

It is generally quiet and peaceful in this wonderful fictitious dreamland, called Furwaggle. But there are rare days when there is some noisy confusion and today is one of those

times, kinda like what happens in the real world.
The sun is just peaking up over the far off mountain range when Fluffy crawls out of his little doghouse and does a big stretch followed by just as big a yawn. He then opens one eye and what he sees causes him to give out a loud scream while jumping up on top of his little house. After a moment or two he realizes what had scared him. Still

shaken he said with a whimper, “Oh, it’s you Mrs. Frog. I didn’t recognize you at first”. Mrs. Frog snapped back with, “Fluffy you get down from there this minute, stop fooling around. I have a complaint to make.”. While climbing down from his little house Fluffy explained to Mrs. Frog, “It’s the Imperial Grand Wizard who you should be talking to. He is the head of the complaint department. But right now he is on vacation and should be back in about a year or so”. Mrs. Frog yelled back, “It’s not the Wizard that I have problem with, it’s one of your relatives that’s the problem”. Fluffy tried to explain, “I don’t have any relatives, I was an only puppy and …….”. Mrs. Frog interrupted with, “Don’t you sass me, you young whipper snapper. I know what I saw, now what are you going to do about it?”. Then Fluffy remembered one of Wiggles sayings, “When in doubt, ask about”. So Fluffy in a very calm voice asked, “Mrs. Frog Just what do you want me to do about what?”. Mrs. Frog was now yelling at Fluffy, “All that noise, it’s been going on all night and I didn’t get a wink of sleep.”. Fluffy raised one ear and listened but all he could hear was a cricket down by the pond, and a butterfly flapping his wings over by the apple trees but that is about it. He then thought, “So much for Wiggles sayings.”. He then said to Mrs. Frog, “I don’t hear any noise.”. Mrs. Frog came back with, “of course not now, it quit when I hit it with a rock. And that poor Mother Chicken.”. With a shocked voice Fluffy asked, “You hit Mother Chicken with a rock?”. Mrs. Frog near hysterics when she answered, “No you dummy, aren’t you paying attention. It was your one of your relatives that I hit with a rock, he was prowling around the hen house and Mother Chicken was kicking up a noisy ruckus.”. With a steely glare she followed with,” Now what are you going to do about?”. Fluffy knew that look, it was the kind that gave you warts if you didn’t cooperate. Fluffy knew what was good for him and he said to Mrs. Frog, “Yes, Mrs. Frog, I will get right on it, no relative (cough) of mine is going to get away with something like that.”. With that, Mrs. Frog turned on her heel and started off toward the chuck house. After four or five steps she turned her head and said, in a stern voice, “Well!”. With that Fluffy took off at a trot and didn’t look back.
About half way to the henhouse there was a big tree and Fluffy

sees Zorba hanging from a limb by his tail and a peaceful “zzzz” was coming from him. Fluffy knew that he was going to need some help unraveling this noisy relative thing. So, with a loud bark he set in motion a number of things. Zorbas eyes opened, his tail came lose from the tree limb and he fell, landing on his nose with a thud and then there was a loud squeaky scream. Zorba jumped up and began hopping around in a circle while holding his nose, all the time squealing at the top of his lungs, “Oh that hurts, ouch, ouch!”. At the end of his second full circle of hopping he came face to face with Fluffy. He yelled at him, “What do you mean wakening me up like that?”. Fluffy said, “I’m sorry Zorba. I never new anyone but possums and maybe that bats sleep hanging like that.”. “Well I do”, snapped Zorba. Then he followed with, “Just what is so dank fire important that you wake me and give me a sore nose?”. Fluffy then rattled off, “Noisy relatives, rock throwing Mrs. Frog, and warts.”. Zorba just stood there with his mouth open. At about that time Wiggles came walking up and said, “Hi there guys. What’s going on?”. Zorba

turned to Wiggles and said, “Something about a relative, a rock and warts, I think, also Fluffy gave me a sore nose and I may have brain damage because I’m seeing things.”. Wiggles asked, “What kind of things are you seeing?”. Zorba said, “Well for one thing, I see a big question mark above Fluffy’s head and for another I don’t understand a thing he is saying.”. With a laugh Wiggles explains, “Not to worry, few understand Fluffy and the question mark above his head is

normal when ever he gets confused. Now where are you guys headed?”. Fluffy jumped in with, “Come on, give me a hand. We are going to the henhouse and fix a relative that I don’t have.” Zorba said to Wiggles, “Come on grab my tail and I will guide you.” With that all three started off toward the henhouse.
When they arrived at the henhouse, all was quite and the chickens were all on their nests. Well, Wiggles said, “I don’t hear any noise, it seems to me that things are as they should be. Do either of you see anything out of place?”. Zorba looked around and said, “Everything looks ok to me, except maybe for that big ball of fur over there in the chicken yard.” “Where, where?”, asked Fluffy. Zorba pointed and said, “Over there. It reminds me of something I saw in a zoo once. Something like a Wombat, no maybe it was a Tiger.” With that Fluffy marches over to the fur ball and demanded, “Are you a relative of mine?”. The ball of fur shook a little and a eye peaked out. Then a raspy voice said, “Are you that rock throwing frog?”. “No, I’m not a rock throwing frog on any other kind of rocking thing.”, said Fluffy. With that the ball of fur stood up and shook it self all over. “That’s not a tiger, it’s a fox.”, said Zorba. Fluffy took a close look and said, “You’re no relative of mine. Who are you?”, challenged Fluffy. “I’m Tricky the fox and I have a big lump on my head.”, replied the fur. Wiggles just had to ask, “Ok Tricky, just what are you doing around here?”. Tricky responded with, “Well you see I was walking along when I spied this building and just to be friendly I stopped to say hello. Then out of no where this frog threw a rock and hit me in the head.”. With a smirk Wiggles said, “So you’re just an ordinary fox in the henhouse, is what you’re saying.”. “So you’re not a relative”, observed Fluffy. And with that the question mark faded from over Fluffy. Then Zorba said, “I think we should be smart as a fox and get out of here before Mother Chicken sees us and we have another rock throwing thing.”. Wiggles joined in with, “Yes, we should be moving along. Maybe go over to the Chicken Doctor and get you all fixed up.”. Fluffy said, “I don’t have a bur in my paw and the punctuation is all gone. I’m not confused any more.”. Tricky answered back with, “I’ve had about all the chickens that I can stand for one day. I’m heading out to Wyoming where I have a job to pose for a statue.”. Tricky then took off at a fast gallop, not even looking back or saying anything. Zorba then said, “Well my nose is all better. And I don’t see anything weird over Fluffy’s head any more but I do hear a ringing in my ears.”. Fluffy perked up one ear and said with joy, “That’s not in your head. That’s the second call to breakfast bell. Come on lets go so we aren’t late.”. With that they started walking toward the chuck house, Zorba added a remark, “I hope they have some more of that oatmeal with peppers. It was sure tasty.”.
My tiny mind thinks that it’s a good thing to keep in touch with your relatives, and don’t play with frogs, you might get warts.
Continued… (maybe).
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Here is a simple little teaser for you:
Maze

Chapter 16

Visitor

There is an open door policy in this wonderful fictitious dreamland, called

Furwaggle. That means anyone can come and go as they please. There is no need for a passport, visa, or any kind of paper work to visit this make believe haven. This is a place where you can dream and let your imagination run free.
Today starts very early in the morning when Wiggles is woken out of a deep sleep with a start by Fluffy yelling in Wiggles ear. “What’s going on, and stop yelling in my ear. My eyesight is bad not my hearing”, yelled back Wiggles. “Oh, I forget which one is good, the seeing or the hearing”, replied Fluffy. Then he went on with, “Hurry, come see what I got”. Cautiously Wiggles ask, “Is it catching? Maybe you should go see the Doctor Chicken”. Fluffy went on to explain, “I don’t need a doctor, and there’s no bur in my paw. What I got is a grease monkey. With a grin Wiggles thought to himself, “This boy has to stop eating onions for breakfast”. With that in mind Wiggles follows Fluffy off toward the outer barnyard.
“Isn’t it kinda early for an exercise walk”, asked Wiggles. He didn't think of it as an exercise session so much as his war with gravity. But still it was very early in the morning, and he hadn’t had his cup of coffee yet. After about 10 minutes of walking and with Wiggles grumbling all the way until suddenly they came to a halt. That is Fluffy stopped, Wiggles stop was more abrupt, because he tripped on something in his path and fell down rutting his nose in the dirt. There was an instant squeal, followed by a squeaky voice saying, “Hay, don’t be stepping on my tail”.

Fluffy joyfully began jumping up and down, and now and then making a small circle snapping at his own tail. All the time saying, “See, I told you, I told you”. At the same time Wiggles got to his feet, and began to huff and puff. The squeaky voice asks, “Is that a snorting warthog making all that noise”? With a snicker Fluffy said, “He isn’t no kinda hog. He is Wiggles and I’m Fluffy.” With a sneeze Wiggles added, “I’m trying to get the dirt out of my nose.” Then with a final wheeze, and a mighty snort, Wiggles cleared his nose up and could breathe freely. “Now that’s much better. Ok, Mr. Squeaky just what is the idea of tripping me so that I did a nose landing”, Wiggles demanded. The squeaky voice came back with, “Sorry about the tripping thing, but you shouldn’t have step on me tail. And don’t call me Squeaky I hate that. If you’re going to call me anything call me by my name, Zorba”. Then Fluffy butted in with, “Yea, he’s a grease monkey”. Zorba snapped back with, “I’m no grease anything, I’m a primate from Greece and don’t you forget it”. Fluffy came back with, “Yes, a grease thing …..”. Wiggles stepped in with, “Ok you two, this could go on forever. Lets just leave the names at Zorba, Fluffy, and Wiggles. That way we can all be friends and not have a quarrel”. Zorba agreed with, “That’s ok by me”. And Fluffy added, “What ever”.
Then Wiggles asked, “Tell me Zorba just what are you doing in our make believe world?” Zorba explained, “You see I’m a traveler. Been with the circus for the last four years. Performed for the heads of state, kings and queens of many countries. And when I got word of this dreamland, called Furwaggle I just had to see it for myself.” Fluffy just had to ask, “Have you ever performed for Bugger King?” It was almost too much for Wiggles. He was able to hold back a big laugh but he did have a big grin on his face. With a puzzled look Zorba replied, “Nope don’t think I’ve ever been to Bugger Land.” Zorba went on with, “Now, if you boys will just take me to your king I will do a little performance for him.” Now it was time for Fluffy to shine, “We don’t got one.” Zorba was again puzzled and asked, “You don’t have a king, well who is the head of state here?” Fluffy was on a roll, he loved it when he could tell someone something, “We don’t have a king, or a queen, or a head of anything.” This was more than Zorba could take; he just sat down with a dejected look on his face and said, “This is a really strange place, there is nothing like this in the real world.” To try and cheer Zorba up Wiggles asked him, “Just what kind of an act do you do?” That did the trick, with a twinkle in his eye Zorba began with, “Well I whistle, sing, and tell snappy jokes. Then for a finish I do some acrobatics.” Fluffy just had to ask, “What kind of a bat do you do?” Wiggles said, “It’s acrobatics not bats.” “Here I will show you”, said Zorba. With a mighty jump Zorba sprung into the air and at the top of his leap he wrapped his tail around the limb of a near by tree. Zorba then began to swing back and forth, each swing was higher than one before. Then at the peak of his swing he released his tail and did a triple back somersault, and then landed gently on the ground. Fluffy and Wiggles broke into a loud applause and whistles. A near by butterfly joined in by flapped his wings and yelled “Bravo”.
Zorba bowed and said, “I never had a more excited group for its size, in fact I think I even hear a bell”. Fluffy knew what that was and he told Zorba, “Oh, that’s the second call to breakfast. Come on I think they may even have some bananas for you.” As the three started off toward the chuck house Zorba said, “I can’t eat bananas, they give me heartburn, do you think they might have some oatmeal with peppers?”
My tiny mind thinks that it’s a good thing to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil.