Monday, July 26, 2010

Snugglebunny and the Dozen Donuts

One day, SnuggleBunny decided to go visit his friend, Magpie. On the way to Magpie's house, he stopped at the local donuteria for a dozen of his favorite, chocolate glazed donuts.
A short time later, he arrived at Magpie's house and knocked on the door.
"Come, sit down in my parlor and we will enjoy the dozen donuts you have brought," said Magpie.
They sat down on either side of the coffee table.
Then, just as SnuggleBunny reached out to untie the ribbon, open the box, and take his first donut, Magpie said "Wait. We should have coffee with our donuts. Could you run to my kitchen and get the coffee? It is ready on the stove."
"OK. I'll be right back," said SnuggleBunny.
SnuggleBunny hopped to the kitchen, came back with the coffee and two mugs, and sat down.
"Now we can enjoy the eleven donuts you have brought, and our hot coffee," said Magpie.
"Eleven? I thought I brought a dozen with me?" said SnuggleBunny.
"No," said Magpie. "See, the box is still closed, and the ribbon still tied."
"OK, I guess it is as you say," said SnuggleBunny. He reached to untie the ribbon.
"Wait. I enjoy taking cream with my coffee," said Magpie. "Could you not run to the kitchen and bring the cream from the icebox?"
"OK. I'll be right back," said SnuggleBunny.
SnuggleBunny hopped to the kitchen, came back with a pitcher of cream, and sat down.
"Now we can enjoy the ten donuts you have brought, and our hot coffee with cream," said Magpie.
"Ten? I thought I brought eleven with me?" said SnuggleBunny.
"No," said Magpie. "See, the box is still closed, and the ribbon still tied."
"OK, I guess it is as you say," said SnuggleBunny. But, he thought he saw chocolatey fingerprints on the ribbon. He reached to untie the ribbon.
"Wait. I enjoy two lumps of sugar in my coffee," said Magpie. "Could you not run to the kitchen and bring the sugar from the pantry?"
"OK. I'll be right back," said SnuggleBunny.
SnuggleBunny hopped to the kitchen, came back with the sugar bowl, and sat down.
"Now we can enjoy the nine donuts you have brought, and our hot coffee with cream and sugar," said Magpie.
"Nine? I thought I brought ten with me?" said SnuggleBunny.
"No," said Magpie. "See, the box is still closed, and the ribbon still tied."
"OK, I guess it is as you say," said SnuggleBunny. But, he thought the ribbon was starting to look quite sticky, and a little bit frayed.
He reached to untie the ribbon.
Just as he untied the ribbon, Magpie said, "wait. I need a teaspoon to stir my coffee. Could you not run to the kitchen and bring a teaspoon from the drawer?"
"OK. I'll be right back," said SnuggleBunny.
SnuggleBunny hopped to the kitchen, came back with a teaspoon, and sat down.
"Now we can enjoy the eight donuts you have brought, and our hot coffee with cream and sugar, well-stirred" said Magpie.
"Eight? I thought I brought nine with me?" said SnuggleBunny.
"No," said Magpie. "See, the box is still neatly closed."
"OK, I guess it is as you say," said SnuggleBunny. He reached to open the box.
"Wait," said Magpie. "Should we not have napkins, in case our fingers get sticky? Could you not run to the linen cupboard and get my best napkins?"
"OK. I'll be right back," said SnuggleBunny.
SnuggleBunny hopped to the linen cupboard, came back with two napkins, and sat down.
"Now we can enjoy the seven donuts you have brought, with our napkins and our hot coffee with cream and sugar, well-stirred," said Magpie.
"Seven? I thought I brought eight with me?" said SnuggleBunny.
"No," said Magpie. "See, the box is still neatly closed."
"OK, I guess it is as you say," said SnuggleBunny. But, he thought the box wasn't quite as neatly closed as before. He reached to open the box.
"Wait," said Magpie. "Should we not have saucers to place our donuts on? Run to the sideboard and bring back two saucers, if you please."
"OK. I'll be right back," said SnuggleBunny.
SnuggleBunny hopped to the sideboard, came back with two saucers, and sat down.
"Now we can enjoy the six donuts you have brought, on our saucers, with our napkins and our hot coffee with cream and sugar, well-stirred," said Magpie.
"Six? I thought I brought seven with me?" said SnuggleBunny.
"No," said Magpie. "See, the box is still neatly closed."
"OK, I guess it is as you say," said SnuggleBunny. But, he thought the box had sticky fingerprints around the flaps. He reached to open the box.
"Wait," said Magpie. "Should we not have music with our donuts? Bring the radio in from the drawing room, if you please."
"OK. I'll be right back," said SnuggleBunny.
SnuggleBunny hopped to the drawing room, came back with the radio, and sat down.
"Now we can enjoy the five donuts you have brought, on our saucers, with our napkins and our hot coffee with cream and sugar, well-stirred, with music" said Magpie.
"Five? I thought I brought six with me?" said SnuggleBunny.
"No," said Magpie. "See, the box is still neatly closed."
"OK, I guess it is as you say," said SnuggleBunny. But, he thought the box was definitely not neatly closed anymore. He reached to open the box.
Just as he opened the box, Magpie said, "wait. It is impolite not to have salt and pepper on the table at mealtimes. Could you not run to the dining room and get the salt and pepper?"
"OK. I'll be right back," said SnuggleBunny.
SnuggleBunny hopped to the dining room, came back with the salt and pepper, and sat down.
"Now we can enjoy the four donuts you have brought, on our saucers, with our napkins and our hot coffee with cream and sugar, well-stirred, with music, and salt and pepper," said Magpie.
"Four? I thought I brought five with me?" said SnuggleBunny.
"No," said Magpie. "See, the donuts are as you left them."
"OK, I guess it is as you say," said SnuggleBunny. But, he thought there were fewer donuts than before. He reached for his first donut.
"Wait," said Magpie. "Taking donuts directly from the box is impolite. Could you not get a serving platter from the sideboard, if you please?"
"OK. I'll be right back," said SnuggleBunny.
SnuggleBunny hopped to the sideboard, came back with a beautiful platter, and sat down.
"Now we can enjoy the three donuts you have brought, served from the platter onto our saucers, with our napkins and our hot coffee with cream and sugar, well-stirred, with music, and salt and pepper," said Magpie.
"Three? I thought I brought four with me?" said SnuggleBunny.
"No," said Magpie. "See, the donuts are as you left them."
"OK, I guess it is as you say," said SnuggleBunny. But, now he thought there were far fewer donuts than before. He arranged the three donuts on the serving platter and then reached for his first donut.
"Wait," said Magpie. "It is impolite to serve yourself with your hands. Could you not get a fish slice from the drawer, if you please?"
"OK. I'll be right back," said SnuggleBunny.
SnuggleBunny hopped to the drawer, came back with a silver fish slice, and sat down.
"Now we can enjoy the two donuts you have brought, served with the fish slice from the platter onto our saucers, with our napkins and our hot coffee with cream and sugar, well-stirred, with music, and salt and pepper," said Magpie.
"Two? I thought I brought three with me?" said SnuggleBunny.
"No," said Magpie. "See, the donuts are on the platter, as you left them."
"OK, I guess it is as you say," said SnuggleBunny. But, he realized that the donuts he brought had almost all gone. He reached for his first donut.
"Wait," said Magpie. "I have just remembered that I have shortbread in my pantry. Could we not use it to supplement the donuts you have brought? Bring it in, would you?"
"OK. I'll be right back," said SnuggleBunny.
SnuggleBunny hopped to the pantry, but the pantry was bare. He came back empty-handed and sat down.
"I have just remembered that I ate the last bit of shortbread last week. At least we can enjoy the donut you have brought, served with the fish slice from the platter onto our saucers, with our napkins and our hot coffee with cream and sugar, well-stirred, with music, and salt and pepper, but without shortbread," said Magpie.
"One? I thought I brought two with me?" said SnuggleBunny.
"No," said Magpie. "See, the donut is on the platter, as you left it."
"OK, I guess it is as you say," said SnuggleBunny. "But how should we divide the donut?"
"Bring a knife from the kitchen, if you please," said Magpie.
"OK. I'll be right back," said SnuggleBunny.
SnuggleBunny hopped to the kitchen, came back with knife, and sat down.
To his surprise, the donut was still there. Then he noticed that Magpie was looking a little bit green.
"I will slice the donut, and you can choose which half you want," said SnuggleBunny.
He sliced the donut, and Magpie chose the smaller half. Snugglebunny served the pieces out and said, "Finally, we can enjoy the donut I have brought, served, half each, from the platter onto our saucers with the fish slice, with our napkins and our hot coffee with cream and sugar, well-stirred, with music, and salt and pepper, but sadly, without your delicious shortbread, Magpie."
Then, he ate his half donut with relish, enjoying every bite.

Moral: Gluttony is its own reward.

-MLJ

PS->Enjoy Wednesday donuts! I'll be back to share with you next week.
PPS->Hopefully someone responded to Londi's call for donors. Thank you, whoever you are!

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