I continued through several other tongue twisters, allowing the queen and her guards to each try to say the dillies. They had more trouble than one could imagine, but they all laughed and let me know that they were enjoying the challenge.
There was a short break while drinks were drunk, the queen commanding that I also partake. When I told her I didn’t like alcohol she smirked and said, “Life would get tedious without it,” but she offered me some fruit juice instead, and I took two sips of that, not really liking the strange taste, but allowing it to wet my throat.
“Give us something different,” the queen said then.
I’d been hoping that the tongue twisters would be sufficient. Cara, Sammy, and I had almost been hooked off the stage at the local karaoke bar, where we were booed for our story and then our terrible voices, although Cara’s wasn’t that bad, actually.
But, when a queen commands, one has little choice. I cleared my throat, took another sip of the fruit concoction: pineapple, mango, and orange with coconut milk floating on the top? I walked back to the table, set down the goblet, then turned to face my audience of four.
“Well, there were these four animals who escaped from their human owners. The animals had decided to have a full night of adventure. The first animal was a donkey, the others: a cat, a dog, and a cow. The cow wanted first to go back to the barn for a night snack of some delicious hay. The donkey said that was a super idea because he was suddenly very hungry, but the dog and cat shook their heads and said that only the kitchen of a house would be the place to get proper food.
The four animals argued and argued, until finally they fell into a big pile of hooves, paws, and claws.
Finally, when the cow and donkey were lying on the ground panting, the dog was howling with pain, and the cat was mewing up a storm, the people came out of the house and saw the tangle of animals.
The cow and the donkey were led back to the barn and given some barley hay. The dog and cat were picked up and carted back into the house where they each received an ample bowl of kibble.
Inside the house’s kitchen, the cat said, “That was a great adventure,” The dog woofed in agreement as the two of them crunched away at their individual servings of food.
Out in the barn, the cow told the donkey, “That was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.” The two were almost smiling as they munched away on their hay.
The humans went back to bed and never once wondered why the animals had gotten into such a big fight in the middle of the backyard.
But this tale just goes to show that the best of all adventures is truly found only in one’s perception of it.”
I’m sorry to say that the reception this story received was equal to the one in the karaoke lounge. Only this time, there was no hook.
One of the guards grunted in scorn. “Cows don’t talk,” he said.