JINGLE IN*

“No, mom, that is not an intruder, he’s our friend Peter! Let him in and we can all have cookies together!” 

Oh no, this is bad, this is really bad. She actually is back…

“What do you mean? Who is this Peter?” asked Andrea. 

“Mom, he is our friend who visited us all year long when you were on vacation. He is super nice and you can definitely trust him!” exclaimed the bird and cat.

“You let an intruder in this hut without my permission? Do you even remember the last thing I said to you three? WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT LET OTHER PEOPLE ENTER THIS HUT!”

Andrea, the mother, stormed off, leaving the cat, bird and duck by themselves. Peter, who was on the other side of the wall, heard everything and was shivering with fear. 

{Maybe I should leave.} Peter thought. {Yes, I should leave right now.}

Just as Peter was about to run for his dear life, he heard a squeak coming from behind him. He quickly turned around and saw a small crack in the door. “Hey Peter, maybe you should come in and apologize to our mom,” whispered the bird. 

Peter hesitated. 

{Would going in turn this situation from bad to even worse? Well, it's at least worth trying. You never know what's going to happen.} So, taking a deep breath, Peter entered the hut.  

{“So, what should I say?”} Peter nervously asked. “Well, just say whatever your heart desires.” replied the bird“Yeah, we know you do feel really sorry deep down in your heart, Peter” the cat encouraged“So all you need to do is to express it with your words,” added the duck.

{Okay, express with words, that should be easy enough}. 

Peter was mentally forming a nicely written letter in his mind when he heard footsteps approaching. It was Andrea, the mother of the three animals. She gasped when she saw Peter and yelled:

“What did I just tell you three? Not to let intruders in! And out of all the intruders out there, you chose to allow a human being inside our hut! Do you know how dangerous they are? They can kill you three with a bang and cook you for dinner!”

Peter immediately interrupted, “Um, no ma’am, that is not my intention at all. All I wanted to do is to play with your children in my free time so that I have company. I would never kill your children”

But no matter how hard Peter tried to convince Andrea that he was doing no harm, he was eventually kicked out of the hut and never allowed to go back again. 

{Ah, why did I make such a stupid mistake?}Peter sorrowly bowed down his head as he plodded back home, reluctantly climbing over the gate, and returning to this study room.

JINGLE OUT

*this podcast features my friend Ming Yan who plays the voice of Peter