Me: Dave fell asleep when I was talking to him.
Nell: He’s probably tired.
Me: One minute he was sitting up listening to me and the next he was fast asleep.
Nell: He has to do an awful lot of listening in his job as a councillor you know. Listening isn’t easy. Trust me.
Me: I don’t suppose it is.
Nell: What were you talking about?
Me: I was practising being a Talking Bowl.
Nell: Oh dear.
Me: Why did you say that?
Nell: It doesn’t bode well for the pantomime, does it? We can’t have the audience falling asleep.
Me: I thought Dave would be interested in biscuits.
Nell: David had a large breakfast. It’s Saturday, so Poppy always makes bacon sandwiches. Nobody is interested in biscuits on a Saturday.
Me: But there are probably biscuits in the Talking Bowl, aren’t there?
Nell: Certainly not. Have you even read the story?
Me: Not yet, but I have an idea from what you told me.
Nell: Evil Mrs Snow looks into the Talking Bowl and says ‘Who is the fairest of them all?’
Me: Yes. That’s what I thought.
Nell: How can she see anything in a bowl of biscuits?
Me: You might have a point there.
Nell: The Talking Bowl is full of water.
Me: Of course. Silly me. The Cat is going to have an awful lot of work getting my costume right, isn’t it?
Nell: What costume?
Me: My Talking Bowl costume.
Nell: You don’t have one.
Me: I can’t just stand there, Nell.
Nell: You don’t need a costume. You’re not on stage. You are just the voice.
Me: I didn’t know.
Nell: Kev will record you. He’s been doing a lot of that recently and is awfully good at it.
Me: Oh, I see. Sorry.