Me: Look at you all waiting on the bed.
Nell: Are you coming home today?
Me: Yes, this afternoon.
Nell: Good. It’s time.
Me: It’s been a lovely few days. Writing is such a solitary activity. Spending time with other writers is important.
Nell: Well, don’t expect any solitary activity here.
Me: Why? I thought the house might be quieter without Gladys, Alejandro and the llamas.
Nell: Not with Clap and Splash going on.
Me: What?
Nell: Princess and Our Penguin have replaced Glide with Gladys with an Aqua Zumba class in her pool.
Me: I thought Princess was away playing the Mother Superior in ‘The Sound of Music’?
Nell: She pulled out in solidarity with Harriet and Rupert.
Me: So who’s taken her place?
Nell: You’re not going to believe this.
Me: I just might.
Nell: Stephen Seagull.
Me: I was not expecting that.
Nell: Nobody was. My friend Dorothy was speechless when I told her. And you know what Dorothy is like. She has an opinion on everything.
Me: She is a Salcombe Setter, Nell.
Nell: Quite.
Me: How did it happen?
Nell: When Stephen heard Lionel was directing he insisted on joining the cast.
Me: Did Lionel King agree?
Nell: He had no choice. Stephen Seagull put his webbed foot down.
Me: I know he can dance a little but can he sing?
Nell: Not really. Fortunately the Whippets Institute are there to support him.
Me: With cake?
Nell: No. They are playing the nuns.
Me: I’ve had a worrying thought.
Nell: Here we go.
Me: The von Trapp children are going to tower over the nuns. Llamas are much larger than whippets.
Nell: That’s the least of their worries. Their Mother Superior is the dastardly leader of an evil gang of seagulls.
Me: You’re right. Sorry.
