In Which Winnie-the-Pooh Meets Somebody New

[Winnie the Pooh]

One glorious morning in early August, Winnie the Pooh arrived at his thoughtful spot.

A chubby, yellow teddy bear in an undersized red shirt waddled pass a crude sign with "POOH'S THOTFUL SPOT" written on the surface by black paint. Now surrounded by trees, Winnie the Pooh sat on the log in the clearing. He squinted his beady, black eyes, crossed his right arm on his chest and tapped his head with his stubby left fingerless hand.

But little did Pooh know that he would be greeted by somebody he didn't know.

Pooh Bear, hearing the narrator, looked to 'him' (which was really to the 'camera') and raised his tiny, thin eyebrows. "I would?"

You will!

"I will?" The silly old bear stood up and looked around. "But, I don't see anybody I don't know. I don't see anybody I know, either." He locked his hands behind his back as the narrator continued to explain.

That's because they're on their way, Pooh.

"Oh. Had I known they'd be on their way, I would have had a small smackeral." The hungry bear looked up. "Have you seen any bee hives, Mr. Narrator?"

There's no time for hunny, Pooh! Somebody's here to meet you!

Pooh looked ahead. "Bother."

[Basil]

It was rather a splendid day for a walk, or so Basil thought, as he ambled along through a pretty-ish wooded area, hands clasped behind his back.

The English are great walkers, generally speaking, and the mouse found it a pleasant way to take exercise when the weather cooperated.

As he passed by a sort of copse, Basil noted a stuffed doll sitting in a clearing, no doubt forgotten by some child or other. Not that he attached much importance to it, but the detective made it a point to notice everything around him whenever possible.

[Winnie the Pooh]

The stuffed doll that Basil had noticed was a very unique doll. It had a brain of its own... albeit with a little amount of brain, the bear would often confess. Winnie the Pooh moved his head to look about from here he sat on his Thotful Spot. His beady, black eyes noticed a tiny mouse in clothes decidedly more lavish than his undersized red shirt.

Pooh Bear held up his right arm and waved his right, fingerless paw by flapping the top half a few times. "Hello, Somebody-I-Don't-Know." He smiled in blissful simplicity. "Have you seen any bee hives on your way?"

[Basil]

If you had asked Basil the very last thing he expected to encounter on that day, a stuffed doll with a life of its own would've been rather near the top of the list.

Frozen to the spot, he gaped a bit before giving out with a tentative, "How do you do?"

The plaything's second question was crowded out by a much more pressing matter. "How can a child's toy move about by itself?" Was he asking the toy? Or was he merely thinking aloud?

In any case, Basil finally overcame his shock and moved in for a closer inspection, whipping out his ever-ready magnifying lens and training it upon the doll, which was a good deal bigger than your average rodent.

"Come, come, say something more."