LET'S DRINK TO THAT

"A brilliant plan," said The Pirate. "Let's drink to that! Princes first!"

That's how you know it was a dream, when The Pirate suggests someone else drink first, even if it is a Prince.

Filberto stirred in his sleep, the dream as vivid to him as if it were real.

ADVICE FROM THE PRINCE OF MAVRIDOU

"It is a simple matter," said James, Prince of Mavridou. "you must hide the letter in plain sight. That way, no one will notice it."

"But how?" asked The Pirate, which we must remember is really Filberto The Raccoon trying to solve the puzzle for himself in his dream.

"Let's look at the most common object you possess," said the Prince. "That would be your bottle of rum. Perhaps you should drain the bottle and place the letter inside."

EDGAR ALLEN PIRATE

As Filberto dozed off, he dreamed that The Pirate was Edgar Allen Poe, and had been granted an audience with James, the young Prince of Mavridou, whom he had met while sailing in Aegean.

"What should The Raccoon do with the purloined letter?" asked The Pirate.

The Prince considered carefully before forming his reply:

AN UNSETTLED NAP BEFORE THE SHOW

Back in his lair, Filberto takes his accustomed pre-show siesta, but he has trouble resting. Did he hide the letter well enough?

"What would Edgar Allen Poe do?" he asked himself.

A TOUCH!

"Um--I don't wish to be rude," said Clarence, sharply, "but I don't really need your paw except as an appetizer."

"Good one! A Veritable hit!" laughed Filberto. "I may have to use that joke in my next interview. I'll give proper attribution, of course!" Then he gathered himself as tall as he could and said "Truly, must be off to learn my lines--I'll leave word at the box office in case you can make it. I see you have a terribly busy schedule. Kind of like your teeth. Adios!"

WHISPERED CONVERSATION

Clarence whispered to Giovanni Lento: "Can I tell him I have a show at the Aquarium of my own that would conflict?
"I wouldn't," Giovanni whispered back. "I think he may not know that other puppets perform, too"

"May not know or does not want to know?" Clarence asked, still whispering.

Filberto, being the sensitive artist, was not unaware of their whispering. "If you want my pawtograph, you just have to ask," he said. "You need not whisper."

I WAS JUST ON MY WAY OUT

Before Giovanni Lento could spill anything to Clarence, Filberto the Raccoon bumped into them on his way to his lair.
"Where are YOU going?" asked Clarence,
"I was just on my way out," said Filberto, who was holding with the letter that might prove important later on.
"What's that you are carrying?" Clarence demanded.
"Why, it's my script for my performance this evening at the theatre. I am a stage puppet, you know!"
Before they could say they did not know, Filberto added, "I'll get you tickets for the Matinee--no, no, don't thank me, I am always glad to have fans like you in the audience."

Thank goodness for Filberto's acting skills.....

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN--

"You seem like a helpful kind of fellow," said Giovanni Lento. ""May I assume that everything I tell you can be held in strictest confidence?"

"It's just as if you're talking to a lawyer," said Clarence not quite able to look the turtle in the eye. "That is my profession and my avocation. So spill it!"

CLARENCE WOULD

Clarence Thurgood Cochran III was on his way into Red Riding Hood's house, saw Giovanni Lento in distress, and righted the turtle--but the situation?
"Catch a ride with me, and tell me about your troubles," said Clarence in an insincere soothing tone.

UH-OH

Giovanni Lento, not used to high speeds, flipped over onto his back.

"This is why you shouldn't rush anywhere," he thought, now regretting his haste.

"Hello! Anyone want to come turn me over?" he called out.

A TURTLE IN A HURRY

Giovanni Lento, with the help of gravity, is almost down from the bed. He feels the thrilling rush of speed as never before. "So this is what they're talking about," he mused. "I can see where some puppets enjoy it."

CAN YOU HOLD THE SHOT, PLEASE?

Giovanni Lento reached the end of the bed and can just slide downhill to try to get to the group photo--or the sound of the noise in the kitchen. He is now beginning to think he may have to hurry just a little.

FIRST ANNIVERSARY

June 18th--the day Slow John started The Daily Puppet for me, and coincidentally the wedding anniversary of my own parent puppets. I wish I could think of something witty or wise to say for the occasion. Clearly I cannot, so I'll simply thank all my puppets (some, like Giovanni Lento, were slow getting to the group photo) and my few readers who follow their adventures.

WHAT A TEASE!

"Really, it wouldn't be right for you to see this," said Filberto, flashing the letter tantalizingly close, too fast to focus.
"And as for your impertinent question," he continued, "I think it best not to let you know right now, but the dictates of drama are such that I must take this to my den postwith so that it can be preserved in order to enlighten all regarding a certain puppet."

Speaking of other puppets, the sounds of buzzing, flapping, guzzling, gurgling, snapping and tumbling were heard from the shed to the kitchen, growing louder.

"Ta-ta!" laughed Filberto, scurrying to his den, wherever that was.

WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Filberto--realizing the damaging content of the letter in the trash--quickly regained his composure and pretended to return to eating his grapes.

"Please ignore my outburst," he said. "I was just embarrassed by seeing an old love letter. I should probably take it somewhere else."

Was there an element of truth or was Filberto making that up entirely?

FILBERTO FINDS SOMETHING OF IMPORT

"This delicious trash, for example, contains a high-nutrient, balanced and fiber-rich cornucopia of disposable delights. Moreover," he continued, "it is my way of understanding characters, my own Stanislavski method. When I go through trash, I unpeel layers of defenses, just as if they are orange peels or potato peels, which so often they are in actuality."
Filberto lent a keen eye to the discarded papers in his trash pile. "What's this?" he said, awed by his own discoveries, as usual, "An actual script? What's this doing here?"

He began to read the letter that Little Red Riding Hood had buried deep in the trash-or at least had meant to.

"Good heavens!" he exclaimed, not acting, this time.

THE UNEXAMINED TRASH IS NOT WORTH GNAWING

"Art is a process of discovery, of discovering the true soul, so it is both trash and treasure," mused, between gulps of fruit. "I take such joy in trash because it is the best way to know who you are." Filberto wished to illustrate the point so he turned to the artistic pile of trash he'd created.

SUCH AN EASY QUESTION

"They are indeed one and the same," sad Filberto, swallowing the last grape of that bunch, when he heard my question. "It's time we ceased to view the word trash as pejorative." He let the stems drop to the floor as if painting a canvas.

"There is a true art to garbage. Whereas you know I dislike complimenting myself too much, I do consider myself something of a master at it."

He grabbed another bunch of grapes with which to ply his craft.

MEANTIME, BACK AT THE TRASH....

Filberto has been having a jolly time, finding all kinds of treats in the kitchen, not just the trash, although he did a good job of re-introducing the trash that Little Red Riding Hood had so tidily discarded.

To borrow an old phrase, may we not ask if one's puppet's trash could become another puppet's treasure?

SLOW AND STEADY---

---really does not get you anywhere very quickly.
Giovanni Lento courses towards the far side of the bed.

STARTING TO GET CROWDED

The mouse is forced to retreat with just a cracker in his paws. He decided to find Filberto and The Pirate.

SOUP'S ON!

The Bee calls to his fellow bugs in a clarion bugle call. Or bug-le call.

BUG UPDATE

Uh-oh. The first bee has found the honey in the cupboard.

GIOVANNI LENTO 'S PROGRESS

Oh dear. Giovanni Lento has taken a wrong turn on his way to the cupboard to stop the mischief going on there--or at least help to straighten up the peas--when he made a left turn at the bedroom. He admired the neatness of the covers (I did mention that he hates a mess, didn't I?). "What's the hurry?" he thought to himself as he continued across the bed. "I'll get there when I get there."

GETTING IN DEEP WATERS

"That's better," said Clarence the Shark. "I'm going to have a swim over to the house and see how creative I can get with your case."

"I go with-a you!" said Pinocchio.

"You go see my physician!" Clarence ordered.

THE CORRECT RESPONSE?

"I say-a 'Ow--my-a aching-a back!' " said Pinocchio.

AN UGLY TURN AT THE LAWYER'S OFFICE

I want you to look at things from my perspective. If you sue me," said Clarence Thurgood Cochran III, with a diabolical flash of sharp teeth, "I will have to charge you a lot of money for suing Little Red Riding Hood. I can also offer my services to the noted fibber Little Head Lying Good, whom you could also sue, because he sent you to the house where you were injured, but now that you have told me you feel fine, I can tell him you have no case. What do you say to that?"

LILY MAY, THE JUNE BUG

What do you know? Lily May, the June bug, wants in, too. It's going to be quite the infestation!

ONE MORE BUG

The smell of something sweet within lures yet another happy little bug toward the shed.

THE PIRATE RESTS FROM WORK

The Pirate had done his job well, finding the rum and Brandy inside the house and sampling both to see that they were indeed fit for a pirate. These labors caused him no small amount of fatigue.