KIRBY RESTORED TO DOG FORM

Without any prompting at all from the slumbering Storyteller, Kirby reverted from his Easter Bunny magical form back into his canine attire. He stretched his front legs out. "Is all the Bunny done, now?" asked Naomi.

MY NOSE IS OUT OF THE-A JOINT, TOO!

"But I can fix-a my nose, just by filling out the-a tax forms again! I write in all the-a numbers that come-a into my wooden head, and Ecco! A bella tax-a return! Why we only have the-a Big Tax Day just once a year?"

RUFFLING FEATHERS AND FAUX FUR

The Big Bunny jumped on the article and nibbled through it: Where is the outrage that the Easter Puppy story is not yet done?

He was not the only puppet with his nose out of joint.

ALL THE PUPPET NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT

Kirby, also known as the Easter Puppy, if you recall, was excited to see the Los Angeles Times reporting on important puppet news, and called his colleagues to discuss the article.

A HUG IN TIME

"Yes, that gives us the strength to go on," they agreed, and started their return to the story of the Easter Puppy, as told by the Yoga Master, and figure a way to awaken him and the storyteller.
While they slept, the newspaper carried a story about them:

REMEMBERING A NIGHTMARE

"I might envy The Storyteller, still asleep," said The Boss. "Some nightmares are very hard to take."

"Yes, said the other Boss. "It's a very good day to hug your monkeys and let them hug you back."

IT'S A NIGHTMARE

"Picture the unthinkable, and that's what it's like for me to do something myself."

"That's a catchy phrase," said the Other Boss. "I may have to use it next time I have to do something."

"Like awaken the storyteller?"

WHAT HAPPENS THEN?

"Oh, I have all kinds of nightmares when I have to do something myself," I told my psychiatrist. "I even coined a phrase for any time I had to do something on my own:

ON DEEPER ANALYSIS

"I told him that seeing as I was the alpha, I was used to other monkeys grooming me. I didn't have to do much.
It seemed like a good system--at least until I did have to do something myself."

HE ASKED ME TO TALK ABOUT MY DREAMS

"So I told him my dreams centered primarily on a banana, very ripe and delicious."

"And his reaction?"

"He mostly asked about my relationships with other monkeys."

AND THEN AGAIN, MAYBE THEY WON'T

"It's like I was saying to my psychiatrist the other day, sometimes I feel I am a prisoner of my own inaction."


"What did he say?"

MAYBE THEY'LL WAKE UP ON THEIR OWN?

---asked the other Boss, who had become a Big Boss by dint of just such wishful leadership. "Let's give that a chance to work!"

I THINK YOU SHOULD GO FIRST--

---said the other Boss.

"I went first for the Yoga Instruction.

"That's why you should continue to lead the way."

"I can't hear you, can you speak up?"

SPRINGING INTO ACTION

"You go first," said the one whose ears had been chewed off.

I SUPPOSE WE COULD GIVE THEM A HAND

"Shame about those two, said one of the Bosses.

"Who would have slipped them such powerful Mickeys?" asked the other." They did no wrong."

"I don't get it, either, but I think we should spring into action."

THERE'S THE PROBLEM

Help! Our storyteller and the yoga instructor have been cast into a deep slumber by some mysterious force! Who or what can awaken them so that the Easter Puppy story can finally be put to bed?

HAPPY EASTER!

From my Easter puppy, my Pookie and the Big Bunny himself!

IT'S THE HAPPIEST TIME OF THE YEAR

That would be according to Pinocchio, who is busy filling out forms to beat the midnight deadline.

"You leave-a everything-a to me, I take-a good care of the tax-a forms."

Are you entering everything correctly?

"I love-a the tax day, and that's no lie! You can go back to your little-a Easter story now"

THE STORY LINE 169

' "I shall ask the Magic Egg to transport you back to the place you need to go next," Naomi said.

THE STORY LINE 168

' "Quite sure--anyway the magic from the egg will wear off."

"Is there any way to get an extension?"

Naomi laughed. "We can always try for next Easter."