What Happens Next

       

Toots

Suzie

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            “That’s always the question, isn’t it?” said Suzie.

            “Who decides what happens next is the real question,” said Toots. “Look at it this way,” she said, turning her head sideways. “It’s always a matter of perspective!”
            “Very funny, mrrrt!, Toots, but I quite see what you mean in actuality,” said Suzie.
            “Let’s imagine asking Sweetie what Maurice will do next!” said Toots.
            “Well, OK, if you want to posit a horrid talking dog thing and then ask that infant with no experience, but only instinct, what it would do next. Hm. I live with the infant. Let’s see. He would likely say that Maurice would pounce on the old lady and maybe steal her Buick!” Suzie suggested. “Then Maurice would drive all the way to the Great Forest, even though he’s never driven a car before!”
            “It’s all go go go, and pounce with him, huh?” said Toots. “Brrrt!”
            “How about the Fluffbag?” giggled Toots.
            “His Maurice would be all suave and agreeable. He’d probably ask Mable about her family and how she liked to make a certain casserole, something like that,” said Suzie. “He’d purr his tail off. Probably put her to sleep right out in that freight yard!”
            “Well, that doesn’t advance the plot very much, does it? Pick somebody else,” said Toots.
            “How about you! What do you think happens next, Dear?” said Suzie, after a long pause and some purring.
            “If I were Maurice, perish the very idea, I would hide from that sneaky old woman! Before she saw me, I’d take off like a streak. Naturally. I wouldn’t want to play her weird hide and seek game! You better believe!” announced Toots, with some heat.
            “Hm, I can’t say that I would choose any different, Toots,” said Suzy. “What does the old babe want anyhow? Is it all a huge mysterious altruistic urge, or what? I don’t trust her!”
            “Of course, we must remember that a talking dog thing deserves whatever it gets, but for the sake of argument, I agree,” said Toots.
            “He was pretty kind to that waitress, even if his manners were not perfect,” said Suzie.
            “You have to give him a point there,” agreed Toots. “How about the other infant, Booker?”
            “It is true that he is observant and mostly quiet, but it hasn’t gotten him very far yet. I’m afraid that if you asked him what a character like Maurice should do next, it would be something like taking a long nap in the back seat of the Buick and waiting to see where Mable took him. He’s awfully cuddly for a Warrior Scout, you know?” Suzie sighed and shrugged.
            “How about that engineer?” asked Toots, with a sly little grin.
            “Pffft! He’d probably ask Mable to elucidate exactly what she was up to and what her plans for Maurice were,” said Suzie.
            Toots laughed, and said, “How about herself, the writer? Do you have any idea of what she thinks will happen next?”
            “Could be anything Toots! She likes to imagine friendly ETs and instantaneous Yogic travel! Or that the Buick is empty..or goodness knows what! I don’t,” said Suzie. “Maybe there is no old lady. Maybe the Buick is sentient. Maybe Mable is on a different wavelength than the posited talking Howler dog thing?”
            “Maybe Ralph is in the driver’s seat!” yowled Toots.
            Both girls had to break for a giggle fit.
            “OK, we’re just being silly now,” said Toots, “And after all, this is just another doggone Open Thread, isn’t it?”
            “Yup!” said Suzie. “But, like we said, you really have to wonder what could happen next!”
            “The question is wide open!” agree Toots.

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