Tales of Tiptoe and More - Volume III

Episode 45

Bernard Beaver loved rice pudding, and tended to find any other
pudding inferior. He especially liked when the rice would stick
together in lumps, to give him something to chew on.

His neighbor Molly Mole was continually trying to introduce Bernard to other puddings, in hopes of broadening his tastes. She found a recipe for an especially tasty pumpkin pudding, and was delighted with how it came out. She couldn't wait to try it out on Bernard. She invited him over.

She didn't get her expectations too high, since he always gave the
same response. Molly set it before him saying, "This pumpkin pudding is lumpier than a rice pudding" – even though the response was always, "Well, that's all well and good, but you know how I feel about rice pudding...".

But after taking a small spoonful of the pudding, a look of delight
came over Bernard, and he quickly ate the whole bowl of pudding. He sat back with a satisfied smile, but then his eyes glazed over, and then closed.

Molly became concerned, but within a minute, he opened his eyes and said, "Somehow your pumpkin pudding triggered off memories of a past life, where my favorite activity was to go into different shops and tiptoe down the aisles, while reciting nursery rhymes in Esperanto. But my tiptoeing technique was somewhat inelegant, because I'd learned to Viking-tiptoe from Rollo the Rich Kid, and so tended to knock over merchandise in the shops. I had been banned from Cindy Camel's China Shop, because I had broken too many things.

"But I finally spent several tiptoe sessions with Nancy, who taught me a more elegant way of tiptoeing, and after a few weeks, I had finally learned how to tiptoe through the china shop. It had taken Nancy quite awhile to convince Cindy Camel to let Bernard back into her shop, but after finally reluctantly giving in, she was delighted with his refined tiptoeing technique, and he soon was invited to return any time he wanted, because it would attract more customers into her shop."

Molly was relieved that Bernard had recovered from his "Pumpkin
Pudding Experience" so well, but was reluctant to offer him another serving.