Between the Lines: The Lion and the Mouse

Hi everyone. I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and that all the fathers out there enjoyed a marvelous Father's Day. I sure did. This week, I am fortunate to have two special guests here with me. They're really fable-ous (okay cheesy joke). Not only that, but they've become the best of friends, which was extremely unlikely, to say the least. I'm talking of course about the Lion and the Mouse.

Greg:  Welcome to both of you and thanks for stopping by. I have to say, a lion and a mouse make for strange friends. How did you two meet?

Mouse:  Well, to be perfectly frank, it was not a particularly pleasant meeting for me at first. You see, I almost wound up as breakfast for my large feline friend here.

Greg:  Oh my, that doesn't sound pleasant at all.

Mouse:  It definitely wasn't. It's very unsettling to be walking home with a lovely little bit of hard cheese for breakfast when out of nowhere your tail is pinned by a massive hairy paw. It was nearly the death of me, in more ways than one.

Lion:  Well imagine how I felt. I mean, here I am looking for something nice and meaty to eat, and there's nothing to be found. Suddenly, along comes the smallest, scrawniest excuse for a mouse. Well, what could I do? I swallowed my pride and prepared to swallow him.

Mouse:  Yeah, he was getting ready to swallow me whole--hey, who are you calling scrawny?

Lion:  Oh, lighten up. You know what I mean.

Mouse:  No, I don't know what you mean. 

Lion:  Don't be so sensitive, I didn't eat you.

Mouse:  Only because I begged you not to. I had to cook up some story about a wife and a hole full of children. That got you. You let me go and I said that maybe one day I'd be able to return the favor.

Lion:  Yeah, but I never thought there would be any chance that you'd be able to. You're so small and scrawny and I'm so big and strong.

Mouse:  Yeah, yeah, sure. But you weren't big enough to look where you were going. You ran right into that trap, didn't you? 

Lion:  Er, um, that's beside the point. It could have happened to anyone.

Mouse:  Sure, but it didn't happen to anyone, it happened to you! You're lucky I was around to hear your pitiful cries for help! I came running and there you were, all trussed up in a net. Lucky for you I have sharp teeth, small thought they are, and I was able to gnaw you loose.

Lion:  Well, yes, that's true and you repaid the favor I did you. 

Mouse:  Yeah. You know, we really are a good team when you think about it.

Lion:  Yes, of course. That must be why we get along so well.

Greg:  I certainly think you get along very well. Thanks for sharing.

Mouse:  No problem. We really enjoyed it. Hey Lion, want to go somewhere and get some breakfast?

Lion:  Not really. I'm not very hungry. I wouldn't be able to eat more than a mouthful.