Sillie Sallie's Surefire Solutions And Speculations

Sillie Sallie says, "DANDELION!"

Today, you barely make it through the gate before Sillie Sallie bounces up to greet you. Sallie is in a great mood, and in addition to her pink ear bow, she has donned an old pair of wire spectacles. Upon closer inspection, you notice that the spectacles have no glass. Sallie is carrying a bouquet made entirely of dandelions. She shakes them at you, and you sneeze. Sillie Sallie smiles triumphantly, apparently having proven her point, which is a point known only to her, and sits down, preparing to speak.

"Hello!" she says, and clears her throat. "Today is the day for the letter "D", and THAT means we are having a history lesson." She shakes the dandelions again, but you fail to sneeze. Sallie frowns. "Anyway.....Once upon a time, long ago, in a land beyond the south pasture, there lived a lion named Leonard." Sallie pauses for dramatic effect. Seeing none, she wilts a little, and then continues. "Leonard was a snazzy dresser, always insisting on having the latest ribbons and ties. He loved going out. He was a real party animal. Unfortunately, in addition to being such a dandy, he was also a practical joker. His favorite trick was to fill his mane with pepper, so that when he shook it, everyone around him would sneeze. This didn't make him a very POPULAR party animal, as you can imagine.'

Sallie stops a moment and looks at you over the top of her wire frames. "With me so far, or should I baaack off a bit? I keep forgetting you are only human." When you assure her that you are fine, she continues, still looking a wee bit skeptical.

"Finally, all of the other lions had had enough. They chased poor Leonard out of the pride and far away, where, incidentally, Leonard had a much better life with people who owned a circus and appreciated him. But as he ran away, he yelled a curse at his former friends, swearing that from that day on, they would be forced to sneeze every spring, in memory of that horrid day. As he spoke and ran, billions of little white seeds appeared and the wind blew, spreading them throughout the lands and causing much achoo. From the seeds grew a new flower, one that blew apart and spread with the merest breath."

Sallie looks at you and shakes her bouquet again. You sneeze obligingly. She smiles.

"To this day, those flower grow and spread, causing us to sneeze, so that no one will ever forget the wrongs heaped on the DANDY LION!?

Smiling with satisfaction brought on by a history lesson well taught, Sillie Sallie wanders back to the Pen.