Little Miss Neat (story)

Little Miss Neat was a very tidy person.

Probably the tidiest person in the world.

She lived in Twopin Cottage.

It was called Twopin Cottage because she kept it as neat as two pins!

She just couldn't stand a mess.

She spent all day every day polishing and dusting and cleaning and making sure that things were in their proper place.

One morning Little Miss Neat awoke in her bedroom at Twopin Cottage.

She looked out of her bedroom window.

It had been raining during the night, and there was a puddle in the middle of her garden path.

"Oh," she gasped in horror, and rushed outside with a dust rag.

She mopped up every drop of the puddle, and then she rushed inside and washed the dust rag and then she ironed the dust rag, and then she folded the dust rag and then she placed the dust rag very neatly back in the drawer.

Everything in Twopin Cottage had its proper place!

Now, this story is about the time little Miss Neat went on a vacation.

She always went away for one week every summer, and this year was no different.

She spent two weeks packing.

And then she spent a whole day polishing her suitcase.

And then off she went leaving Twopin Cottage all spic-and-span and neat and tidy.

Oh, I hope it doesn't get too dusty while I'm away," she thought as she closed the door behind her.

But something worse than getting dusty was going to happen at Twopin Cottage.

Would you like to know what?

Mr. Muddle came to visit!

He'd written to Miss Neat to tell her, but, being Mr. Muddle, he somehow got into a muddle mailing the letter.

Actually, what happened was that when Mr. Muddle went to mail the letter, he had the letter in one hand and a half-eaten sandwich in the other.

And you can guess what happened, can't you?

That's right!

He mailed the sandwich!

A mailed cheese sandwich!

"It'll be nice seeing Miss Neat again," he chuckled to himself as he walked home.

"This sandwich is a bit chewy," he thought.

It was the day after Miss Neat left that Mr. Muddle arrived.

He walked up the garden path of Twopin Cottage, and knocked at the door.

No reply!

"Good-bye!" he shouted.

It should have been "Hello!" but he isn't called Mr. Muddle for nothing.

"Anybody home?" he called.

He pushed open the door.

"Oh dear," he thought as he looked around.

"Nobody home!"

"Never mind," he thought. "I'll make myself a cup of tea and wait for Miss Neat."

So he went into the kitchen of Twopin Cottage, made himself a cup of tea, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And went home.

Little Miss Neat stepped out of the taxi outside Twopin Cottage.

"That was a lovely vacation," she said, paying the taxi driver, "but it's nice to be home."

She walked up the garden path, and went in through the door.

"Not too dusty," she said to herself looking around,

"I think I'll make myself a nice cup of tea before I start unpacking."

But, making tea after a Mr. Muddle visit isn't

quite as easy as it sounds.

Little Miss Neat eventually found the teapot.

Not in its proper place.

In the refrigerator!

And she eventually found the milk.

Not in its proper place.

In the teapot!

And the tea.

In the sugar bowl!

And the sugar.

In the milk bottle!

And a cup.

In the oven!

And a saucer.

In the breadbox!

But could she find a teaspoon?

She could not!

The telephone rang.

Little Miss Neat picked it up.

Hello," she said.

At the other end Mr. Muddle suddenly realized he was holding the phone the wrong way.

He turned it around the right way.

"Good-bye," he said.

"Who's this?" asked Miss Neat.

"It's you," replied Mr. Muddle.

Miss Neat thought.

'It's Mr. Muddle, isn't it?" she guessed.

"Yes," replied Mr. Muddle, getting it right for once.

"And you paid me a visit while I was away on vacation, didn't you?" she guessed again.

"Yes," replied Mr. Muddle, getting it right again.

May I come and see you now that you're back?"

"l suppose so," sighed Miss Neat.

"Good-bye!"

"Hello!" said Mr. Muddle.

And put the phone down.

Little Miss Neat sighed a heavy sigh, and sat down in the armchair next to the telephone.

Ouch!!

She looked underneath the cushion.

There were all her teaspoons.

And knives!

And forks!

I don't think little Miss Neat will be taking a vacation next year.

Do you?