A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Market, 7:40 p.m. PST

Walking down the alley on the way to Little's Market, I spied my friend Jessica approaching, cradling a large brown paper bag.

"What's in the bag," asked I.

"Burr."

"Burr?"

"Burr," she said.

"What kind of burr?"

"Stoat."

Just then, her boyfriend Brian poked his head out of the apartment door (yes, they live in an alley) and said, "Jessica, what are you doing? I thought you were doing laundry," to which she replied:

"No. I was at the store. Buying beer."

I walked on, lonely as a cloud.