Merry is in the kitchen cooking seasoned rice to go with her dad’s main dish for dinner- garden stir fry. He calls it a garden stir fry because it’s always a random mix of whatever is ready to be harvested. Today it’s green squash, snap peas, onion, garlic, and beets. She has her friend over helping her out – Gnar, a nine year old tailypo creature who lives in the old mold house a short distance down the road from her.

“Hey Gnar these bubble guts I got goin’ on are gettin’ more urgent, can you add some more thyme to the rice, it’s right there on the counter. And then could you set the pot to simmer while I go to the bathroom?" Merry asked as she shuffled to the bathroom with tightly clenched bottom cheeks.

Gnar nodded eagerly, excited to help out. "Sure thing, Merry!" He mulls over the rice on the stove and then the counter. “Time, time, time, where’s the time?” Gnar pushes aside jars of garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and thyme. “Ah! Here we go, more time.” Gnar picks up Merry’s chicken egg timer and wonders, ‘How much time did she say to add?’ He looks at the pot and takes a guess. “Hmm, I think 20 min should do it,” he says twisting the chicken around the egg dial.

“Now I set the pot to simmer.” Gnar turns the stove up to high heat. “There! Now it’s really simmerin’.” The pot of rice rises to a violent boil.

Merry calls Gnar from inside the bathroom, “Gnar! Can you go grab me a roll of toilet paper from the hall closet? I got nothing left but my hands in here.”

“You got it Merry,” Gnar called out as he headed for the hall closet. The rice started boiled over the sides, spilling out and catching fire, engulfing the pot in flames.

“Hey what’s that burning smell,” Merry asks, still stuck in the bathroom. Gnar pulls his head out of the closet and looks over to the kitchen. He panics and tries to help put out the fire with the roll of toilet paper still in his hand. He screams for help.

Merry bursts out of the bathroom, “Gnar, stop! You're making it worse!" She rushes back into the kitchen and carefully grabs the pot with pot holders, takes it outside and drops it in the mud.

The flames die out and the pot is left blackened and charred.

Gnar hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Merry. I didn't mean to cause a fire."

“What happened in there?”

“Well I added more time to the timer and set the stove the high heat to simmer just like you said.”

Merry sighed at this Amelia Bedelia turn of events. “It's okay, Gnar. Accidents happen. The important thing is that no one got hurt."

Gnar nodded, grateful for Merry's understanding. "We make a good team, though don't we," Gnar asks raising his hand for a high five.

"We do, but I gotta go wash my hands and throw away those pot holders first," Merry says, walking away with her hands hovering away from her body.