*sigh* It seems that you have met your end. Ugh, what a pity. Y'know, I-I don't feel too bad about it, though. After all, if it weren't me, it would've just been one of the others, I guess. I'm honestly just glad to be out of those air ducts. Y'know, it's... it's not easy for a hippopotamus to fit up there. And... not easy to get down, either. Not as young as I used to be, as you can see. I used to get to do all sorts of things. Y-you're young, you're vibrant, you have that sort of pep in your step. *sigh* It reminds me of a conversation I was having with one of my good friends, Orville. We were having a nice picnic one day. I believe it was summer... or perhaps it was... was it the fall? Yes yes yes, it was the fall because the leaves had turned already. But I said to Orville, I-I said, "Orville, I have a story to tell you." And Orville looked at me, y'know, kinda odd and, and-and said, "What is it about?" I said to him, "Not every story has to be about something, Orville. Sometimes a person just wants to talk. Why does everything have to be a story?" I said to him. He just looked at me and he said, "Well, you-you-you said you had a story." Y'know, he was quite right. I did in fact. I told him I had a story. I suppose if a person just wants to talk, then it's best to not announce that you're telling a story. Telling a story does come with its own pressures and expectations, I-I suppose. After all, if you're just talking to a friend, then there's no more expectations than if you're talking into the wind! Words by themselves aren't expected to carry, and aren't expected to stick. But if, y'know, if you announce that you're telling a story, well then... there better be a point to it all, y'know? No one wants to sit and listen to someone ramble on and on and on with absolutely no end in sight. So, you know, it's-it's good to be mindful when you tell someone you're about to tell a story that you have something to say. Telling someone that you're gonna tell them a story is tantamount to ask them to stop what they're doing and-and pay attention. You're basically saying, "Hey, hey, hey buddy, stop everything, stop what you’re thinking, I have a solution to everything." And, well, I didn't really have any story to tell. In-in hindsight, I-I probably just misspoke when I said that I had a story. I think it would have been better to tell Orville that I wanted to tell him something, rather than tell him I had a story. But y'know, even then, that might have put too much importance on the whole thing. Either way, it was quite a nice day. I remember... I remember that we were drinking tea.