“Out in the rainforest after weeks in the window. This is not what I expected,” Ruff says.

“Yessss, indeed,” Huggy says. “So many branches!”

Ruff says, “And so many smells: there’s decay in the duff; mushrooms in this log; browning rhododendron flowers on the ground and a certain odor of jasmine in the air.”

“Ruff, Are you sure you’re using that colon and the semi-colons correctly?” asks Huggy.

“Certain! And just as certain that someone will tell me if I’ve writ them wrong.” Ruff says.

“Always somebody ready to write a wrong, eh?”

“That’s what friends are for,” Ruff says.

“What else do you smell out here,” Huggy asks.

“Wait, is this a truffle I smell before me?”

“Naw,” Huggy says.

Ruff says, “I don’t gnaw until I’m sure of the fungus.”

Huggy says, “I meant . . . oh well.”

“I know you meant well,” Ruff says, “But you can die from gnawing the wrong fungus.”

Huggy just shakes his head. After a moment he says, “You know? That fungus looks a lot like a turd.”

“No sir” Ruff says, getting up on his hind legs for emphasis. “This is a turd.”

“I believe I’ll go find a branch to swing from,” Huggy says.