PRINCESS SWEET PEA'S ADVENTURES WITH THE DEARLY DEPARTED

Princess Sweet Pea is Mrs. Bird and Guy Smiley's daughter. She has always been a favorite of mine.

She was working in the pharmacy the other day when she heard a woman give a faint little scream. The Princess looked the woman's way and watched as the woman dropped to the floor.

Curious, The Princess walked around the isles to find the woman frantically making sweeping motions on the floor. Thinking maybe she had lost a contact lense or maybe her jewelry had broken and the woman was trying to round up lost pearls, she offered to help.

"It's my best friend. My very best friend," the woman wailed. "I had her ashes in my locket, and it just opened, and now she's strewn all over the pharmacy floor."

And the Princess? She brought the woman a broom and a dust pan. "Uum...good luck with that," she said in her most reverent voice. Then she retreated behind the Phillips Milk of Magnesia and Hemorrhoid Cream.

I hope Princess Sweet Pea made a mental note to be careful when sweeping up that night. Maybe the floor dust would be more than just ordinarry dust. I hope she scattered it under a lovely rose bush in the local park and thought to say a few words, and to have a moment of silence, just in case.

And now you know that interesting things happen to Mrs. Bird and Guy Smiley's offspring, too. Stay tuned.