"Show Mr. Peabody into the library, please."
That's what the lady said to me.
That's exactly what she said.
A complete stranger.
Never saw her before in my life.
Then she walked away.
At first I was able to put it
out of my mind.
A random remark from
a random stranger.
Not worth a second thought.
But then, about a week later,
I began wondering --
who is Mr. Peabody?
Could be a coded message
meant to warn me,
or threaten me.
Or throw me off the trail.
But I've never been involved in
any kind of spy business
or criminal activity.
I work in lawn care.
"Don't let it get to you, kid"
I told myself.
I thought about telling somebody
about all this --
but couldn't think of anyone
who would take an interest in
this odd, admittedly trivial, incident.
And that thought --
that nobody in the whole
wide world took much
interest in me --
depressed me badly.
So I went down to the
Animal Shelter
and got me a dog.
A real mutt he is.
Ugly as sin.
But very affectionate
and intelligent.
I told him all about the strange
lady and what she said to me.
He listened attentively;
he seemed very interested
in the whole affair.
The dog and I worked out a theory:
It was a case of simple
mistaken identity.
Like in a movie.
I owe that dog a lot.
And that's why I named him
Mr. Peabody.
