Gum story

I was in my office at my computer when I heard a noise I thought I should investigate. I got up from my chair and discovered Nicky in the hallway, acting guilty about something. You know what I mean. The little excited dance, the wagging tail.

Hm-m-m. He doesn't seem to have anything in his mouth and he didn't run away when I approached him. What's going on? I surveyed the living room. All seemed in order. I moved on to the kitchen. What is this grayish little blob on the floor? Paper? No! It's ABC gum!

Where did Nicky get Already Been Chewed gum? Ah, now I remember! When I came home from shopping this afternoon I changed from long pants into shorts, leaving the long pants on the edge of my bed. In the pocket, wrapped in a Kleenex tissue, I'd left the gum I'd chewed earlier in the day.

Nicky had very carefully removed the Kleenex with the gum from the pants pocket, leaving a second tissue that was there to make it look as though nothing was disturbed. By the time I caught up with him he'd eaten the Kleenex, but must have decided the gum didn't have enough flavor left to chew! He spit it out onto the kitchen floor because he couldn't open the wastebasket lid to get rid of the evidence!