Of course!

It's been a mighty long time (not that the clock was stretched out or anything so strange as all that, doncha know) and Ron sauntered into Agnes's establishment and sat down on the nearest seat sitting. Clearing his throat he attempts to get her attention.

"ardhgksohpsmrr r, glsnfglanlfa;rgartjpq[rtqrgakmdlk;fkmal;kfgmkakfngakjn and blah,"

"Can you spell that?" queried Agnes looking up from her crossword puzzle.

"Why, no, in fact, I cannot," replied Ron. "But I was able to saunter in. Always wanted to try doing that. I hoped I did it well."

"Can I get you anything in particular?" asked Agnes.

"A welcome hug would be pleasant, but totally optional according to how you're feelin," responded Ron. "In the absence of a hug, a nice chocolate chip cookie would fit the bill quite nicely."

"Funny you should say that," she said with a chuckle, "as I just baked up a batch and they are cooling on a wire rack in the kitchen." And with that Agnes got up and from her seat and retrieved 2 cookies, one for each of them even though she wasn't much into sweets and came back out. "Like somethin' to drink?" she asked.

"I'll take a milk."

"Milk!!!! In here we drink red eye," she responded forcefully and then broke out laughing. The 2 old friends commenced to visiting as there were no other customers at the moment.

is something magical happening? Hi Ron. (i haven’t been able to connect here for a bit, so that is why i say that) That said,,, I love getting a tentative hug from you. I love that I know it is a safe and good one, should I choose :)
Love you! I mean,,,Carry on!

"Boy howdy and slap me silly!" gurgled Ron usually (but not always) in polite company. This left Agnes wondering just exactly (and I mean EXACTLY) does this all portend. "Your name crossed my brain and, well, I felt - or maybe it was "thought" - something might be amiss. You see much has changed and I couldn't bear the thought that you might not be here. And, by the way, (which one, I do not know) mighty fine cookie as I have come to expect."

Agnes smiled knowingly and asked, "What's a six letter word for "Tube steak"? as she looked over her crossword puzzle, specifically 3 down.

“six letter word”, the saving grace.

Whether or not it is word, or words

Ron, just checking in

You give us so many smiles

It is not always an easy thing to do, but it is what you seem to do

"Well now," chirped Ron. "Six letter word?? A six letter word, huh? Hmmmmmmm..."

"You're starting to sound like a window air conditioner when you hum like that," smiled Agnes.

"Do you really think so?" he queried.

"Well, not exactly in an identical way, but that's what popped into my head at the very moment you started making that humming sound as you were thinking doncha know."

A look of discovery came over his face and then - "HOTDOG!" he blurted out causing Agnes to jump a very nearly imperceptibly small amount. (that means tiny, folks) "My stars and gardens!" exclaimed Agnes. "You nearly made me lose my balance, young man!" Apologies were forthcoming and going for the exuberant display of the crossword puzzle answer for the six letter word for 3 Down.

After catching her breath and letting go of a chuckle or two Agnes looked down (I feel much lighter now, she thought), wrote in the word and then, looking up, she queried, "How about this one - 12 across - An obscure movie from 1969?"

"How many letters?" Ron burped.

"16", came the straight and to the point reply.

Agnes was like, “I’m gonna go out a limb here,,,*scribbles in her best scribing*,,,
A-l-i-c-e-‘-s-R-e-s-t-a-u-r-a-n-t”

"Boy howdy, that was quick," quipped Ron. "Got any other posers ya haven't filled in?"

"Well, let me see," Agnes thoughtfully said. "Oh yeah, here's one. Let's see...hmmm. 61 down, four letters. The clue is "it's neither odd nor even."

"Why that sounds familiar for some strange reason. (wink, wink. nudge, nudge, say no more.) Like I heard that before somewhere. It could have been a ramblin' story. Give me a moment." And she did.

Did I say that?
I think I might have said that. But why?
Was I holding a staff asking goofy questions before a person could cross the bridge?
(In other words, I don’t remember the context?) forgive?

I was continuing the 'story' and the phrase from your previous addition. "And she did." - was your character giving my character a moment to think. Does that make sense? And, yes, you are forgiven.

Yes, I understand the thread. But the phrase struck me. "neither odd nor even" Like deja vu
Something said some time ago. I thought from a community story here.
I think either I said it, or identified strongly with its placement for some reason.
It has been a while after all.

Anyway, yes, (back to the ‘story’) giving you a moment, as it were…

I know what I would say! (not to blurt things out like that)

Yes, it was a deliberate quote from the Quizzled Cat story. You were remembering correctly. It may have been one of your contributions in fact.

I knew it! (aside from the obligatory smidgeon of doubt for the sake of my own sanity) (i knew I remembered saying it)

I remembered it as a stand alone post. Couldn’t remember where, or when, or why. I didn’t say it precisely the same way as in the crossword puzzle.
But it rang a bell hard.

I haven’t read Quizzled Cat in I don’t know how long. We have been a whimsical lot at times haven’t we.

Oh right! Back to the ‘story’. Giving a moment (to gather ones notions) as they say… *drum roll* or *harmonica interlude* or *campfire and biscuits*
It could take an unnecessary amount of minutes, but I think we all know, (nudge nudge wink wink say no more!)

"Who was that you were a-talkin' to there Agnes?" queried Ron.

"Perhaps it was some of those aliens in UFOs," she replied coyly (secretly smiling to herself).

"Oh, I think there would be ZERO chance of that being the case of soda pop," burbled Ron with a wink and a nudge. "After all everyone (and I mean EVERYone) knows that the number of aliens is so close to ZERO that it's statistically unimportant, irrelevant and downright (or was that left?) silly."

And you, casual reader, are left (or was that right?) with trying to figure out the word that Agnes needs for 61 down. We need the answer before the timer gets to ZERO.