//------------------------------//
// It's Either That in the Cart, or a "Slightly-Used" Crocodile 
// Story: Bantam Tales 
// by Chris 
//------------------------------//





"Heya, Missus Top!" cried Lucky, cheerfully dragging his cart up the street. "Care to buy a bushel of clover?"

Carrot Top could already feel a headache coming on.

"Lucky, what have I told you every single time you've dragged that wagon full of clover into town?"

Lucky scratched his chin as he considered the question.

Carrot Top waited patiently. 

Lucky's eyes traced the sky.  He "hmm"ed to himself thoughtfully.

Carrot Top continued to wait.

Finally, his eyes lit up. "Was it—"

"I told you," she interrupted, "That clover is a weed. Do you know what farmers do with weeds, Lucky?"

"...Buy them in bulk for greater savings?"

"We weed them, Lucky. Hence the name." Carrot Top sighed. "I spent all Thursday afternoon pulling clover out of my garden. If, for some unfathomable reason, I wanted some, I would have kept that clover, instead of throwing it on my compost heap." She cast a dubious eye over the wilted pile of greens in Lucky's cart. "And in any case, it'd be fresher that way. Where did you even get these? They look like you picked them and then left them out in the sun for a week."

Lucky straightened. "Actually, I grabbed these from a magic pile of clover that suddenly appeared right next to your house a few days... ago..." He trailed off, slicking back his hair unconsciously as the gear inside his head churned. "...Which I'm starting to suspect wasn't really a magic clover pile after all..."

"'Magic clover pile,'" Carrot Top repeated, her nested quotation marks clearly audible.

Lucky brightened. "You know what that means, right? These are just as fresh as the ones from your garden!" He grabbed a hoofful. "Sure you don't want to buy some?"

His only answer was a sigh.