A Very Nice Prize Indeed

An Armadillo was on his way to play a trick on his friend the Iguana. It was a simple trick, one that didn’t require any fancy equipment or deception, just a few well-placed and misplaced words was all you needed to execute this playful trick.

The Armadillo arrived at the Iguana’s residence and knocked at the door:

“Hey, Benny!” The Armadillo called out, “Come on out here I’ve got something for ya!”

“Annie?” Benny the Iguana called back, “I didn’t call on you Annie, what are you doing here?”

“Oh I’m here to ask you a very simple question,” Annie replied. “Why do two birds…”

“Why do two birds what?” Benny interrupted.

“Well, you have to let me finish,” Annie continued, “Why do two birds need more care than one?”

“I disagree with your premise,” Benny answered, “Two birds need more care than one because two is more than one. There is no reason to question your question.”

“No, it’s a riddle, like there is a clever answer to the question if you try to answer it,” Annie clarified.

“Oh, what’s the clever answer?” Benny asked.

“You have to guess, silly!” Annie insisted.

“If I had to guess why taking care of two birds is easier than taking care of one bird I’d guess the person asking the question had lost their marbles. That’s what I’d guess.” Benny dug in.

“Well that would be the incorrect answer,” Annie said, now getting clearly upset. “And you only have one more guess and if you don’t at least try to answer it correctly - you don’t get the prize.”

Benny was taken aback. Prize? He had no clue a prize was involved. Why had Annie hidden this fact from him? That was a betrayal. A misuse of their friendship.

“You mean there was a prize this whole time and you didn’t even tell me?” Benny began, “You just let me ramble on like this? That’s a mean trick to play on a person, especially a friend.”

Annie finally had Benny right where she wanted him. She had known Benny would question the premise of her riddle. He always questioned the premise of anything she said. She had known he would change his tune when she mentioned a prize, Benny would do anything for a prize, she even knew that now he would try really hard to answer her riddle but there was no way he would get it right, she had him worked from every angle. Just watch…

“Well, you can answer or not but the prize is on the line” Annie began her endgame.

“Okay, well, I would say two birds is easier than one because with two birds you can shop at Costco?” Benny offered, unsure.

Annie was stunned. Her face dropped…

“Am I right?” Benny asked.

Annie was still trying to gather herself…

“Yeah,” Annie finally said, “That’s… how did you know that?”

“I didn’t,” Benny answered, “It was a guess! Now, where is my prize?”

Annie didn’t have a prize prepared. She was sure this time she was going to outsmart Benny. She gave him a hug.

“I’m sorry Benny I came here hoping to play a trick on you but you somehow guessed the right answer to my silly question. This is all I can offer you.”

“Well that was a nice prize indeed,” Benny replied, “I hope we play again very soon.”