Prod with a stick, say

Once upon a time, in a forest, there was a mischievous little fox named Pepper. Pepper loved to play pranks on the other animals in the forest. He would hide their food, grab their tails, and even prod them with sticks just to see their reactions.

One day, Pepper came across a group of squirrels who were busily collecting nuts for the winter. As he often did, Pepper decided to play a prank on them. He snuck up behind them and gave one of the squirrels a poke with a stick, causing it to jump with fright.

The other squirrels quickly turned around and saw Pepper trying to run away. They chased him all through the forest until he found himself cornered against a tree. Knowing he was in trouble, Pepper tried to think of a way out.

Suddenly, he had an idea. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a crossword puzzle he had been working on. He showed it to the squirrels and pointed to the clue, “Prod with a stick, say.” Then he pointed to the answer he had just written, “POKEAT.”

The squirrels couldn’t help but laugh at Pepper’s cleverness, and they let him go with a warning to never play pranks on them again. From then on, Pepper made sure to keep his mischievous behavior to a minimum. And whenever he felt the urge to give someone a poke, he would just fill in another crossword puzzle instead.