Hello, my name is Mzzy and I live in a small farming town. I like living in a small town and I think I would feel too lonely in a big city (not that I’ve ever been to one!). You get to know everyone in a small town and though I have heard it said that there is not much to do in small communities, my little town is full of comings and goings and there is always so much happening, you just have to search for it.

Not that I like to gossip, however! I mean, while it is nice to know what your fellow towns folk are up to, especially when not much seems to be happening, people can be a bit too nosy, and this can lead to trouble. I mean, it really is no-one’s business if young Hrry is flirting with half the girls in the town (if I was 30 years younger, I’d flirt with him too as he is quite dishy) but gossip can change simple things into something else. And then wham, bam, a reputation may be lost (or in Hrry’s case, gained – why is there such a double standard?).
Yes, I live by the mantra that one should not gossip. But sometimes, knowing all the ins and outs of your fellow town folk can be a good thing. I don’t think that farmer Jxx would be here today, a respected member of the community, if someone hadn’t told everyone about the cause of his peculiar behaviour. It seems that Mr Jxx had inadvertently (or so I choose to believe) eaten a variety of hallucinogenic mushrooms, picked from one of his cow paddocks, which led to some very strange behaviour indeed! I’ll never forget the day he strode into town wearing nothing but a pair of boots and a flower stuck in his – never mind! But if Mr Jxx’s undressed event had not been widely talked about, people may have jumped to the wrong conclusion, and we may never have got to the bottom of it (no pun intended!). All the mushrooms have been removed, by the way, as we don’t want any reoccurrence of such behaviour (intended or unattended – I mean, some of the things young people like to get up to, let me tell you!).

No, I really don’t like to engage in idle chatter – unless of course it is of some benefit (as in the case of Mr Jxx and his mushrooms). The problem is my best friend Lssl is a terrible gossip! We’ve been meeting every day for a cuppa and a good chat since just after my husband passed away. I was quite lonely after he passed as my husband, being a very good listener, had always been there for me to talk to. I really do value Lssl’s friendship, but the problem is, she is a dreadful gossip. Most of it seems pretty harmless, in fact most of it isn’t really worth repeating, but I worry that such gossiping may one day cause an issue. For example, Lssl said that she had been talking with Mrs Pxx last week who told her that she was having tap-dancing lessons via correspondence. I mean at her age! It may have always been a bucket list item, as they say, but where will it end, I ask you! I wonder if it isn’t something to do with her blossoming friendship with Mr Frpp, the grocer. Perhaps she is trying to impress him. Still, I’m not one to speculate but I must say that when I have talked to others about it they generally seem very supportive of her tap-dancing endeavours and one even said that he hoped she would put on a tap-dancing show when she gets proficient.

Well, what next!

Lssl will be here soon. She’s not late, I just like to get here early and see what’s what. I intend to once again gently, but firmly, let her know that I’m not interested in gossiping about our town. I mean, what people get up to is nobody’s business but their own (unless it’s something that we should all know about). So, that’s what I will say to her – again.

Ah, here she comes. I wish she would hurry up as I am simply bursting to tell something that I have just found out.