Not long ago, deep in the heart of Madagascar, the Smoozies found a new creature wandering through their village and quite honestly none of them knew what to make of him. There are many Smoozies in the village, and the population changes often as more Smoozies go off on adventures, and more Smoozies appear in the village. But this creature was definitely not a Smoozy. He neither looked nor smelled like any Smoozy that had come to their village. All Smoozies smell like cotton candy, you know. He was short and slimy looking with a giant shell on his back. Smiling he called to the Smoozies to gather around him, "Allo," he greeted with a big smile. The Smoozies smiled back, but were too shy to speak. One Smoozy pushed his way to the front and looked at the creature, frowning slightly he asked "What are you?"

    The creature began to laugh, "I could ask you the same thing, I thought I had visited every creature in this forest, but I have never seen the likes of you."

    "We are Smoozies," the brave Smoozy declared. His name was Sparta Smoozy. He was quite young, with short red ears and a snow white body.

    "Smoozies.." the creature murmured, "I know not of Smoozies, but if you say you are such a creature then I certainly must believe they exist." He smiled widely showing a mouth without teeth. "I myself am a Snail of great importance!" He said this with such confidence that the Smoozies could not help being very impressed.

    Smoozy stepped forward. At the moment, Smoozy was the head of the Smoozies. He had long ears and big feet. His fur was so many shades of brown, it is hard to describe. "It is nice to meet you, Snail! I welcome you to our village." All the Smoozies clapped and began to dance around the snail.

    "Thank you for your kindness," the snail replied. He then walked (squelched is more like it) to the edge of the Smoozy village and retrieved a small blue cart he hooked onto his shell in a way none of the Smoozies ever understood. He pulled his little cart back into the center of the village. The Smoozies looked on in shock or awe as the snail flipped a lever on the side of the cart. Instantly a display board popped up, to display...well, the Smoozies were not sure what was displayed.

    The snail grinned even bigger. "Smoozies, may I persuade you to try some of my delicious Taffy, created and pulled by me, Sir Snail!" He began to throw pieces of taffy to all the Smoozies. They stared at it intently and some of the more brave Smoozies popped the taffy into their mouths. They chewed and chewed the salty concoction, trying to smile as if it was enjoyable. Smoozies don't like to hurt other peoples feelings.

    Sir Snail grinned and grinned, "A bag of taffy for just one picture!" Money is an unknown concept in the forests of Madagascar, but all the animals liked to draw, and most had a nice stack of drawings in their houses.

    The Smoozies all gazed at Sir Snail doubtfully, but almost all of them went to their houses and retrieved a drawing. None of the Smoozies chose their finest drawings, but as all Smoozies are artistic in the nature, each picture was very good.

    The only Smoozy who didn't trade a picture for some taffy was Thaddius Smoozy. Thaddius was a very, very old Smoozy and he had lost all but one of his teeth. Chewing taffy with just one tooth is a difficult proposition.

    One by one they handed their pictures to Sir Snail, smiling as he handed them their bags of taffy. After all the Smoozies had received their bags, Sir Snail flipped the lever on his cart, and it closed up. He then thanked the Smoozies and promised to return in a few days with much more taffy. He waved and tugged at his cart, slowly leaving the village.

    Once Sir Snail was out of sight, the Smoozies looked at each other and began to laugh, for none of them even liked Taffy.