To Grandmother's House You Go
The cat in the hat
As you are walking, you meet a cat wearing a hat who tells you that he can make your walk more entertaining. He shows you how he can balance on an umbrella which is on a ball, while holding twelve books and your basket in one hand, you in the other, and a bird standing on a seven-layer cake on his head. All of which he mysteriously pulled out of his hat.
Of course, he loses his balance and everything falls unceremoniously into a heap on the floor. While you stand up, brushing yourself off, the Cat, completely unfazed, says he knows just the thing to add excitement to your day. He runs off and in the blink of an eye he's back again with a giant red box.
He lifts the hook on the box and out pop two creatures, the likes of which you had never seen before. He refers to them as Thing 1 and Thing 2. They bounce out of the box, full of energy, and immediately run off.
The Cat asks you if you would mind helping him look for them.
You wish him luck in his search but say that you should really get back to the path and get to your grandmother's. You agree to help him look, and promise yourself that you'll go straight to your grandmother's afterwards.