Café Conversation

Little Thunder had saved up his pocket money for weeks. "Today," he declared, "we're eating our way around the world."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Without leaving the farm?"

"The herd is running a food festival in the big shed," Suzy explained. "Each cow has a café from her home country."

Their first stop was Paris's French café. Paris was wiping a little round table. "Bonjour! Qu'est-ce que vous voulez?"

Suzy had practised. "Bonjour. Un croissant, s'il vous plaît." Paris beamed and brought three flaky croissants. "Merci!" they chorused.

At Madrid's Spanish café, the smell of warm churros drifted out. "¡Hola! ¿Qué quieren?" asked Madrid.

Spike took a breath. "Hola. Churros, por favor." When they arrived, he remembered his manners. "¡Gracias!"

Next came Rome's gelato cart. Little Thunder pressed his nose to the glass. "Ciao! Vorrei un gelato al mango, per favore."

"Che bravo!" said Rome, scooping a giant orange swirl. "Very good!"

Their last stop was Tokyo's Japanese restaurant. Tokyo bowed politely, so they bowed back. "Irasshaimase! Welcome!"

Suzy pointed at the menu. "Onigiri o kudasai." Three rice balls arrived on a neat plate.

Before eating, Tokyo taught them one more phrase. "Itadakimasu. It's a way of saying thank you for the food."

"Itadakimasu," they said together.

As the sun set, the friends sat outside, full and happy. "I learned something," said Little Thunder. "In every language, the most important words are please and thank you."

Spike nodded slowly, licking a crumb from his whiskers. "And croissant. Definitely croissant."

Suzy laughed and tucked a paper napkin into her pink collar for next time.