Today, my pet snail Eudoxia and I decided to cook a vegetable stew with aubergines and bell peppers, by our special secret grandmother’s recipe. We visited the local market, bought all the needed ingredients, came home and very soon the tasty smell of baked peppers, aubergines, and tomatoes, fried with the best olive oil, permeated our building. The stew turned out great, though we say so ourselves. But, as you know, the cook vegetable stews need to cool down, and, to get the best flavour, you should let them be at least for an evening, or even the whole night. So, we decided to go for a walk to Luxembourg gardens, before eating it, to stretch our legs and watch the squirrels. As we approached the door, we heard noise and commotion outside. We looked out of our door peephole and there were all our neighbours: Monsieur Mangedetout, Madame Mangedetout and their children, three little Mangedetouts. They all were sniffing the air avidly, and their jaws moved, and they all had huge handmade wooden spoons in their hands. So that you know, Mangedetouts are very economical, yet they love their food. It was obvious that they sniffed our stew from afar, and lay in ambush, waiting till we open the door, to jump on the opportunity to invite themselves in and eat all of our vegetable stew. Not to be outdone, Eudoxia and I went back and sat on our sofa, reading a book, for about half an hour, but when we then went back to the door, the Mangedetouts were still there, still waving their huge spoons in the air, and still moving their jaws in a frightening manner. It looks like we can’t get out without sacrificing our stew! But we do not want to! Yet, we can’t stay in forever, so what should we do?