The Tonic

There once was a farm belonging to a brother and a sister which was run down and it had become a haven for all manner of parasites. There were ants in the wooden walls, mice and rats had a field day in the barn; the farm cat and dog were too busy snapping at their own fleas to do their job properly; there were cockroaches in the kitchen and the workers were lazy layabouts who ate a lot, but did no work at all.

One day, an old strident maiden aunt came for a visit.

She was disgusted! She banged her cane on the floor and wouldn't broke an argument - soon, the parasite workers were chased down the street and new ones were hired; rubbish was piled high and burned; the animals scrubbed and soap bubbles were spilling from the house into the yard; and only a week or two later, you wouldn't have recognised that farm. It had become a pleasure and an asset to everyone involved.