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Here's a sample of what I've been writing lately. It's the majority of a one-page script, part of a curriculum I've been working on for a couple of years now. It helps if you know that Nutworth is a chimpanzee puppet:

Nutworth: Hiya, chief!

Teacher: Hi there, Nutworth. What's up?

Nutworth: It's a direction.

Teacher: Huh? Excuse me?

Nutworth: You know, a direction. Like 'left,' 'forward,' or 'out the door.'

Teacher: But when did I...Oh, I get it. I asked you "What's up."

Nutworth: It's still a direction.

Teacher: Nutworth!

Nutworth: It's not a trick question, is it? Because if I need to think about the answer, I can.

Teacher: No, it's not a trick question. I just asked "What's up." It's a figure of speech!

Nutworth: Really? All this time I thought it was a direction!

Teacher: Somehow I don't think we're communicating.

Nutworth: You mean I've got the wrong idea?

Teacher: Well, I just think you're thinking about it the wrong way.

Nutworth: The wrong way? See, it IS a direction!

Teacher: Now what did I say?

Nutworth: You said "the wrong way." The wrong way is a direction, just like up is!

Teacher: Nutworth, you're not getting it. When I say "What's up," I don't want to know what 'up' is. I already know what 'up' is.

Nutworth: Well then why ask it?

Teacher: Why ask what?

Nutworth: What's up?

Teacher: [pause] Oh, nothing much. What's up with you?

Nutworth: Chief, sometimes I just don't understand you.

Teacher: You can say THAT again!

Nutworth: Okay. 'Chief, sometimes I just don't understand you.'

Teacher: Um...how about we just skip it...

For what age group is the script for?

What I like about it is it works when you first hear it. The conversation is funny and engaging.

But it also works well as you think about it later on. The fact that I thought about it an hour after I read it shows its strength.

Nutworth, in saying up is a direction shows a grasp of language that I got but didn't not until I thought that the teacher really did ask what is up?

Clever... Kind of like a cartoon that was displayed on the bulletin board when I was in fourth grade. It was a school wide contest to explain the joke. Donald Duck went into a diner advertised as Mama's Home Cooking. Donald eats something and spits it out in disgust. He complains about the quality and when he does, the waiter points to the sign and says, "Like the sign says, Mama's Home Cooking." The whole school went into a frenzy trying to explain why the food was bad. The problem was, we got stuck in seeing the 's as possessive and not a contraction.

Nutworth did the same thing. I read What's up - but rarely do I form the actual sentence - what is up?

I like clever writing in shapes and forms.