Deema and Gil were swimming to Nonny's house. He had invited them over to tell them something.
"What do you think Nonners wanted?" Deema asked.
"I don't know," Gil said.
Just as they were about to go toward the front door, Nonny came out of the house.
"Ah, you're here," Nonny said slyly.
"So...why are we here? Deema asks.
"I've called upon you to propose that each of you take part in a challenge," Nonny stated.
Deema and Gil stared at each other and then back at Nonny.
"Uh...why are you talking like that?" Gil wondered.
"Never mind. I have a challenge, one for each of you," Nonny says in a more normal way.
"What kind of challenge?" Deema asks.
Nonny swims in front of Deema and puts both his hands on both her shoulders.
"Your challenge is to go a whole day without speaking," Nonny says.
"Does texting count?" Deema asks.
"I'm afraid so. You can't talk, or text, or write," Nonny says.
"Aww, come on, Nonners!" Deema pouted.
"Would you rather go a whole week?" Nonny says.
"No!" Deema protests.
"What's my challenge?" Gil asks.
"Your challenge is to go a whole day without calling anybody by their name," Nonny told Gil.
"What do you mean?" Gil wonders.
"For example, let's say you're talking to Deema. Instead of saying 'Hey Deema' you say 'Hey' or 'Hey you'", Nonny explained.
"That sounds kind of hard," Gil admits.
"Come on, Gil. If I can do it, you can do it too," Nonny says.
"Ok, so what's the catch?" Deema sighed.
"Here's how this'll work. If you guys make it, you can give me a challenge. But if you break and start talking and calling people their names, you guys each give me one of your possessions," Nonny says.
"So, how long do we have to do this again?" Gil asks.
"One whole day. From sunrise tomorrow to sunrise Tuesday morning," Nonny says.
After about 10 seconds of silence, the two most talkative guppies decide to accept the challenges.
"Deal!" Deema and Gil said in unison.
Nonny handed them a blank piece of paper and a pencil.
"Sign here, please," Nonny says.
Deema signs the paper "Deema Kaufman". She hands the paper and pencil to Gil and he signs it "Gil Bertrand".
"Thank you. See you tomorrow," Nonny says as he grabs the paper and pencil from Gil.
Nonny goes inside. Before Deema and Gil could leave, he pulled back the curtain on his window. He put two fingers, one on each eye and then pointed the fingers at his friends. That meant "I'm watching you." After they left, Nonny closed the curtain and sat on the couch with a smirk on his face.
"They're totally gonna break," Nonny said slyly as he put his hands behind his head.