What's in a Name?
"Could I speak to Mr or Mrs Short, please?" the authoritative voice on the phone asked.
"There is nobody by those names in this household. If you require Flora Short's parents, you want Mr Fowl or Ms Short."
"Mr Fowl or Ms Short, then."
"Speaking."
Flora's headmistress, for it was her, proceeded to explain Flora's latest high-spirited, boredom-induced misdemeanour.
Artemis promised to speak to her when she returned home, and hung up.
He sighed. Couldn't they make a note in Flora's file instead of repeatedly making the same wrong assumption? They'd spoken often enough that she should remember.
This happened to me as a kid all the freakin' time. Wrong assumptions about parent surnames, that is, not the principal ringing my mum. Also, I realised Flora Fowl sounded totally wrong, and hyphenating the names was worse.