Mr. Worry's Washing Day is a story from the 1982 Annual.
Plot[]
Mr. Worry was the sort of person who worries about everything. When Mr. Worry went off to bed, he worried that he might not sleep properly. But when he managed to fall asleep, he worried that he might not wake up in time for breakfast. Life was one big worry for poor Mr. Worry.
One sunny day, Mr. Worry was hanging some washing on the clothesline in his garden. Even though there was no chance of rain, Mr. Worry still worried whether it might rain and all his washing would get wet. Mr. Worry's washing had dried thanks to the nice hot sun and the gentle breeze. Mr. Worry then saw the flowers in his garden and worried that if they didn't have water, they would die. So, Mr. Worry fetched a hose, fixed it to the garden tap, and watered his flowers.
As Mr. Worry watered his flowers, Mr. Clumsy came by walking up the garden path. Mr. Clumsy was a Mr. Man who couldn't help tripping over his shoelaces or drop a plate on the ground. Mr. Worry was right to be worried this time. Mr. Clumsy is a very clumsy fellow and anything that can go wrong winds up happening when Mr. Clumsy's around. Mr. Worry told Mr. Clumsy to mind the flowerbed that he was about to trample. Mr. Clumsy managed to avoid the flowers only to get tangled up in the hose and spray all the dry washing with water!
Mr. Worry now has to worry about the clothes drying all over again! Luckily, Mr. Clumsy had an idea and took all the clothes from the clothesline. However, he did drop a sock and two handkerchiefs on the path. Now those items have to be washed all over again! As for the washing he didn't drop, Mr. Clumsy brought them to the windmill with Mr. Worry following him. Mr. Clumsy pegged the clothes onto the sails of the windmill and with a pull (and break) of a lever, the sails of the windmill began to turn and spin, drying all of Mr. Clumsy's laundry in quick speed! No need to worry about that! But now Mr. Worry has to worry about having nothing to worry about! Oh dear.