Answer:
My first is a creature whose breeding is unclear. My second, a price you must pay. My whole can be found in the river of Time and refers to events of today.
I am never quite what I appear to be. Straight-forward I seem, but it's only skin deep. For mystery most often lies beneath my simple speech. Sharpen your wits, open your eyes, look beyond my exteriors, read me backwards, forwards, upside down. Think and answer the question...
What does everyone know how to open but not how to close?
A time when they're green. A time when they're brown. But both of these times, cause me to frown. But just in between, for a very short while. They're perfect and yellow. And cause me to smile.
It is able to speak because it has a hard gone. You know what it is as soon as it has sung. What is it?
Why was the cook arrested?
Difficult
Animal
Easy
Food
Funny
Kids
Logic
What am I?