Hi, all.
 
I met a little guy coming across the Bridge.  His name was Pody.  His
Cagemate and Brother in Fur Kody waited beside me to Greet him.  They had
been apart for a year, and now would be together, forever.
 
Pody stopped at the very end of the Bridge and looked around anxiously,
until he saw his friend Kody beside me.  Then he ran, a blur of fur,
right *into* Kody.  The two rolled on the ground and called each other's
names.
 
"Kody!"
"Pody!"
"Kody!
"Pody!"
It was marvelous to see!
 
Finally they both stood up and licked the bits of grass from themselves,
and settled down.  Kody said "Why were you so sad when I had to leave
you?  You didn't eat right, you didn't sleep right, you scared our Mommy
half to death!  Didn't I promise you that someday we'd be together?
Time in the World of the Living is no Time at all!"
 
Pody replied "I couldn't help it.  At first all of the bedding smelled
like you, and the nights weren't so long.  But then your scent faded,
and it got harder and harder to wait for someday.  It seemed like someday
was getting further and further away."
 
With that Kody leaned over and began to wash Pody's ear.  The two were
quiet for the moment, both had eyes closed in the simple pleasere of one
another's company, but I knew that there was so much more for them to
say to one another.  My Greeting and orientation could wait.  After all,
Pody and Kody have all the Time they need, now.
 
I met a little girl named Baby Girl coming across the Bridge, which she
did slowly with a sigh, shaking her head.  "Oh, boy", she said.  I walked
over to her, touched noses, and said "what is wrong?"
 
"well, my Big Brother in Fur lost control of himself for a moment, now
I'm here, and I'm afraid he's going to be in terrible trouble with my
Hoomins."
 
"Oh, you mean...the dog."
 
"Yes, Dakota.  He just couldn't help himself, his Hunting Spirit took
control of him, and..."
 
"Now you are here."
 
"Yes."
 
"Are your Hoomins good ones or bad ones?"
 
"Good ones!"
 
"Did they give you lots of love?"
 
"Yes, lots!"
 
"Then they will forgive Dakota. It's their nature."
 
"Oh", she said, looking far off into the distance for a moment, seemingly
lost in thought.  She finally turned and looked at me and said "You are
right."  She smiled.  "They are the ones who taught *me* about love,
after all, they know lots about it."
 
Now I smiled too, because I knew that someday I would see Dakota,
probably right here at the end of the Bridge, coming to visit Baby Girl,
and to tell her that she was right.
 
"Come on, I said, you still have to meet your Business, Scooter and Major
Burns.  They are waiting for you at the fruit bar."
 
"Fruit Bar?"
 
"Fruit bar.  C'mon!  You'll love it.!"  And she did.
 
I met a little guy named Kita coming across the Bridge, dragging a star
covered little blankie behind him.  It was very handsome!
 
I walked over to him and Kita dropped his blankie so that we could touch
noses, then I dropped my head to smell his blankie.  Yup!  Smelled just
like him!
 
"What a gorgeous blankie,"I said.
 
"Yes, I couldn't leave it behind."
 
"Are you going to keep it, or donate it,"I asked.
 
"Donate it?"
 
"Yes.  We have a Mountain of Donor Blankies that we add onto all of the
time.  It's blankies for those who couldn't bring theirs for some reason.
Everybody is free to take one from the pile, but it's really reserved for
those who never had a blankie in the World of the Living."
 
"Wow! Can I see it?"
 
"Let's go!"
 
We strapped on our wings and lifted off a bit awkwardly.  It wasn't easy
to fly carrying a blankie, so being the more experienced of the two of
us, I carried it for him.  We flew over fields of long grass, we flew
until the land started to slope into a series of small rolling hills.
That is where we touched down.
 
There it was, the Mountain of Donor Blankies.  It is the smallest of the
Mountains, much smaller than the Dirt Mountain, the Sock Mountain, or
the Fleece Mountain.  It's only about half the size of a hoomin washing
machine, because not everybody can bring a Blankie across the Bridge
(Nobody knows why), and of those who do, not many can bear to part with
them.  We admired it in silence for a while.
 
"Wow" he said again.  Imagine never having had a blankie of your own.
"I know," I said.  I've met so many who never even had a proper hammie,
no toys...It gets to you, doesn't it?"
 
"Yeah," he said, adding his beautiful star covered blankie to the
pile."It does."
 
Sandee
[Posted in FML issue 4594]