Hi, all-
 
I met a tiny, tiny little girl coming across the Bridge.  Her name is
Grandmother Koko.  She lived eight years in the World of the Living,
although you'd never guess that, because she has her full youth and
vitality restored, now.
 
The Walsh Weasel Business, along with her Brothers in Fur Ferris, Beulah,
and Bandit stood with me to greet her.  If they hadn't told me ahead of
time how small and dainty Koko is, I'd have thought she was a Kit!  In
fact, we had to supply her with a set of Kit strap-on wings.  The adult
regulars would have dragged behind her on the ground!
 
The Walsh Weasel Business and Koko spent some time gossiping and catching
up, and then it was time for Koko and me to make a special trip.  There
were two Walsh puppies who desperately wanted to see her!
 
Well, puppies are pretty much desparate about everything, in my
experience.  Desperately happy, or desperately sad.  They have as much
enthusiasm as ferrets, in their own way!
 
Koko and I walked across the Bridge into the Dog Afterworld.  (Although
there is only one Bridge, it does lead to many places.) After being
thouroghly sniffed by the Dog's greeter, we were escorted to the puppies
by a lovely pack of soft, brown, wrinkly Shar-Pei's with those sad little
faces of theirs.  They're not really sad, they just look that way,
because they are size four dogs in size nine dog suits!
 
Both of the Walsh puppies were curled up together asleep on top of a red
fleece pad lying beneath a blossoming white lilac bush, the air smelled
so sweet there in the afternoon sun.  We didn't want to disturb them,
they looked so cute and peaceful the way they were, their little paws
flipping back and forth as they played chase in their dreams.
 
Koko and I lay down in the soft grass beside our pack of Shar-Pei
escorts.  (Most dogs, by their very nature, hate being alone.  The Dog
Afterworld is full of packs.) We all talked about the differences between
being dogs, and being ferrets, and about our Hoomins.  Koko and I learned
a lot about being dogs, and I like to think that the Shar-Pei's learned a
certain amount about being ferrets.  We all just had to shake our heads
when it came to discussing the Hoomins amazingly poor sense of smell.
How did they ever manage to survive, tens of thousands of years ago, when
they were wild?
 
Well, we're just going to wait here until the puppies wake up.  It is a
beautiful day.  The sky is a fabulous blue, the sun is warm, and the air
is so fresh and fine.  The Shar-Pei's swear that the grass is especially
delicious here, but Koko and I will just hold off on the snacking until
we get back to our Afterworld.  We asked the dogs why they eat grass in
the first place, if it just makes them hack, later?  Well, they didn't
have a good answer for that.  Oh, well.  They say that for the most part,
they're not really wild about raisins.
 
Sandee
[Posted in FML issue 4394]