I was walking towards the Bridge this morning, just looking at the place
we have here and drinking it all in.  It really is a place of solace.
Oh, I know, the kits sometimes dook and holler, and the fuzzies are
always playing some game or another, or climbing or jumping or whatnot.
But not all fuzzies want to play like the rest of them do.  Some of them
are content to take long walks and put their nose into the tall grass,
taking their time to explore everything they come across.
 
Sly Guy was one of those kinds of fuzzies.  I would be greeting him this
morning, and the Boss had told me about him.  In the Hoomin world, Sly
was a very gentle fuzzy.  He did not need many toys, nor the company of
other fuzzies to keep himself occupied.  It wasn't that he didn't love
his brothers and sisters in the Hoomin world, or didn't like playing
with them; it was just that he preferred the simpler, quieter things.
 
Once in a great while he would crawl through a cardboard tube his mom
got for him, just to see what was on the other side.  His very favorite
thing to do was pushing his water bowl around in the bathtub, just to
see it slosh.  But most of the time he was content to just crawl up onto
the couch with his hoomin mom, Debbie, and take an afternoon siesta.
 
I made my way to the Bridge.  The breeze was softly rustling the leaves
on the trees, and grass moved like a slowly flowing stream.  The birds
had already fed and most were quie tly sleeping in the branches of the
trees.  When I got to the Bridge, I had found that Sly was already
walking around a bit and exploring.  This world was all new to him, but
he didn't seem afraid at all.  I could see his soft cinnamon-colored tail
sticking out of the grass, and I called to him.  I welcomed him to the
Bridge and he introduced himself politely.
 
Immediately, I noticed Sly's eyes.  He had big, doe eyes that seemed
like they saw everything around him, inside and out.  When he talked to
you, it was not so much his words that you heard, but the language of
something else.  Sly spoke very little, but when he did he mostly spoke
of his hoomin mom, Debbie.  One could see that his afternoon siestas on
the couch with her had meant a great deal to him.
 
They had meant a great deal to her as well.  When Sly had left for the
Bridge, Debbie put his framed picture on the ramp leading to the entrance
of his cage.  To her, his picture made his absence just a bit easier, as
if he wasn't really gone, just in another place.  Along with his picture
was a dried rose and a sympathy card given to her by the fuzzy doctor who
had tried to help save Sly.  Debbie even planted a lily in remembrance of
him, to remind her that losing him was just part of the natural cycle.
 
But none of this was very natural to Debbie.  Sly had been Debbie's first
loss when it came to fuzzies, and she was taking it very hard.  The Boss
came to me and told me that it had been troubling her very much.  He saw
that she had been dreaming of him almost every night.  He felt a great
deal of compassion for Sly's mom, and told me that he had an idea.  I
was to bring Sly to a special place at the Bridge this evening.  He told
me he was going to do something he seldom ever does...
 
I brought Sly to the special place.  The stars were shining brightly,
and the moonlight gave everything a beautiful luminance.  At the spot,
everything seemed normal, except there was a long cardboard tube laying
on the ground.  Sly became very excited when he saw the tube!  He told me
it was the same tube he used to crawl in when he was back in the Hoomin
world.  He walked over to the tube and stuck his nose inside of it, and
next thing you know - he was gone!
 
I took a look inside the tube.  I couldn't see him anywhere.  Later, the
Boss told me what had happened...
 
When Sly came out of the other end of the tube, he was back in his home
in the Hoomin world.  Debbie had been unable to sleep that night, and had
ended up sleeping on the couch.  Sly saw her sleeping on the couch and
wanted to be next to her, just like had always done before.  He crawled
up the side of the couch, curled up in a ball, and slept along side of
her.  Without ever waking, Debbie found herself cuddling with Sly, and
she felt a sense of comfort.  Sly and Debbie spent the night in each
other's dreams, but instead of sorrowful dreams, they were very good
dreams.  Both felt a peace come over them that they hadn't felt since
Sly had left the Hoomin world.
 
When Sly awoke, however, he was once more back at the Bridge.  The Boss
had told me to meet him at the Bridge in the morning, so I was there
waiting for him.  When he awoke, he looked at me with those big, doe
eyes, and I sensed that I could feel what he was feeling.  Sly was very
grateful for the chance to comfort his mom.  He was ready to be here,
now, and she was ready to let him go, knowing that one day she would
come for him and they would be together again.
 
Sandee
[Posted in FML issue 5197]