It's very early in the morning and I am sitting her waiting for my tea
to boil.  Sirius, the Dog Star, is shining outside my hidey-hole, and it
only makes me think about the new arrival I'm going to welcome today.
He is a dog named Hershey, and the Boss tells me that his hoomin mom
calls him her "chocolate-flavored lab." Not very often does the Boss let
anything other than a fuzzy come to visit the fuzzy Bridge, but when he
does it's usually for a good reason.
 
I headed off to the Bridge early while Sirius was still overhead.
Sirius, also called the Dog Star, is where the dog Bridge is and where
Hershey would be coming from this morning.  Sure enough, soon as I got
there a flash of starlight hit the Bridge -- and there was Hershey!  As
the cloud of stardust floated down around him, I could see that Hershey's
mom was indeed right about him being "chocolate-flavored."  His coat was
a luminous deep brown color and he looked as if the Boss had dipped him
into a vat of chocolate!
 
Normally, I am a very dignified fuzzy.  I wear my proper lensless wire
frame glasses, and drink my proper tea, but there was something about
seeing Hershey that made me feel giddy this morning.  I don't know why,
but I grabbed his ear with my teeth (being careful not to bite down too
hard) and climbed up onto his back.  Immediately he took off running!
Hershey was not startled at all when I jumped on his back; quite the
contrary, it seemed as if he knew that I wanted a ride, and boy -- did
he give it to me!  We went flying around trees and jumping over bushes,
Hershey's tongue flapping out of the side of his mouth the whole time.
Myself, I had so much fun that I giggled and dooked the entire ride!
 
We came to a stop, and I jumped off his back.  I tried to regain my
dignity as a Bridge greeter, but it was hard to do while looking at
Hershey standing there, his eyes closed and his tongue hanging out.  He
just seemed to be the happiest dog that I had ever met.  He almost made
me forget the reason he was here...
 
In the Hoomin world, Hershey had been getting to be an old dog.  He was
almost ten years old when his tummy started giving him problems.  After
a while, Hershey's tummy hurt him so much that he couldn't eat.  Lisa,
his hoomin mom, took him to the doc's but he was getting old and there
was nothing the doc could do to make him feel better.  And even though
Hershey still looked like the same happy dog he always was, Lisa saw
in his eyes that he was hurting.  More than anything in the world, she
wanted Hershey to stay with her, but she loved him too much to ask that
of him.  She knew what she and the doc needed to do for him, and tears
came to her eyes.
 
At first, Hershey couldn't understand why his mom was crying, but through
her tears she explained it to him.  Lisa told him that his tummy was no
longer going to hurt him, and that he would be going to a place where he
could enjoy eating again.  She told him about the Bridge, and what a nice
place it was.  There would be other dogs for him to run with, and that he
could sniff the trees all day if he wanted to.  He would be able to eat
again, she told him, and not only that -- he would be able to eat all
those hoomin foods he loved to eat so much, but couldn't.  Lisa smiled
through her tears and told him that it was going to great, even though
deep into her soul she didn't feel so great, herself.
 
Still, as wonderful a place as the Bridge seemed to be, Hershey didn't
want to leave Lisa or the fuzzies.  He was a bit confused.  He stood
there, eyes closed and panting, and Lisa put her arms around him and
held him tight.  What Hershey couldn't quite understand in hoomin words,
he started to understand with the feeling of Lisa's arms around him.  He
could smell her smell, and felt her tears on his fur.  He blinked his
eyes, and put his nose to her cheek one last time, as if to let her that
he finally understood.  It would be alright.  A very nice and gentle
lady named Lucy gave him, which only hurt a little bit, and Lisa kept
on talking to Hershey about all the nice stuff at the Bridge.  After a
bit his pain left him, and as he arrived at the Dog Star he saw that
everything Lisa had told him was true.  If anyone had been looking into
the sky right at that moment, it would have been then that they would
have noticed Sirius shimmering...
 
But that was some time ago, and now he was here.  I took Hershey around
and introduced him to every fuzzy we came across, and even to some of
the ones he had known in the Hoomin world.  He was delighted in meeting
each and every one, and the sound of dooking and barking seemed to be
everywhere.  Hershey gave quite of few of them rides on his back as I
had taken, and some of the fuzzies enjoyed snuggling up next to him,
remembering dogs of their own that they had known in the Hoomin world.
Some of the fuzzies even curled up next to him and fell asleep.  All in
all, Hershey was very happy to be here.  You could see the contentment
in his eyes as he quietly panted.
 
The Boss had told me that Hershey was very good to all the fuzzies and
furries in the Hoomin world.  Fuzzies were not afraid of him in the
least, and he would patiently sit there while they would crawl all over
him, wandering around to sniff his ears or crawl up on his backside.
Many dogs are not so patient in the Hoomin world.  Hershey, however, did
not feel the same way about birds.  He would bark and chase them, and
they would always flitter off whenever he got too close.
 
After Hershey and I had played with many of the fuzzies for quite a long
while, I told him that the Boss had something special for him -- instead
of waiting until he got back to the Dog Star, Hershey would be getting
his wings right here!  He was very excited.  He remembered Lisa talking
to him about him getting his wings, and he was looking forward to flying
around with everyone.  I took him to go get fitted.
 
When we got there, Hershey had been not been anticipating who would be
fitting him for his wings.  He looked up into the tree.  There were birds
everywhere.  Birds!  Who best to fit him for his wings than birds?  It
was quite a site to see the birds hovering around Hershey, taking
measurements and fitting him for his wings.  I must admit, Hershey looked
a bit uncomfortable, but he was a good dog and stayed very still.  I
smiled watching them.  The Boss is very clever, I thought to myself, very
clever...
 
Sandee
[Posted in FML issue 5195]