It was a lovely day at de Bridge. SaraFerret was basking in de warm
sunshne and just relaxing, when she heard de fluttering of wings close
by. She opened up her eyes to see Mimi, de little girl courier with a
note in her paw. "Hi, SaraFerret. I know you aren't on bridge duty
today but there is a special ferret crossing the bridge and their Mommy
has asked that you greet her. Here is the note. Do you want me to do
anything?" SaraFerret took de note and read it and asked Mimi to get
de fuzzies." Den she got up and dusted de sand off her sparse fur and
headed for de entrance.

I was just in time to see a tiny sable fuzzy at de entrance. I
introduced myself to her.

"Hi I am SaraFerret and I am de bridgegreeter. Welcome to de Rainbow
Bridge. Dis is your new forever home. Here you will have no more pain
or suffering or sickness and you will run on green grass forever."

The sable fuzzy just looked at me with just a bit of attitude and said,
"I am Shawnee and I am a New Zealand ferret and I belong to Mommy
Michelle. I don't spose you know about us fantastic ferrets, but we
are grrreat, except when we get sick. I had lotsa kits and they were
beautiful. Everyone bragged about them. Okay, where's the part where
I get to feeling better, cause I really want to go back home and take
care of my kits."

"Uh Shawnee," I replied. "I don't think you heard me right. Dere is no
going back. Dis is your new forever home. But I tell you what. You will
feel better right now."

And POOF! in dat instant she was feeling much better and began to dance
around until it really hit her what I had said.

"Oh you mean I won't ever see Mommy again? she said with a tear in her
eye.

"No, I didn't say dat," I replied. "Just wait a bit and I will have a
surprise for you later. Do you notice de wings I have on my shoulders?'

Shawnee said, "Well yes, I did notice some funny things on your
shoulders, but I thought they were some kinda growths and I didn't
want to ask."

"Well, these wings for flying about de heavens--sure beats hopping
from cloud to cloud. And guess what you will get your very own pair
of them." I told her.

So we headed down de garden path, but we stopped by a big house first
where there was a lot of noise and squeaks and little dooks. We looked
in de window. We didn't want to open de door. Inside was a lot of young
kits--orphans who didn't have any parents at all. They were being cared
for by Auntie Mary Ferret and a very dedicated group of nurse fuzzies.

Shawnee looked at me and asked, "What happened to dere parents? Oh no
one knows. Dese were de cast-off fuzzies from de farms and ferretries--
and no one came to claim dem, but not to worry, de Boss has laid claim
to every one of dem."

(I could see something click in Shawnee's eyes when she saw dese little
kits and I knew where she would be spending most of her time).

"D'ya think the Boss would mind if I took care of those kits some of
the time. I have lots of experience with kits. I would be thrilled to
bits to do it." She asked.

"Oh I think it can be arranged." I replied.

Den we went to de Wing House where de wings were stored. We opened de
door and on de counter was a big box (of course). She opened de box
and took out de wings--Baby pink with a dash of silver--perfect for
de NZ fuzzy with a dash of attitude. I helped her put on de wings and
adjusted her halo. Den she ran to de big vanity mirror and gazed at her
reflection. She turned to me and said, "Gee, I wish Mommy could see me
now." Den I gots an idea.

We opened de door and started to go out and to her surprise, dere was
old friends--Argon, Chrony, Latte, Shorty, Ash, Chocolate, and Siteva.
Reunion time. So we headed on down de path to de Misting Pond and sat
down beside de cool clear water. With one swish we saw a vision of
Mommy Michelle with Tundra, Fidget, and Gryphon appear. She started
waving and dooking with all of her might. "Mommy, I love you. Thank
you for loving me. Sorry I couldn't stay longer with you. I got some
real pretty pink wings now. Guess what, I will get to take care of
kits here and help out--there are so many here. I have lotsa friends
here, Mommy."

Den she began to throw hugs, kisses, and promises to visit, and wrapped
dem with her love and laid dem on a nearby shooting star which was
headed to your house and by de time you should read dis it should
have landed dere. And with another swish de vision was gone.

So we went down de road to de Clan cottage where de NZ flag was waving
in de breeze. Shawnee had a faint tear, but she brushed it away. As she
went in de doorway she could see dat dere was food laid out and music
was playing. Dey had planned a welcoming party for her. She was now
home and she knew dat she had kits to take care of in her future. I
was invited to stay and dance de day away. But I wanted to get back to
dat beach and relax a bit more. So I gave Shawnee a hug and said my
good-byes.

So ended another day at de Bridge.

Lovey and hugs,
SaraFerret, bridgegreeter

[Posted in FML 6186]