Evening at the McFarlane house, cats asleep, humans asleep, ferrets
are.......
 
Slowly, quietly, little paws are moving in the cages, unhooking latches,
lifting gates.  Bright, shiny eyes peer around, Sabra climbs the bed to
check on the hoomins.  Socks the cat raises his head to find himself
eyeball to eyeball with Sabra, who lifts a dainty paw and says "Shhhhhh,
go back to sleep" and she disappears.  Quietly, if one can believe a
group of ferrets up to mischief can be quiet, the Crew of Merry Mayhem
descends downstairs to the computer.
 
Saber hoists himself into the chair, then pushes the button to turn on
the computer.  Komet, yawning and stretching, asks "Saber, what the heck
are you doing?  You've got us all down here, it's well after midnight, no
chicken gravy, no mom or dad toes to chase, heck the cats are even pooped
out!  Why do you have us up?" Saber's eyes gleam as he starts tapping on
the keyboard.  "Komet, we getting a message from our greatest operative,
BIG.  You know, da guy datt runs the FML, datt gets every message from
ferret people everywhere.  He knows da codes in them, and he passes them
on to all ferrets.  Not just us, da magnificient, marvelous Crew of Merry
Mayhem, but Wolfy Stout's Dippy, Alexandra's Ping is He and Puma, Petey
TPO, dat Sooper Tonks, all of them!  And ya know what?  I heard momma say
dat her friend, Deva Kolb, made a picture of BIG with a big keg!  And
ferrets were there, too, getting' instructions.  She wuz laffin, said BIG
was drunk on tone.  How cum da hoomins can do this, and we cantz?" All
the ferrets looked at each other, eyes wide with this news.  But then
Cream Puff spoke up: "I bets BIG can drink da `tone and all cuz he's
our operatuve for da FLO!  He be immooon to it, what it can do.  I herd
momma say dat Wolfy Stout drunked it once too.  She sez on da
Troublemaker page de put dat picshure up.  What dey didn't know was, dat
acushally happened at a big FLO party!!!"
 
Suddenly the computer screen flickers, words appear and Saber said
"Everybody, quiet---the message is coming through from BIG"
Quiet settles down as the computer beeps quietly, words rapidly appearing
on the sscreen.  Saber starts to read: "Important message to all FLO
members....."  Suddenly Izzy squaks: "Turn it off, Sara's getting up,
quick, hit save, forward it on to Dippy and Petey, everybody to the
cages---keep that message, we have to find out what BIG wants us to do!"
the computer goes black, little feet scurry and the last cage door
quickly latches as Sara comes out of her room, wondering why she thought
she heard noises.
 
Meanwhile, in New York a figure, bent over a computer, furtively types
messages to the ferrets, reading from messages from ferret owners all
over the world........
 
Rebecca & the Crew of Merry Mayhem
 
"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste
 good with ketchup"
"Support bacteria, it's the only culture some people have"
[Posted in FML issue 5238]