Once upon a time, there were two groups of ferrets. One group included
five ferrets, who lived in a huge cage and most were full of spunk. In
the group of five, there was a mild-mannered young boy named Winter. He
got along with all the ferrets in his group, from the boisterous kit,
Mandie, to the crippled old Codo to the sneaky little Ayla to the
grumpy adrenal giant, Rhys.

The other group held two ferrets, who lived in a somewhat smaller cage
and were less adventurous in their play. The two ferrets were very shy,
because they had learned in their past to be fearful of other ferrets.
Holly, the eldest, would nip and spray any ferret that came near, no
matter their intentions, except for her Charlie. This tiny old lady
cared for her Charlie intensely, and he needed her; Charlie was blind.
This made him afraid of other ferrets, because he couldn't read their
body language or run away from them with much speed. Pity the ferret
that tried to make friends or be unmannerly toward Charlie; his defense
was flying poop!

One day, the ferret lady human was very sick, so it fell upon her
husband to put the group of five away to bed in their cage and let the
group of two out to play. Unfortunately, the husband did not count the
ferrets and just assumed he had all the five put away, when he could
not see any others out and about. Winter had tucked himself away
out-of-sight for a long ferrety nap.

The next morning, when the ferret lady went to exchange the group of
two for the group of five, there was a fluffy ferret cuddled up with
Charlie, but it was not Holly! There slept Winter, and he was not
sporting Charlie poo in his fur or Holly tooth marks or spray. The
ferret lady avoided killing the husband, because something good had
come out of his mistake. She had been slowly introducing Winter to
the pair for months, and it seemed happily-ever-after was in sight!

Now, Winter is a member of both groups, the only ferret that shares
the day with the larger group and the night with the pair. The larger
group now shows Winter more respect; he is no longer their most
bottom-ranking member. Perhaps they think that, if they pick on Winter
too much, Holly might come nibble and spray them. She might too,
because what is Holly's stays Holly's; she cares for her own.

Never believe that the smallest ferret (That would be Holly) can't be
the boss or the same ferret, being the eldest, can't learn a new trick.
Let their be congratulations to Winter for breaking through Holly and
Charlie's fearful reserve and being a true ferret friend!

Dooks,
Lori of Ferrets at Heart
http://ferretsatheart.com
 ..and Rhys, Ayla, Codo, Mandie, Winter, Holly, and Charlie

[Posted in FML 6751]