Enjoying my morning tea and shortbread, I checked my list and found that
I had a new arrival.  Every new arrival gives me conflicting emotions,
it seems.  While on one hand I enjoy welcoming fuzzies to this wonderful
place we call the Bridge, on the other it is always with a tinge of
sadness that I welcome them, knowing that they have just been separated
from the ones that they care about and the ones who care about them.  But
no matter, my comfort is in knowing that the Bridge is just a temporary
home, a place for fuzzies to wait until the time they meet up with their
hoomins.
 
I finished my tea and headed on down to the Bridge.  It was a perfect
morning, as usual, and the sun had only been up for an hour or so.  It
was one of those mornings that you know that everything is just going to
be fine no matter what happens.  As I arrived at the Bridge, I spotted
my new arrival, Tisha.  I took a look at him, wiped off my glasses, and
re-read the description on my list.  "Snaggle-toothed, plump, knobby
tail."  This certainly did not seem like the fuzzy I was supposed to
greet at all.  This fuzzy had perfect teeth and a beautifully straight
and groomed tail.  And plump?  The only thing plump on this boy were his
muscles!  Even his fur, which was the color of vanilla, was perfectly
groomed as if he had just had a bath.  He even smelled a bit of shampoo.
 
Could this be the right fuzzy?  I called his name.  Right away he came
up to me, put his nose to my ear and gave it a kiss, then introduced
himself.  My, this boy was a charmer!  He was a most genteel fuzzy, that
was for certain.  I asked if he was sure that his name was Tisha.  He
told me it most certainly was and asked why I had doubted him?  I showed
him his description on my list.  He took a look and then told me that the
description on my list was indeed how he remembered himself.  I looked
at him again, lowered my head, and looked back up at him and cleared my
throat.  I asked him how he felt.  He said he felt fine, better than he
had felt for a long time, better than he ever remembered feeling.  One
could have guessed that by just looking at him.
 
It then dawned on me that Tisha had no idea what he looked like.  Oh,
for Pete's sake!  How would he?  I took him over to the stream which ran
underneath the Bridge and told him to lean over and take a look in the
water.  Spotting his reflection he looked for a long time, occasionally
turning to this left, then to his right so he could see as much of
himself as possible.  Slowly, a smile came to his face and then an even
bigger smile when he realized that he was no longer snaggle-toothed!  He
thought about his tail, and comically spun around three times trying to
take a look at it.  I caught him on the third spin, grabbed his tail and
handed it to him.  He looked it over carefully - it was perfectly
straight; no knobs!  He was so excited with his new body that his tail
waggled back and forth.  He thanked me over and over again, but I told
him that there was no need to thank me.  This was the Boss' doing, I'm
quite sure, and he could thank him himself when he saw him.  He said
that most definitely would, and dooking excitedly he jumped into the air
in an impromptu war dance.
 
Now, I have seen war dances before.  I even do a pretty good one, myself.
But this boy did a dance that I had never seen before!  He never seemed
to come out of the air - he would twist up left, twist up right, and even
do little flips without ever touching the ground!  It was remarkable; he
danced as if he were some sort of cartoon.  He would spiral up and back
and spin around and around, barely ever touching the ground.
 
His dance was catching.  I felt my back begin to arch up and my feet got
antsy.  Next thing you know, he and I were spinning around each other in
circles, twisting this way, twisting that way, although for each one of
my twists he did five of his own!  I forgot for a moment that I was
supposed to be a serious-minded Bridge greeter and danced like there was
no tomorrow.  I couldn't help myself!  We were dooking and dancing fools!
I jumped on Tisha's back and we took off like a rocket into the air.
The birds quit flying and just sat on tree branches, astounded.  Even
the honeybees and bumblebees scrambled to get out of our way!  We were
dancing and spinning in mid-air like mad weasels when all of a sudden I
realized that we were above the treetops.  I was giddy.  I didn't want
to come down.  This was the most fun I'd had in years!
 
We dooked and war danced for quite some time, but eventually we both got
a bit tired.  Well, *Tisha* got a bit tired - I was exhausted.  I thought
we could use some refreshment so I made some tea for the both of us, and
he was every bit the proper gentleman, waiting for me to take the first
sip of tea.  We talked about all sorts of things.  He told me about his
last night in the Hoomin world.  He was feeling really bad that night.
His mom wrapped him up in his favorite blankets and carried him around
like a newborn baby to keep him warm.  Then she cuddled with him in her
bed for a long time.  I could tell by looking into his eyes that he
missed his mom and dad very much.  He had the deepest black eyes, and
when I looked into them I felt I was looking right into his heart.
 
I remembered that the Boss had given me a message from Tisha's mom to
give to him, and now seemed the proper time.  I told him that she loved
him and always would, and that she thanked him for keeping her heart
safe, warm, and always, *always* fuzzy.  He smiled and I could see his
deep black eyes start to mist over.  I have to admit, my eyes felt a
bit misty as well.
 
After a bit, I reminded Tisha that we still had business to take care of.
I still had to show him to his hidey-hole, introduce him to his brother
and sister fuzzies who were already up here at the Bridge, and then go
get him fitted for his wings.  Wings, I thought to myself - if this
fellow can float in the air just by war dancing, imagine how he could
dance with wings!  We would have to track him by satellite!  Personally,
I just couldn't wait to see ;)
 
Sandee
[Posted in FML issue 5173]