On a brisk Monday night, I went to greet Calix Naveen.  When he arrived,
his white fur shimmered with stardust, and his black eyes sparkled in the
moonlight.  He trotted over the boards of the bridge with a pitter pat
towards me and gave me a great bit sniff.  I grabbed him and wrapped my
wings around this youngster to welcome him to his new home.  But when I
did, I ended up with a surprise.  Under his wing, I felt a lump.  It was
his little rubber blue doggie.  He looked a little defensive, but I told
him no one would touch it here.  It's as safe as he is.
 
We walked past the heather that was lightly swaying in the night breeze
to go find Xanth and Pixie.  I knew where they were.  I just didn't want
to tell Calix yet so that I could show him around.  He seemed so quiet.
I didn't know why.  Every now and then, I'd look back at him and I'd see
a slight smile on his face.
 
I took him over the rolling fields to show him ferretone fountain,
laundry mountain, sofa world, the treat bar and the big soup bowl ...
and more.  He kept looking up at the high clouds that glowed from the
starlight.  So I told him we could check it out.  Off we went, higher and
higher.  Then we perched ourselves on a soft fluffy cloud.  I asked why
he wanted to come up so high, and he just kept smiling, looking at the
stars.  "Music", he finally said.  You see his new hearing is so acute,
that he could hear the twinkling of the stars from the first time he set
foot off the bridge.  He could hear the breeze trickle through the
clouds, the moonbeams, the stardust fall, the glimmer of the stars, every
breath in the world.  And he was in bliss.
 
Our serious moments didn't last very long, as they never do with ferrets.
We were sabotaged.  Xanth and Pixie snuck up underneath that cloud, dug
through, and bit Calix's toes so he leaped straight up into the air.
Every time he came down again, they attacked again.  Finally he dove into
the cloud and funneled all through it in search of them.  Dooking madly
they finally showed themselves.
 
Late that night, when before I curled up in my hammie, I saw Xanth and
Pixie sleeping next to Calix, who was still awake with his new ears
pressed to the cloud ... listening to Samwies, Dewey, Lupi, Snap,
Skittles, and Gandolf snoring.  He went to sleep to the rythym oof his
mommies heart beat.
[Posted in FML issue 5038]