Musty Pete Greets Florrie

Crackle...Buzz...Crackle

"MustyPete?" a familiar voice rang out.

"Yes? I'm here." I answered to the voice....sleepily.

"Good morning MustyPete. I have a Bridge Greeting this morning. Are you
awake?"

"Yes. I'm awake" I cleared my throat, trying to sound as awake as
possible. Knowing it would do me no good to try to fool Mr. Big.

"You don't SOUND awake, Pete" he said, followed by laughter.

"I'm so pleased I could amuse you so early in the day SIR. I'm awake
NOW." I said, trying not to sound annoyed.

"No need to get testy Pete." he said as he chuckled again. "I have a
lovely little girlie fert crossing the Bridge today and I need you to
locate Diggit and Boink so they can greet Florrie with you."

"Florrie eh? Cute name...Uh...Do you happen to know where the other two
might be, Sir?" I asked.

"It's my understanding that they are in The Village somewhere Pete.
That is why you must LOCATE them." he chuckled again.

He was having a fun time teasing me today. I silently hoped it was not
an indication of how the rest of my day might be.

"What time is Florrie crossing over today Sir?" I asked.

"She should be arriving in about an hour Pete, so you best skedaddle."
Again with the laughter.

I much prefer bridge crossings that occur later in the day, after I
have had a chance to wake up. But we have no control over what time of
day a fert will crossover. I washed my face and looked in my pantry for
breakfast. Hmmm...the cupboard is almost bare. I will have to restock
soon. I did notice a lavender napkin in the corner and realized with a
grin that it was a small leftover morsel of Francis Ferret's Raisin
Tart. I took it off the shelf and unwrapped it, giving it a tentative
sniff. It smelled okay to me and I gobbled it down. Delicious! It left
me wishing I had more of it. Maybe that would be a good 'reason' to go
see Francis. We hadn't really talked since it had been revealed to me,
in a dream, that my darling Fancy may not be waiting for me as we had
planned. I really should have a talk with Francis, that day left me
feeling very confused.

But, right now I had work to do. As I headed out the door I grabbed my
walking stick and the straw hat I mostly use for gardening. The sun is
hot and bright today. Summertime is fairly quiet up here, we ferts
enjoy sleeping in when it's hot outside. We like to find cool, airy
spaces, like hammies under big shade trees and snuggle in until the
evening brings cool air and respite from the summer sun. If there is
any activity at all it is at The Falls where the youngsters enjoy
swimming and splashing in the cool water. But even there, they nap
during the hottest time of the day.

Even the ground was hot against my feet as I began my walk towards The
Village. I really hoped that this heatwave would break soon. I didn't
see any signs of a single fert, but myself, being out and about. Seems
I'm the only one with anything to do today.

The sun beat down on my shoulders, making we wish I had an umbrella...
or a much larger straw hat. My walk had slowed to a stroll and I
contemplated stopping to sit for a while under a shade tree, but
reminded myself I only had an hour before Florrie would be crossing the
Bridge. The Village wasn't much farther away, so I continued walking,
preoccupied with worry about Fancy Ferret. I decided that later today,
after my work is done and evening comes, I will visit The Pool Of
Remembrance and see what Fancy is up to with my own eyes. It's the only
way I will know the truth.

I approached the first set of cottages at The Village. Most ferts have
their names listed on their post boxes [Yes! Sometimes we get mail.
Although E.J.ButterCup, our PostMaster is as old as dirt and as slow as
molasses.] I hoped I'd be able to stroll along and see either Diggit or
Boink's name on the post box. It was so quiet, it was like nobody lived
there.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a lady fert, she was shaking out a
piece of carpet, and having some difficulty with it. I called out to
her, "Hello there. Could you use an extra hand...er, paw?" she looked
up, dust blowing in her face. She sputtered and sneezed and accepted my
offer of help. "Thanks! That would be helpful!" she said. As I walked
over I said, "Hi. My name's MustyPete. Who are you?" I put down my
walking stick and grabbed a corner of the carpet piece she was trying
to clean. "My name is Vinegar. My friends call me Winnie." she said.
"Vinegar? That's a silly name for a girl. I like Winnie much better." I
said. "Yes, well. There is a story that goes with the name, perhaps one
day I will tell it to you. Give that corner a good shake would you
Pete?" she winked at me. [She WINKED at me...I think she was flirting.
With ME!]

I shook the carpeting and dust flew everywhere, silently I wondered WHY
I had washed my face this morning. Winnie laughed at me, and said
"There! That ought to do it. Could you help me roll this up?" she
asked. I helped her with the carpet and followed her as we carried it
into her cottage. It was very bright and roomy inside, there were
flowers in vases and pretty girlie prints on the furniture, she even
had a tablecloth with flowers and flutterbies on it. It made me wonder
if she lived alone, surely no man fert would live there, with all that
girlie stuff.

"Uh...Do you live alone Miss Winnie?" I asked bravely. She smiled, "Why
Musty Pete, are you flirting with me? I used to live with someone but
his earth Dad crossed the Bridge a while ago and came to get him. So
now I live alone." she added, "I don't much like it either, too quiet
for me. And I enjoy having someone around to cook for...maybe one day I
will find a new room mate." she sighed and asked, "What are you up to
this morning?" I smiled, somewhat distracted by her beautiful eyes.
"Uh...Oh! I am trying to find 2 ferts and I have a girlie fert crossing
the Bridge soon, so I have to go meet her." She smiled again, "Oh? So
you're a Greeter?" she asked. "Yes Ma'am. As a matter of fact, I best
be on my way...I am running out of time. It was so nice to meet you
Winnie. I hope I see you again." I extended my paw to her, and she took
it in her much smaller girlie paws. "It was lovely to meet you too
Pete. Tell me, who are the 2 ferts you are looking for, perhaps I know
them." she said. I smiled and said, "Boink and Diggit? I know, we all
seem to have silly names." She thought for a moment and said, "They
live down the lane, probably 7 or 8 cottages down from here. You can't
miss it, there's an old rowboat in the front yard. That thing hasn't
been wet in years." she laughed. "Great! Oh thanks so much Winnie. That
makes my job so much easier." I said, noticing that she was still
holding my large paw in hers. She smiled again and said, "Well, Pete.
If you don't have any supper plans for later on I would love to cook
dinner for you. Whaddya say?" she asked. "That would be wonderful
Winnie. I would really like that. I'll come by after sunset." Now I was
smiling, like a fool too. I said goodbye and left Winnie's place,
feeling a new spring in my step and not bothered so much by the heat. I
headed down the lane to find a cottage and a boat.

After meeting Winnie it took just a few minutes to locate Diggit and
Boink, they were both sleeping, stuffed into a group hammie with 3
other ferts who were later identified as Bandit, Coots and NotMe. It
took me a few minutes to wake them up, which they weren't too happy
about until I explained that they needed to come with me to The Bridge
to greet Florrie. Then they got all excited and were ready to go in 2
minutes, so we headed towards The Bridge amidst a barrage of questions
from the two young ferts. "How far is it Mr. Pete?" "Will Florrie
remember us Mr. Pete?" "Where do you live Mr. Pete?" "How long have you
been here Mr. Pete?" "How do you get to be a Bridge Greeter Mr. Pete?"
"Are we there yet Mr. Pete?" I finally had to ask them to stop with the
questions, they were making my head swim. They are a cute pair, so full
of energy. Finally we could see The Rainbow Bridge off in the distance.
Neither Boink nor Diggit had been back to The Bridge since they had
crossed over, they had forgotten how beautiful and majestic it was.
When they saw it, they stopped walking and just stared ahead. The
Bridge was aglow in gold and every color of the rainbow. The sun
glanced off it's highest peak, making them squint from the glare. A
large hazy rainbow hung low overhead and hummingbirds and flutterbies
were all around us drinking nectar from all of the summer flowers that
grew around The Bridge.

"We'd better hurry...Florrie will be here soon." I said. The two ferts
began skipping and jumping down the grassy slope, interrupting the
hummingbirds from their gathering of nectar. Little angry birds buzzed
at them, the boys didn't seem to notice, they were concentrating on The
Bridge and Florrie's impending arrival.

The three of us stood at The Rainbow Bridge, "Close your eyes." I said.
"Why?" asked Boink. "Just close your eyes." I said again, "and listen."
Quietly and far away you could hear The Ferret Promise Song being sung
by angels. "What's that song?" asked Diggit. "Shhh!! Just listen!" I
said quietly. "And wait..."

A cool, refreshing breeze swept over us, I heard Boink sigh. I opened
my eyes and saw Florrie coming across the Bridge. I said quietly,
"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Diggit blinked hard against the
brightness of the sun, then he looked towards the Bridge...he gasped
and shouted "Florrie!" Boink saw her at the very same moment and asked,
"Can we go on the bridge to get her Mr. Pete?" I smiled down at him,
"Of course you can. Go on now." and I watched them scamper onto the
bridge and embrace Florrie. They danced around, tumbling and giggling.
The boys picking up the scents of home that still lingered on Florrie.
Slowly they came to rest on my side of the Bridge.

"Hi Florrie. My name is Musty Pete. I am a Bridge Greeter here at The
Rainbow Bridge. Welcome." I said. She smiled up at me with bright eyes.
"Hi." she said. "My Mom told me all about this place. It's very nice.
Where is everyone else?" she asked. I explained that Bridge crossings
are limited to close friends, family members and greeters. Only once in
a great while does the entire community attend a crossing over. I told
her there were a great many ferts all over this wonderful place, many
of whom were probably napping and staying out of the noon day sun.
Boink spoke up and asked, "Mr. Pete? Can Florrie come stay with us in
our cottage?" I smiled at Boink, "She certainly can. If you don't mind
me coming to check in on you from time to time and I will have to give
Florrie a tour of the entire community so she can easily find her way
around." The boys agreed and the three of them headed off towards their
cottage in The Village, Florrie in the middle, arm in arm with Boink
and Diggit. They looked so happy walking off together. I know they will
be okay.

Soon we will all visit The Pool of Remembrance and check in on Sue and
Emmy and Mitzi.

I have time to take a siesta myself before it's time for dinner with
Winnie...and I still need to talk with Francis Ferret about Fancy.
Well, there's always tomorrow.

You can make a Bridge Greeting Request by sending me an email
[log in to unmask]  
I also check on ferts who have been at The Bridge for a while.
You can also send requests to [log in to unmask] or
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[Posted in FML 5706]