"OK, you guys," said Zipper, after calling all the secret agents
together.  " Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to find the
world's biggest rai sin, which is missing."
 
"I don't understand why we're doing this," said Petey, a big, furry sable
gu y with a brown mask.  "Isn't this Schwarzenegger guy a Republican?"
 
"Yeah," said Zipper.  "So what?"
 
"Well, I thought those Republicans didn't like government meddling with
peop le's lives.  So it shouldn't really matter to them if people have
ferrets for pet s."
 
"Oh, so you're a philosopher now, eh?" asked Tonx, a big, strapping
albino g uy who must have weighed a good five pounds.  "Look out, 'cause
I'm going to drag you by the neck around the woods for a while!"
 
"You just try it, you big tub of white fur!" said Petey.
 
But before the two boys could start wrestling, Zipper said, "Seeing as
how you two are the biggest guys on our team, you get to carry the
missing raisin whe n we find it.  We'll let Vivaldi, Verdi, and Aida from
Massachusetts serenade you with their operatic voices to cheer you on."
 
"What?  I don't need this little squirt to help me," said Tonx.
 
"You'll need a lot more than my help to get your act together," said
Petey.
 
"All right, that does it!" exclaimed Tonx, and the two boys started
chasing each other around the campfire.
 
"OK, Vivaldi and Aida and Verdi and Rubin and Stellina and Noelle," said
Zipper, calling each of the remaining agents by name, "we have to think
hard about where that raisin might be.  We only have three days left."
 
And they all sat around the campfire, their front paws cradling their
chins, and started thinking real hard about where to look.
[Posted in FML issue 4649]