It was a cold clear night in central Massachusetts, the birds were packed
tightly into little sleeping flocks deep in the trees, sharing their
warmth.  In, out, they breathed together.  The squirrels lay curled and
soft in their ball shaped nests of woven vine bark strips and twigs, high
up in the branches, safe from harm.  There was very little wind, but when
it did blow, the trees would give a loud POP!  and a creak the way they
do in the cold, and a shower of snow would sift down with a hiss.
 
But not all was quiet in the night, as one might expect.  In fact, there
was quite a bit of giggling and squealing and laughter coming from the
sledding hill behind the Elementary School.  Children?  No.  It was much
too late for any of them to be up.  Two local ferrets who'd snuck out of
their house, and were now madly careening down the hill like otters?  No.
It was two local ferrets who'd snuck out of their house, and were now
madly careening down the hill *with* otters!
 
Yes, Ping and Puma had taken the 1966 John Deere Model 1020 tractor with
the big bucket over to Shrewesbury, to the Ecortarium, and picked up the
otters a little earlier that night.  Now the ferrets were using the
otters as living sleds.  It's absolutely *amazing* how fast a fat-bellied
otter can slide down a sledding hill on his belly, even with the weight
of a ferret on his back, holding onto pawfulls of his fur for dear life.
The otters had never gone sledding before, and were thrilled by the
experience, throwing themselves face-first down the hill, and yelling
"DELIIIIIGHTFULLLL!!" as they rocketed down to the bottom, flat tails
dragging and flapping in the snow behind.  Ping and Puma found the
experience exhilarating as well, their whiskers bent back in the breeze
as each raced one of the otters to the bottom of the hill.
 
The races themselves were quite quick, and the trip back up the hill
didn't take too long, either.  The otters loped along, the ferrets
trotted behind more slowly.  Tomorrow, there were going to be a lot of
people totally puzzled by the profusion of animal tracks in the snow by
the side of the sledding trails!  The First otter got to the top of the
hill, closely followed by the Second, and they waited for the much
smaller ferrets to catch up.  Ping reached them first, and Puma a few
seconds later.
 
The First looked down at the ferrets, licked his broad nose, and said
"Little Cousins, thank you so much for bringing us here tonight in your
wonderful tractor.  This is delightful."
 
"Yes, simply delightful," said the Second, blinking his sleepy looking
eyes.  "We have never gone so very fast in our lives!"
 
"Aw, the trip was nothing, Dudes," said Ping,.  "It's always great to
see you guys."
 
"Yes," said Puma.  "It's always nice to spend some time in the company
of intellegent beings, such as yourselves," she said, giving Ping a
meaningful look.  Yesterday he had buried himself in the potting soil
of the Dirt Box so completely that Puma hadn't been able to see or smell
him at all.  She walked by, and he exploded up and out of the box with
a yelled "COWABUNGA!" scaring her half to death, and showering dirt
everywhere, including into their hammie, which was still gritty to lie
down in.
 
Ping ignored the meaningful look.  Just seeing the way Puma had flattened
to the floor while all that dirt had rained down on her back had been
worth the bite she had given his back leg in payment a few moments later.
Puma needed to lighten up, in the worst way.  Herbs, yoga, more of that
weird Eastern meditation she did, something, Dude.  Even France the
Hedgehog thought Puma had issues.
 
And speaking of France....
---End Part One---
Alexandra in MA
[Posted in FML issue 5117]