It was a lovely day at de Bridge. SaraFerret was playing with de kits
when all of a sudden she heard de flutter of wings and in flew Mimi,
de little girl courier, with a note in her paw.

"SaraFerret," she shouted. "I have a note from de Boss saying a ferret
is crossing the Bridge. Do you want me to get the requested ones?"

She gave me de note which I quickly read. I sent her to pick up de
right ones and I headed lickety-split for de entrance.

I was just in time to see a large albino fuzzy trying to make his way
across de bridge, but my he sure was having a hard time. (I reread de
note). I trotted out to de bridge which was teetering just a bit (oh
mercy, feet don't fail me now) and reached out my paw to him and he
grabbed it with such strength dat I thought dat we was both gonna
topple over de ropes, but we steadied ourselves and slowly but surely
we made it back to de entrance. I breathed a big SIGH of relief.

Den I introduced myself, "Hi, I am SaraFerret and I am de
bridgegreeter. Welcome to de Rainbow Bridge. Dis is your new forever
home. Here you will have no more pain or suffering. You will run on
green grass forever and have lotsa friends."

The fuzzy looked at me at said, "Gee thanks for helping me out with dat
bridge cause I don't do bridges at all and I really thought dat I would
fall off and get hurt real bad. My name is Artemus, but my Mommy always
called me Artie. Do you know my Mommy Kim? She hugged me really good de
nite before I left--but she didn't know my time was over. Where are all
dese friends you were telling me about? I don't be to be rude, but all
I see is you and you look kinda scrawny, not like some of my friends.
Are you de only ferret here? I sure hope you aren't telling me stories
just to make me feel good. And how come I still feel so lousy if I am
sposed to be free of everything?"

"Ok, one thing at a time, Artie," I explained. Then all of a sudden
POOF! Artie became well and his fur and his body was once again the
same the way it was when he was young.

"As to your Mommy, no I don't know her, but I am sure she is great as
most mommys are. I am not de only fuzzy here and you will meet your
friends later and you will see I am not telling stories. As for me, I
never claimed to be the prize fuzzy of de litter--de Boss always says
dat he keeps me dis way to keep me from being too prideful."

Den all of a sudden from behind a pile of leaves, Rickie, his buddy who
had crossed before, leaped out. "Artie!" "Rickie!" Oh dere was a few
minutes of dancing of joy and happiness and den Artie noticed Rickie's
wings and asked, "Rickie, what are dose funny things on your shoulders?
Dey sure look strange."

"Artie", Rickie answered. "Dese are wings, dey are great for flying
about de clouds, sure beats hopping around from place to place. And
guess what, SaraFerret is gonna find you a paur if dese too."

Well dat seemed to cheer Artie up considerably. So off de three of us
went down de path to de Wing House. But at de door we met Helena,
another of his friends who had passed. (Now Artie knew I hadn't been
fibbing). Dey gave each other high-fives. Den we opened de door and on
de counter was a big box--of course. Artie opened de box and took out
de wings--Brightest blue--with black streaks--just perfect for a big
albino fuzzy. Helena helped him put on his wings and Rickie adjusted
his halo. Den he ran to de big vanity mirror and gazed at his
reflection--my what a handsome ferret he was. Den he turned to me and
said, "Gee I wish Mommy Kim could see me now." Den I gots an idea.

We opened de door and went down de path to de Misting Pond and sat down
beside de cool clear water. With one swish we saw de vision of Mommy
Kim and her fuzzies appear. Artie started waving and dooking with all
of his might.

"Mommy, I love you so much. Thank you for loving me. Please don't
rush to fast to come to Heaven as I found lotsa friends here to keep
me company. I feel lots better now and I don't hurt at all. I has
beautiful wings now and I can fly like a flutter-by."

Den he began to throw hugs, kisses, and promises to visit one day in
dreams and wrapped dem with all of his love and laid dem on a nearby
shooting star which was headed to your house and by de time you should
read dis it should have landed dere. And with another swish de vision
was gone.

We left dere and headed down de road to dere cottage where we were met
by Sinbad de Cat with a sign tied to his tail, "Welcom Artie." "How did
he know I was coming," Artie asked. "Oh we has our ways," I replied. We
went into the cottage and would you know it. Dere was food all laid out
and music was playing. In fact, fuzzies started dropping in till de
place was overflowing. I was invited to stay, but I was plumb worn out,
so I gave Artie a hug and said my goodbyes.

As I headed for home, I just decided to sit and rest and think for a
bit. "Hmm, For each piece of dere heart a human gives to dere fuzzy,
it grows back with each new fuzzy dey love."

So ended another greeting at de Rainbow Bridge.

Lovey and hugs,
SaraFerret, bridgegreeter

[Posted in FML 6230]