I was a little late getting to the Bridge the other day.  I was making
raisin pudding when the Boss wanted to talk to me, and when I got back I
had burned my pudding.  There is nothing that smells worse than burned
raisin pudding.  When I got to the Bridge, there was a little silver guy
with a brown nose waiting for me.  The moment he saw me, he ran right up
to me and started tugging on my leg, asking me when he would be able to
go out and play.
 
"Whoa there.  Why are you in such a hurry?" I asked.  He said he didn't
know why, but he was feeling lots better than he had been feeling, and
that he wanted to get out and play before he started getting tired.  He
looked around, and it was then he realized that he was no longer at home.
I asked him what his name was and if he knew where he was.  He told me
his name was Justin, and, "Uh, no... not exactly.
 
Where am I, and where is everybody, and how come I'm not so tired as I
used to be?" So many questions all at once.
 
I told him that he had to leave his family from the Hoomin world and live
up here at the Bridge with us.  He got a frantic look in his eye and said
that he didn't want to be here at the Bridge, because even though we
seemed like nice furries, none of his family was here.  I told him that
wasn't entirely true.  I told him that his mom had given word to the Boss
to let me know that he had all kinds of family up here.
 
"I do?" he asked.
 
I told him about Ben, Jerri, Hershey, Casper, Oscar and Felix, and how
they all wanted to meet him when he got settled in.
 
"They're waiting for me?" he asked.
 
"They sure are," I told him, "and they know where all the best toys and
hidey-holes are, too."  That made Justin feel a lot better, but he still
had some questions.
 
"How come I'm not so tired?" he asked.
 
I told him that he wasn't tired because up here at the Bridge nobody ever
gets sick like they do in the Hoomin world.
 
Justin looked at my glasses and asked me if nobody gets tired or sick,
how come you have glasses?
 
Well, he got me there.  I asked him if he wanted to know a secret.  Well,
being a fuzzy, of course he did.  I took off my glasses and handed them
to him.  I asked him if he noticed anything about my glasses.  He said
no.  I told him to put a paw print on one of my lenses.  He stuck his
toe right through the frame.  "Hey!" he said, "There's no glass in your
glasses!  They're empty."  I laughed, and I told him to shush and to not
tell anybody.  Justin laughed with me a bit, but then he got quiet.
 
I could tell that something was still bugging him, and I was pretty sure
I knew what it was.  I told him we needed to get going.  He looked up at
me with bright watering eyes and asked me if he was ever going to see
Shadow and Princess, and Daisy and Bear and Sammy and Bailey ever again.
I told him of course he would, that's why we work up here at the Bridge -
to help him settle in and eventually meet all his brother and sister
fuzzies again.
 
"Will I see my mom and dad again, too?" he asked.
 
I told him that he would eventually see them again, but it wouldn't be
for awhile because Hoomins can live to be almost a hundred years old,
sometimes.
 
"A hundred years old?" he said, "That's really old!"
 
I told him not to say that too loud because Hoomins don't like hearing
that too much.
 
He asked me if Jeff, his Hoomin dad, was going to live to be a hundred
years old.  I told him that I should hope so.  Justin started looking sad
again.  I told him not to be sad, that it was a good thing for Hoomins
and fuzzies to live a long time.  He told me he knew that it was, it was
just that he missed Jeff very much and he didn't know if he could wait a
hundred years to see him again.
 
Well, I told him that it was going to take that long to meet all the
fuzzies, eat all the good food, and find all the best places to play.
Then I told him about how he would be getting his wings and I could see
the sparkle slowly come back into his eyes.  "We need to get going," I
told him, and we started walking.
 
He suddenly cocked his head and scratched his ear, like he was forgetting
something.  Suddenly, it hit him and he let go of my paw.  He ran over to
the end of the Bridge and grabbed his purple octopus.  Justin put it up
to his nose and gave it a good sniff.  It still smelled of his family
from the Hoomin world.  He blew out his nostrils hard and took another
good sniff.  I could see his eyes were closed and he was smiling.  I
took him by the hand and we continued walking.
 
I wondered to myself if maybe I should ask the Boss to give the purple
octopus wings, too.  I could tell Justin was going to be a busy boy...
 
Sandee
[Posted in FML issue 5128]