"Well folks,"  Griz declared.  "I'd better be on my way."
    "Bye, Mr. Griz," Sammi said, and watched as Griz once again was gone.
    "We'd better get going too!"  Rosie stated.
    "Yeah," Maxie agreed.  "Our cousins the black-foots are waiting!"
    "It would be expedient if we were to be on our way soon," Wiggles added.
    "Move out!"  Rosie stated, and the rest followed; Buzz, Foxie, Pierre,
and the three ferret girls.
    "So," Pierre declared, while they walked, "What brings you to this part
of the forest?  Don't domestic ferrets live in nice condos in the city, with
heaters, blankets, beds, and all the food you could ask for?  Why are you
out here in the rough and rugged wilderness?"
    "We wanted to have an adventure!"  Sammi answered.
    "Yeah," Maxie added.  "The urban scene is kinda boring."
    "Yeah," Rosie echoed.  "It was my idea.  I was watching television when
Dad and Mom were at work, and I saw how neat the wilderness can be!  So we
stole our Dad's car and crashed, and now here we are!"
    "Hey, you wanna talk to our Dad, Pierre?" Sammi said.  "We got a
cellular phone!"
    "Huh?" Pierre replied, with a blank look in his eyes.  Rosie dialed the
number on the phone, which she had retrieved from the crinkle sack, and
listened to the receiver.
    "Still no answer," Rosie stated.  "Here, Pierre, leave them a message."
She put the phone to Pierre's face and he spoke into it, saying, "Uh, hello
there...This is Pierre.  I am a skunk, and I'm guiding your daughters
through the Evil Swamplands today to fight Fang the evil wolf and rescue the
black-footed ferrets from extinction.  Hope you folks are having a nice day.
Goodbye."
    "Perfect!"  Rosie exclaimed, and threw the phone back into the bag.
    "Somehow I don't think that that was such a good idea," Wiggle mumbled,
rolling her eyes.
    "Ouch!!!!"  Came a voice from beneath her feet.  "Get off of me!!!"
    "What is it now?" Wiggles remarked, lifting up her paws, which were now
covered in a gooey substance, which was attached like string to the large,
six inch long slug beneath her.
    "Watch it with those claws," The slug stated.  "Don't you people watch
where you are stepping around here?"
    "My apologies..."  Wiggles answered.  "Mister...?"
    "Banana Slug is my name,"  The creature answered.
    "You don't taste like bananas," Maxie declared, licking the slug on the
it's head.
    "Slugs are pests!"  Rosie stated with disdain.  "They eat all the
plants in our Dad's garden back home!  They are slow, ugly, and useless!"
    "I got slime on my tongue!" Maxie said, licking her chops madly.
    "Quite the contrary, young girl," Banana Slug replied to Rosie.  "We
slugs are very important components of the good chain!"
    "Just like vultures are!"  Buzz agreed, wholeheartedly.
    "That's right!" Banana Slug declared.  "We slugs eat plants, birds and
mammals eat us slugs, birds and mammals eat each other, then all life forms
dies and become the soil, which in fact is aided by microscopic decomposers
like bacteria and fungi.  Then the soil, along with the sun and water feed
the plants, and the whole cycle is repeated, eternally!"
    "Woah..."  The ferret girls exclaimed.
    "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings," Rosie apologized.  "Guess I was
pretty ignorant."
    "No, not YOU, Rosie..."  Wiggles remarked.
    "Well, have a good day then, folks."  Banana Slug stated and began
slowly slithering away.
    "We'd better get a move on!"  Foxie declared.  "It's almost night time
again."
    "Yeah,"  Buzz replied.  "I ain't goin' into the Evil Swamplands in the
dark!"  With this, they continued their trek to the east, for a few hours.
The sun was beginning to hang very low in the sky, and the shadows around
them grew longer with each passing moment.
    "What's up with these trees?"  Rosie asked, looking around them at the
sudden gnarled and ghastly appearance of the pines around them as they
walked.
    "Yeah," Foxie added.  "The needles on these trees are all black and
falling off!"
    "And the bark is all rotten and gruesome," Wiggles remarked.
    "Well,"  Pierre stated.  "I think that we are in the beginning of the
Evil Swamplands.  These trees are all infected with the curse from that evil
Fang!"
    "Who dares enter our world?!?!?"  A voice boomed before them all.  They
looked with horror into the face peering at them from what seemed to be part
of the tree!
 
     (to be continued...)
[Posted in FML issue 1666]