Hi, all-
 
I met a little guy coming across the Bridge, but he didn't come alone,
oh no.  His name was Fritz, and he was dragging his beloved Banana-Man
toy with him.  That was all well and good, until his Sister in Fur,
Hannah, who was waiting for Fritz along with their Brother in Fur Max,
saw the toy.
 
Hannah went BALLISTIC!!
 
Before Fritz was even off of the Bridge, she dove on the Banana-Man.
Fritz, Hannah, and the Banana-Man rolled over and over like a tin can
in the gutter.  Fritz finally got his feet under him, and tried to pull
away with a series of mighty heaves, but Hannah wasn't having it!  She
dug her feet into the grass, and her teeth into the Banana-Man.
 
The whole time Max was running around yelling "Oh come on guys!  Come on,
now!"  A crowd gathered to watch, and I decided that I may as well just
sit down and enjoy the view.  They obviously weren't going anywhere.
Some of the Wild Black-Footed ferrets started a betting pool, and the
odds favored Hannah, evon though Fritz was a VERY big boy.  Max finally
came over and sat down next to me, and I asked "Were they always like
this in the World of the Living?" He said "About the Banana-Man, yes,
pretty much."
 
Well, someone dragged over a box of rasins and started handing them out
to the crowd.  Fritz and Hannah showed no signs of tiring.  They ripped,
they pulled, they set their haunches, they shook their heads furiously.
 
A little while later the Wild Black-Footed Ferrets pushed over an
ice-cold beer in a brown glass bottle with their noses, and chewed the
cap off.  Dozens of fuzzies started drinking from the puddle, because it
was pretty hot in the sun.  The whole thing took on the air of a country
picnic.
 
Who finally won?  Well, some day, a long time from today, Fritz and
Hannah's Hoomin Mommy and Daddy, Amy and Dave, can ask 'em themselves.
Sure was fun to watch, though!
 
I met a little guy coming across the Bridge.  His name was Winnie
PinkNose, and I'll let you guess what the first thing was that I noticed
about him!  He did indeed have a very big, very pink nose.  It gave him a
comical appearance, but as I came to learn, he is really a very refined
individual.
 
Take his home, for example.  I gave him his wings, of course, but when
it came time to give him his hammie, he had other ideas.  When he told
me where he had been thinking about making a home, I'm sure my surprise
showed on my face!  And no, he wasn't going to need that hammie.
 
Well, Winnie and I strapped on our wings and we lifted off.  We flew over
fields and over forests.  For a while we hugged the coast, and we could
see the surf breaking on the rocks beneath us, brilliant jade and white
explosions of water!
 
Finally, we came to a special place that we call the Wishing Field.  It
looks like an ordinary grassy field dotted with wildflowers, but it is
where the Big Boss leaves special things for us.  Like Winnie's cello.
 
We set down next to it, and just admired it for a while.  It was huge!
It was a rich, reddish brown, and looked just like an oversized violin.
It smelled piney.  The sun shone on its four long, steel strings, right
up to where they disappeared into a curl of wood at the top of its neck.
There were two f-shaped slits in its face flanking the strings to help
it resonate, to help it sing from the heart.  We had PLANS for those!
 
Winnie took the one on the left, and I took the one on the right.  We bit
and chewed, bit and chewed the wood away, enlarging those holes until
each was big enough for a ferret to slip in or out of.  It took a good
half hour, and our mouths tasted like pine shavings before we were done!
 
But oh, how beautiful it was inside the cello.  Curved, honey colored
un-finished wooden walls.  It reminded us of being inside some marvelous
vaulted and arched place, like a gothic cathederal!  And it was cool, and
piney smelling, clean smelling.
 
Winney and I made another flight to the Fleece Mountain, and carried away
some scrap fleece to line the bottom of the cello with.  That Winnie.  He
may *look* like a clown, but you never can tell!
 
I finally got a nagging question answered.  Do you remember the other
day, I Greeted a Little Rescue Girl?  She had no name, and I never heard
her voice.  She melted away into the woods almost as soon as she finished
crossing the Bridge.
 
Well, I saw her today.  I didn't call her to the Bridge, I just found her
there, waiting, silently, when I had an appointment to Greet a little
guy.  His name?  I don't know.  He was down on my list as nothing but
"Little Rescue Boy!"
 
He padded across almost silently, his head swinging back and forth as he
sniffed mightily, searching for...you guessed it!  Little Rescue Girl!  I
could see the whole set of his whiskers change when he caught her scent,
and then he padded right up to her.  She stood, and they very, very
gently touched noses.  And then together, they melted away into the edge
of the nearby forest.
 
Who are they?  What are their stories?  We may never know.
 
I met a little guy named Bopper, coming across the worn wooden planks of
the Bridge.  His Sister in Fur Abba stood with me, waiting for him.  I
gave him his wings and his hammie and I asked him what he wanted to do
or to see first, and he just said "Fly!"
 
We slipped into our wings and lifted off one by one.  It was a great day
for flying!  The sky was that deep, deep blue that is endless, and it was
dotted with large, puffy white clouds that flocked together like sheep.
The sun shone golden, warming our fur, but it wasn't too hot, especially
as we rose above the ground, and the Bridge and the two-color blooming
lilac tree (purple today) got smaller and smaller beneath us.
 
Bopper made a B-line for the nearest cloud, yelling "Catch me!" Abba
and I tried, but Hopper is *good* with his wings!  We could hear him
laughing, and see him getting smaller ahead of us, finally disappearing
into the cloud, but we couldn't begin to catch up with him!
 
Pretty soon the three of us started showing off for one another, flying
in great swooping arcs, spiraling faster and faster toward the ground,
and only at the last instant, pulling up, up, UP!  to meet the sun!  It
was mad, it was exciting, it was fast!  And all the time, Bopper laughed
for the pure joy of flight.
 
His Daddy Scott used to carry him in his hand, and reach up with that
hand toward the ceiling while Bopper held on, his whiskers stiff with
excitement...flying...flying...his eyes bright!  But Bopper is really
flying, now!  He knows the taste and the smell of the whole sky!
 
Sandee
[Posted in FML issue 4637]