Early morning at the Bridge and Muldoone was still snoozing in his hammy.
He and the guys had pulled off another suprise and for the most part a
successful flannel nightgown raid on the girls the night before.  It had
been a long dry spell and they were all itching to get their paws on some
nice flannel and knowing all the girls slept in flannel nightgowns, the
guys knew exactly where to go to get what they wanted.  Now if they
could just keep Nanna from finding out about it, no doubt she would be
calling a meeting and ordering all the nightgowns returned.  That Nanna,
she was forever spoiling the fun of Mully and his buddies.
 
Nanna went storming into Muldoone's hut not bothering to knock.  She
grabbed the side of his hammy and gave it a hard YANK and Mully found
himself flat on the floor landing with a resounding THUD.  Upon opening
his eyes, he saw no ne other than his boss Nanna standing over him
staring her best glare stare.
 
"Sworry Nanna, I twies to tells em we not need dat many nightiegowns, we
takes em all back, I pwomise" Muldoone stammered to his boss.
 
"Muldoone what are you talking about, I am not here about any nightgowns
but if I find you and your friends were on another nightgown raid you
are going to be in big trouble, you promised me the last time there
would be NO MORE flannel nightgown raids.  What I am here about is the
greeting you have due this morning and you should have already been up
and on your way to the Bridge.  Get up and get yourself moving young
man, time is wasting" Nanna told him.
 
Staggering off to his make-self-ready area and coming back for Nanna's
inspection, the older ferret stood there with her mouth hanging open.
Only rarely since Muldoone arrived at the Bridge had he ever known Nanna
to be speechless but this was one of those times.
 
"MULDOONE, in the name of Foamy Fries what have you done to your fur?"
Nanna screeched at him.
 
Standing before Nanna for her inspection which he rarely ever had to
do anymore, but this morning she was giving his hammy-head-hair a very
close going over.  Reaching out with a couple of toes to feel Muldoone's
fur, Nanna didn't know what to think; her toes felt both gookie and
slickie.  Sniffing her toes after touching his fur, his boss crinckled
up her nose as the odor was most unplesant.
 
Mully was standing before Nanna looking quite pleased with himself, he
didn't understand what all the fuss was about.  The Boss was taking too
much time about fixing his hammy-head-hair problems so Muldoone decided
to fix it himself.  After discussing it with his buddies, they all came
up with the same idea ; go visit Sabrina, Switch, and Lily and get some
axle grease from their yellow and green 1949 John Deere Tractor.  The
girls weren't all that friendly about sharing their tractor grease but
with some persuasion they finally let him have a pawful to use on his
hammy-head-hair.  He had more than enough to schmooze down his fur and
even enough left over to be stashed for future mornings when he needed it.
 
"Muldoone, you cannot go to the Bridge to greet a new arrival looking
like THAT" Nanna scolded him.  "You look like you took a swan dive into
a pool of oil."
 
"But Nanna, wook at it, it hold my hairs down, no more hammy-head-hair, I
not eben be needin my ballcap to cobers it up" Muldoone told his boss.
 
Drawing a long breath, arms crossed over her chest, eyes narrowed, and
tapping one foot on the ground, "Muldoone I know this will be the first
time I ha ve ever told you this but I am ordering you to put on your
ballcap and wear it this morning when you greet the new comer due to
arrive, maybe they have never seen anything like you, you might scare
em.  You put on your cap and wear it to the Bridge and as soon as you
finish with the greeting you are to go and get all that gunk washed out
of your fur.  I will talk to the Boss myself about your hammy-head-hair
and try to get Him to hurry up the process of getting it fixed."
 
All the way to the Bridge Nanna was heard grumbling to herself, "Never
seen anything like it, what was he thinking, he doesn't think, that is
the problem, hammy-head-hair problems, and what is the Boss waiting on,
fix your cap Muldoone, it is sliding off."
 
Arriving at the Bridge and hearing the sweet sad Ferret Promise Song
begin to swell on the breeze offering comfort to a grieving heart back on
earth and waiting to give a warm loving embrace to the one who came.  It
sang of happier times, days of laughter and playtime, but it also sang of
days with a beloved fuzzy, one who was slowing with disease, days that
whispered to an aching heart, "It might not be much longer."
 
At the moment each ferret passed, the Creator gently took them in His
thundering velvet right hand and whispered to their hearts "I knew you
before you were ever a ferret, I knew you while you were on earth, and
you have returned to Me, rest now wee-one, you are home, come and start
your new journey that begins at the Bridge."
 
The lights danced, reflecting the brilliant hues of the rainbow.  The
light flashed brightly once more and then the sound of ferrety feets
could be heard making their way across the time-worn boards that made up
the Rainbow Bridge, connecting that other world to this one; the world
which held fuzzies of every size shape and color, fuzzies who waited for
the day they would be reunited with the one on earth they loved so
completely.
 
The flash of light subsided and then Mully heard the unmistakable sounds
of ferrety feets coming across the time-worn planks of the Bridge; the
Moonbeam Molly Express having delivered another ferret whose time on
earth had been cut short.
 
Mully stepped forward to greet the new arrival.  "Welcomes to da Wainbow
Bwid ge Spatz, I be Mr. Muldoone, officialist Bwidge Gweeter."  Muldoone
leaned forward offering his nose to the male ferret in a friendly
greeting.  Gesturing in the direction of his supervisor, "Dis be Nanna"
Mully told the newcomer.
 
The new arrival sat down and looked all around surveying his new
surroundings; eyes big and round, he seemed a bit confused at where he
was.  "Dis be da Wa inbow Bwidge?" he asked.
 
"Yes" Mully told him, "dis be da Wainbow Bwidge.  Dids you not knos you
be comin here kid?" Muldoone asked him.
 
"I not be feelin so gud but not knos I be comin here dis soon."
 
Stepping forward and offering a friendly nose greeting to the new arrival
Spatz, "Welcome to the Rainbow Bridge Spatz, I am Nanna.  Your mom told
us all about you and she is very sad that you had to leave her but she
understands, she is missing you very much but she understood it was your
choice to go."
 
"Miss Nanna, I be missin my mom a wot" Spatz told Nanna.
 
"Spatz, we all miss our familees a great deal when we come here.  For
some it is only after they arrive here at the Bridge they are finally
without a sick body or at last they are free from pain, others come here
and they are missing their cagemates terribly; most every ferret that
arrives here arrives with an aching heart.  But, you are here now and
you will wait for that wonderful day when your mom comes for you and
then you will be reunited" Nanna explained to him.
 
"Zactlee how long dat be Miss Nanna?" Spatz wanted to know.
 
"Spatz, I am sorry, I don't have any way of knowing that, but we all wait
for that wonderful day to come when we will see our loved ones running
through the meadow on their way to meet us and on that day we cross the
Bridge together to never be separate from one another again.  It is the
day promised to us by the Creator, it is what makes the waiting possible
for us" Nanna told him.
 
"Spatz, I teaches you how to visit yur mom in her dweams, and you can
sends her whiskery kisses.  She will tink she be dweamin but it be you
sneaks back to earff to visit and make sure yur mom be ok.  I shows you
how."
 
Comes wiff me Spatz, I shows you all da stuff we gots here at da Bwidge."
As the two ferrets were walking down the path, Spatz stopped and was
sniffing the air and then asked Muldoone, "What be dat smell?"
 
~~Muldoone~~
Caring for your ferrets at the Rainbow Bridge.
[Posted in FML issue 5075]