Hi, all.
 
I am sorry to have missed wednesday night's deadline, but my hoomin was
pretty much down for repairs.
 
Back to work.
 
I met a little girl coming across the worn wooden planks of the Bridge.
Her name was Princess Mocha.  She came across slowly, sniffing the air
as she walked.  Finally, she came right up to me and touched noses.  She
smelled a little bit like Fritos, but then most of us ferrets do.
 
We both smiled and groomed one another's ears and faces a bit.  I asked
her how she felt and she said that she felt as though she had just
enjoyed a particularly long, restful nap.  A really good one, and now
she was all mellow.
 
I suggested that we take a walk in the Rose Garden while we waited for
her friend Bubbie, who was running late.  Princess Mocha liked that idea,
so we walked single file along the little trail through the long grass
that lead to the rose garden.  It was only about a two or three minute
trot.
 
I never tire of the Rose Garden.  The roses are always in bloom.  We
stood up on our back feet to press our snouts into the huge pink, white,
red, and yellow blossoms.  We both got pollen on our whiskers, it tastes
like black Chinese tea when you lick it off.  As good as the roses are,
I think I like the bark mulch almost as much.  Princess Mocha completely
buried her head in bark mulch at one point!  It's hard to be a Princess
with mulch on your head, but she managed, somehow.
 
Finally, we saw Bubbie off in the distance, a little bit beyond a
planting of blue forget-me-nots and pink dianthus.  It was time to renew
an old friendship.  What a lovely morning!
 
I met a little guy coming across the Bridge.  He didn't walk, he danced,
he spun, he galloped!  His name was Night Wolf, and he felt so very, very
good and strong again as he hadn't in a long time.  I'm, ah, not really
supposed to take a personal interest in these things, but I must
say...Night Wolf was one fetching Hob!
 
He skidded to a stop at the end of the Bridge and said "You must be
Sandee.  I dreamt of you!  I dreamt of this whole place on the long
nights when the ADV made me feel so old and tired and stiff in my
hammie."
 
I said "Your Mommy was worried that you wouldn't understand what was
happening, because she couldn't be with you to tell you."
 
Night wolf said "Oh no, I've been dreaming about the Bridge for about a
year now.  Good dreams of clear, cool water to play in, and a field of
old attic trunks full of interesting things to climb around in and stash.
Toys.  Little machines.  Gizmos.  Is all of that real?"
 
"All of it," I said. "Where do you want to begin?"
 
"Well," he said, "I really want to...wait a minute.  Is my Mommy still
worrying about me?  I can't have that."
 
"No, it'll be O.K.  We'll send her a message to let her know that you got
here.  Before you go snorkeling in the spring, or after?"
 
I'm not going to tell you which it was!  Some day, a long time from
today, she can ask him herself.
 
I met another little girl coming across the Bridge.  Her name was
Charlotte, and I had someone very special waiting for her with me.  A
kit, Charlotte's precious little kit, who crossed the Bridge when there
was an earthquake in the World of the Living.
 
A pack of Wild Black Footed Ferrets (The very best diggeers among us)
dug a lovely burrow for them, and lined it with sweet, fresh, sun dried
grass.  Charlotte had no interest in anything I had to say to her about
her strap on wings, or her welcome hammie.  She just wanted me to lead
her to that burrow once I mentioned it, so I did.
 
She picked up her tiny kit in her mouth and I lead the way through the
grass,the kit swinging back and forth, a long procession of proud Wild
Black Footed Ferrets following behind us like a parade.  After a few
minutes trot we came to the entrance and she and the kit zipped inside!
 
I wonder if we are going to be seeing much of Charlotte?  I think she may
already have everything she could possibly ask for, right by her side.
 
Sandee
[Posted in FML issue 4603]