Early morning at the Rainbow Bridge was such a beautiful place to be; the sun had risen and painted the sky with beautiful streaks of pink, golden yellow, blue, and lavender. The birds were singing; happy to be starting a new day, the flowers having given up the last of their dew to the sun, and animals every where were beginning to stir. Muldoone awoke and he began to stretch and yawn, and yawn, and yawn, and yawn some more. "I no wants to get up" he grumbled to himself "but iffins I not gets up Nanna be in here yanking on my hammy. Dat Nanna, I like to yank her hammy sometime." Climbing out of his hammy and making his way to the "necessary" corner, Mully then set about trying to tame his hammy-head-hair and get his cap on. Dipping a paw in the jar of "Gots-To-Be-Gwued" hair stuff dat EmmieWouFewet bwings from her mom, Mully sat about trying to get his unruly hair to lay down using the hair goo. Smacking his cap on his head, not paying any attention to the direction the bill was pointed and having not given much forethought to the process, when Mully went to readjust his cap before leaving to go outside, he found his ball cap was glued to his head. He tried turning it this way and then that way but the cap was stuck fast; he couldn't turn it all and to make matters worse, in the process of the glue drying, some of his fur had gone in a "curling up" motion so he not only had his cap stuck on his head sideways but now he had wild looking fur that seemed to be growing out of his cap. "Dis not be gud" Muldoone grumbled to himself, "dis not be gud at all, I needs to find EmmieWou and askis her bout dis. Maybe she knos how to ungwu it." Remembering which bungalow EmmieLou was staying in, Muldoone hurried over and rapped on her door. Hearing Emmie sing out "come in" Mully hurried in the door. "Gud mornin Muldoone" Emmie responded, flashing a big smile and batting her eyelashes at him. From the very start arriving at the Bridge, Emmie was quite take with Muldoone and now here he was and Emmie was thrilled. Could this be her new bou paying her a call she wondered. Emmie could help but notice Muldoone looked a bit panicky and he was pacing back and forth and he kept tugging at his cap which was set at a very odd angle. "Emmie, you gots to help me" Mully told her. "I twies dat stuff on my fur dat you bwings when you comes to da Bwidge, you knos, dat stuff yur mom sends for me. I puts it on my fur dis mornin and now my cap be stuckted to my head! Nanna will be weally mad at me, my cap not be pointed in da wight way." "Well, wets see" Emmie said while thinking how she could help Mully out of this most sticky situation. Having Muldoone set down she began trying to delicately raise the edges of his cap but to her horror, the fur that was curled up around his cap began to break off in her paw. Now wanting to upset Mully any further than he already was, she knew how touchy he was about his fur, she first stashed away a large clump of "Muldoone fur" and the other clumps that broke off she brushed them out of sight. "Mully you wait here and I goes and gets help and we gets your cap off." Out the door Emmie sailed, she was giggling to herself about the whole process, Emmie's "heart throb ferret" Muldoone was in her bungalow, oh what a thrill but then she had to get herself in paw, he truly needed her help with this matter. Dashing to a another bungalow where a group of her girlfriend ferrets lived she rapped on the door and then dashed in without waiting for an invitation to come in. Glancing around the room, Midge, PeggySue, Martha, Sadie, and LindsyFerret were all still in their hammies. "Girls I need yur help" Emmie blurted out. "Come on, get yurselves up and wets go" Emmie told her friends. "What be da big hurry Emmie?" SadieFerret asked. "It be Muldoone" Emmie told them, he came to my pwace dis mornin needin my help. He twies dat hair stuff my mom sends to him and now his cap be stuckted to his head." MarthaFerret's eyes got big and round and she began to laugh, and laugh, and laugh more, Martha was laughing so hard and rolling back and forth, she rolled herself right out of her hammie. Fits of giggles erupted from the other ferrets and then all you could hear were shrieks of laughter, hoots and laughing. "Stops it all of you" EmmieLou demanded. "Dis not be funny, Mully needs our help." "Muldoone needs help alright" Midge stated and then broke up again in fits of giggles. "Stop it" Emmie told her friends again. "I tink maybe Mully be my boyfwiend and I not wants you to say tings like dat 'bout him. Come on and I will tells you what to do." Arriving back at her bungalow and hurrying inside, there was Muldoone and he was still fighting with his "glued on" cap. "It be ok Mully, my fwiends and I helps you" Emmie told him. Emmie's ferret friends Midge, PeggySue, Martha, Sadie, and LindsyFerret were all circling him and for a minute Muldoone felt they were sizing him up for some strange event. Lindsy was the first to loose the battle with her giggles, then PeggySue started and before he knew it the five ferrets were rolling on the floor laughing. "STOP IT WIGHT NOW" EmmieLou commanded of her friends, we are here to help not to waff at Mully. The five ferrets finally got it all out of system and they struggled to their feet. "Sworry Mully" PeggySue told him, and murmurs of apology was offered from the other ferrets as they still struggled with their giggles. "Muldoone, way down fwat on da fwoor" Emmie told him. "Marfa and Windsy, you sets on him, and Sadie, Peggy, and Midge, you helps me pull." "OUCH, DAT HURTS, OUCH, YOU PULLING MY EARS OFF" Muldoone yelled at the ferrets trying to get his cap off. "Marfa and Windsy, gets off me!" Mully told the two fat-bottomed ferrets. Muldoone knew exactly why Emmie had picked those two to set on him and hold him down, they were a pair of HEAVY-BOTTOMED ferrets. "Midge, has you gots scizzors?" Emmie asked her friend. "Sure I gots scizzors" Midge told Emmie, "I helps out sometimes making wings, sure I gots scizzors in my sew basket and I goes and gets dem." A few moments later Midge arrived back at Emmie's bungalow with a pair of tiny scissors. Emmie took one look at the strange looking small scissors and blurted out, "those will never do, we needs wegular kind of scizzor." "Emmie" began Midge, "dese be special scizzors I use when making wings, dey work for dis, I pwomise." "Ok, Muldoone set up" Emmie told him, we will twy to gets yur cap off wiff Midge's special scizzors." The girls went to work on Mully's "glued on" cap and his fur. Snip, snip, snip, went Midge with her tiny scissors. Muldoone could feel the prying of toes at his cap; snip, snip, snip, pry, tug, pull and sighs from the group of ferrets. Just when Mully thought he could take no more of the process, Midge stopped. "Muldoone, if you can takes couple more pulls, I tink we gets your cap off. We has to pull hard I tink dis time we gets it off" Midge told him. "Come on girls" Midge told her friends, "one more gud pull will dooes it." As all the ferrets gathered round, and Muldoone braced himself. His head was sore and his ears felt like someone had pulled them half off. When was he ever going to get any help for his hammy-head-hair that didn't turn into a disaster? What was the Boss waiting on about fixing his hair? As the girls began a slow steady tug at his cap, he could feel it begin to let go. As the cap was being pull away, he felt his fur going with it. "OUCH, OUCH, IT HURTS, OUC H, OUCH, OUCH!" Mully told the group. "Hang on Mully, we are almost dere" LindsyFerret yelled to him. At long last the cap was off. The group of ferrets; Emmie and her friends stood in a semi-circle, Midge holding his cap, everyone looking at Mully with mouths hanging open. Muldoone had a strip of fur missing where his cap had been glued to his head but what was worse, the troublesome fur that stuck out below the line of his ball cap was still there. Mully rubbed the tender sore spots where the cap had been glued to his head. He had accomplished nothing except to once more be defeated by his hammy-head-hair in a most embarrassing way. "EmmieWou, why you not tells me dat stuff be gwue?!" Muldoone demanded of her. "Well, uh, uh, I not knos it be gwue eidder Mully. I be weally sworry" Emmie told him. "What I goin to dooes now?" Mully asked Emmie, I gots missing fur, fur I twied to fix, it still be dere, my head be sore and wook at my cap." "Mully, maybe I can help wiff dat" Midge told him. "I helps out some at da wing making cottage and we be getting some fewets coming to da Bwidge dat hears about you and yur ball cap and whens dey get here, 'stead of wings, dey be a sking for a cap to wears so we has a few ball caps and maybe I can gets one for you." Ok, but I no wants a girlie cap, no pink, or nuffin wike dat, I wants anodder cap wike da one I had" Muldoone told her. "Ok, I goes to see what I can finds" Midge told him, "I be back soon." Midge was gone no time until she came running back to the group in Emmie's bungalow. "I finds one" she yelled excitedly, I finds one just wike da one you had!" With a trembling paw EmmieLou took the cap from Midge and looked it over closely and sure enough it was just like Mully's old cap down to the smallest detail. Turning to Muldoone with tears in her eyes Emmie handed the cap to Mully. "Muldoone, I be so sworry 'bout da gwue, I not knos it do dat to you." Muldoone accepted the new cap from Emmie and he turned it over and over looking at it. He could not believe it, the new cap was exactly like his old one. "It be ok, I guess Emmie, I knos you twy to helps." "And tank you Midge for getting the ball cap for me. Did dey have more wike dis one? Will dere be odder fewets wiff ball caps wike mine?" Mully wanted to know. For a bit Midge said nothing and when she raised her head she had tears in her eyes. "No Mr. Muldoone, dere be no odder caps wike yours. Dis one be in a gwass case and it has a wock on it and I has to ask the specialist sewing wady to get it for me. I tells her you has an accerident wiff yur cap and you needs anodder one. She gets a big gold key out and she unwocks da gwass case and gets da ball cap out and gives it to me for you." "Why it be wocked up?" Muldoone asked, "to keep odder fewets from stealing it?" EmmieLou stepped forward and took one of Muldoone's big paws in her two smaller ones; with such love in her heart she told him the reason for the special gold case holding his cap. "Mully, da weason yur cap be wocked up acause dere onliest be one cap and dat be acause dere onliest be one Muldoone." ~~Muldoone~~ Caring for your ferrets at the Rainbow Bridge. http://mrmuldoone.bravehost.com/index.html [Posted in FML issue 5180]