Early morning at the Rainbow Bridge was such a beautiful place to be; the sun had risen and it 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 everywhere 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 dat Nanna be in here yankin my hammy. Dat Nanna, I wikes 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, "Geezums, I wooze dis battle 'gain" and after heaving a sigh of resignation, out the door he went making his way to the Bridge to greet the newcomers that were due to arrive. So many new ferrets coming to the Bridge recently Mully thought as he made his way along. "Wots of bwoken hearts back on earff" he mumbled to himself. Taking his time getting to the Bridge, Muldoone enjoyed drinking in the sights of his surroundings; ferts of all sizes and colors playing everywhere. Ferts wrestling, ferts bathing one another, ferts doing things ferts like to do; run, play, and have fun. The delicate colors of the sunrise were burning away to reveal a crystal blue sky. Flowers of every color one could imagine and others that the human eye had never seen were at the Rainbow Bridge, flowers that seemed to be in competition with one another to be the most beautiful or the most fragrant. Flowers were not exactly a guy-ferrety thing but Mully had to admit his favorite were the Fox Gloves and he marveled at the shades of pink and purples they burst forth wearing. Arriving at the Bridge to find Nanna and the rest of the Welcoming Crew there waiting for him, Muldoone, Nanna, Bailey, Freckles, Dude, Libby, and NellieFerret all joined paws forming a perfect circle of love. The group of ferrets closed their eyes and concentrated on the ferrets making their way to the Bridge. In the hearts of the group, they were sending their love for the ferrets being brought by MoonBeam Molly, the magical unicorn who brought ferrets to the Rainbow Bridge after they had passed. The group of ferrets were not only helping to light the way for the ones who were coming but also they were sending prayers of love for the humans who had loved the fuzzies; a precious little life cut short, leaving behind a broken- hearted ferret moms and dads. In the center of the circle stood a tall and handsome sable ferret named Soda. With both an expression of pain and a perfect expression of love on his face, he closed his eyes and began to sing. SodaFerret sang a song of love to the ferrets who were making their way to the Bridge. His voice was deep and rich, every note sang perfectly, every word wrapped in love for the ones coming. The Ferret Promise Song now filled the air with its bittersweet refrain. The melody of love told the story of hope and promise and also of sorrow and loss all tied together in the cycle of life. The song explained pain fading away, of limbs being made strong again, and eyes once more bright, it told of the sorrow of passing and the joy waiting in the special promise given by the Creator. As Soda sang the sad sweet song, he had tears rolling down his furry cheeks. The song he sang was also a song of love for the humans whose hearts had been broke by the passing of the one that was making his way to the Bridge. The lights over the Bridge began to dance and swirl; colors more beautiful than ever seen on earth now painted the sky. The colors blended and then changed again; shades of pink gave way to peach and yellows then changed to a soft green that blended into a delicate blue that gave itself over to shades of lavender. A fine soft fairy dusting began to swirl all around Muldoone, Nanna, and the others. Arriving at the Rainbow Bridge, MoonBeam Molly lowered herself to the ground so her tiny passengers could climb down. Joey, Buddy, CB, and Sammy all peaked their heads up and looked around to see where they were. All four ferrets joined paws and then began making their way across the Rainbow Bridge. Joey wore a backpac, with goodies in it from home. Sammy was carrying a bunch of fleece squares under one arm his mom had sent with him. Off in the distance the new arrivals could see a group of ferrets standing at the other end of the Bridge. The wooden timbers of the Rainbow Bridge were worn smooth from time and from the many ferrets that had made the crossing, having left behind a world as they knew it and coming to the Rainbow Bridge to wait to be reunited with their humans. As the newcomers stepped off the end of the Rainbow Bridge, Muldoone offered his nose to the them in a friendly greeting. "I be Misser Muldoone, officialist Wainbow Bwidge Gweeter and wees be here to welcomes yous." "Hello Joey, CB, Buddy, and Sammy, my name is Nanna and we have come to welcome you to the Rainbow Bridge." All four ferrets were still holding paws as they were both looking all around drinking in all the beautiful sights before them. Asking the ferrets as a group, Nanna gently approached them and asked "Do you know where you are?" "Yes the little group replied in unison, our familees tells us bout dis pwace and say we comes here sumtime." "Most of you have familee here to greet you" Nanna told them "and they have been anxiously waiting to see you again. Its ok, you can come out now" Nanna called out. Out from behind a clump of bushes came a stampede of ferrets Muldoone managed just in time to get out of their way. "Kwoie, Butchers, and Maggie" CB called out excitedly. Little Buddy's eyes shinned bright with tears as he embraced his old friends Popcorn and Nipper. Joey the chocolate sable had the largest group there to greet him; 11 ferrets rushed at him all with arms stretched out wide to embrace him. Wiley, Precious Peanut, Bear, Sage, Teddy, StinkMan, Bonnie, Dharma, Tweaky, Clyde, and Boozer all reached for him and the entire group was giggling, dooking, he-he-heing, giving kisses and was obviously very happy to see the little sable ferret again. After the mass welcoming finally calmed down, SodaFerret introduced himself to the newcomers and promised to take them to the rainbow and show them how to climb the color rings so they could go and visit with their families. Each little ferret felt loved and cared for in their new place of residence and they carried a picture of their loved ones in their hearts. ~~Muldoone~~ Caring for your ferrets at the Rainbow Bridge. http://mrmuldoone.bravehost.com/index.html [Posted in FML 5398]