Dear Ferret Folks- I'm going away on a trip, soon. I've been doing the requisite laundry, shopping for those last-minute must haves, and just generally getting organized. Last night my husband helped me get the suitcase down from the attic, and I left it open on the living room floor for easy packing. Well, Ping discovered it during last night's romp. He walked up to it carefully, head lowered, ears hitched back a little. He sniffed it carefully, and stood up against it, one long brown paw curled around the zippered edge. Then he looked up at me and I swear, *he knew.* His face was so sad as he stood there. *He knew* this suitcase means "the hoomin is going away." He stood upright on his back feet, looking up at me for a long time. His tiny face with its chestnut brown mask (revealed since his last coat change) seemed to say many things. I don't want you to go. What is happening? I'm not happy. It's not an easy thing for a ferret, standing upright on those back feet. But he didn't take the easy way out and just scamper away. He stood to face me, and he stood a long time, seeming to want some sort of an answer. It's all too easy for a hoomin to forget that while we are away, our small friends miss us. Wish we would come back. Wonder where we are. They think about our smell. They wonder *if* we will come back. Their lives are so short. A lonely day passes like three. A week is a small eternity of their loyalty and patience. I gave Ping the only reassurance I could, I scooped him up and cradled him in my arms like a baby otter, his favourite way to be held. I stroked him beneath his chin and wished that I could give him promises he'd understand, and not just soft pats. I'll be back, boy. I'll be back for you. Alexandra in MA [Posted in FML 5653]