It was a very rare rainy day at de Bridge. So SaraFerret and de kits were all snug in dere cottage. Of course she KNEW dat no ferrets would be crossing on such a lousy day. Why in heavens was it raining. De kits were playing with dere toys and for once dey were quiet and she was catching up on crocheting little eggs dat dey loved to play with. There she had about two dozen. All fo a sudden she heard a knock-knock at de door. Dey all froze: dey all knew what dat meant. Serena was de first one to reach de door and opened it. Dere stood Mimi, de little girl courier, with a note in her paw and boy was she soaking wet. Serena invited her in and Mimi said, "SaraFerret, I know it is raining outside and I don't know why. Its such a rare happening. But I have dis special request for you to greet one of the NZ ferrets. Do you want me to get the ones she requested? I read the note before I got here." She handed me de note and I read it and I sent her on her way. I grabbed a seldom-used umbrella from de closet and headed for de entrance. I was just in time to meet a handsome cinnamon point fuzzy gentleman waiting for me at de entrance. (Just den of course de sun came out -- of course I felt like such a goof standing dere with an umbrella with de sun blasting down). He looked at me and said, "My I just love a young lady with a parasol." (A parasol? I thought to myself -- mercy.) Of course at that moment I released the umbrella and then the ever-charming fellow said, "Mercy, you look just look a Christmas angel with those wings." (I thought to myself, this fuzzy has been to charm school or something, he is such a flatterer. If I could have blushed it would have been clear down to my toes.) But I quickly recovered and said, "Thank you, however, I am not a Christmas angel. I am SaraFerret and I am de bridgegreeter. Welcome to de Rainbow Bridge. Dis is your new forever home. Here you will have no pain or suffering. You will have lotsa friends and run on green grass forever. Did I mention de fun and games." He replied, "Ah, my lady, I am Crusty, of the famous NZ ferrets. Of course you must have heard of us. My main mum was Michelle, but then I went to live with Daddy Kevin. But of course you must know all of them. I got very sick so they said it was time for me to make my long trek to live with friends here, but I don't see anyone here but you. But I guess you and I can make quite a lovely couple. I like all sorts of things, but I didn't get bring them with me, do'ya think you have a variety of things I love here? And oh yes, your wings are quite lovely really." "Its so nice to meet you Crusty." I said. "I have heard so many things about your famous family. Not to worry dere are loads of NZs here, so you won't be a bit lonely and dere are plenty of other fuzzies here as well, you know, Americans, Canadians, Danes. And yes, we have quite a number of things you like here. But you won't have to hide dem away. We have enough for everyone. Stacks and stacks of dem in fact. As for de wings, you are going to get your very own pair-- not girly ones like mine -- boy ones for you--dey are perfect for flying about de heavens -- sure beats hopping from cloud to cloud." So off we went down de garden path to de Wing House where de wings were stored. We opened de door and to his surprise--dere was his cagemate -- Latte to help him. Dey both went to de counter where dere was a big box marked Crusty. He opened de box and took out de wings -- bright blue with little red and white stars -- perfect for an NZ fuzzy. Latte helped him put on his wings and I adjusted his halo. He ran to de big vanity mirror and gazed at his reflection. Den he turned to me and said, "Gee I wish Mum Michelle and Dad Kevin could see me now." Den I gots an idea. As we went out de door, dere was a group--Mercy so many, Ash, Shorty, Chocolate, Chrony, Siteva. Wow was he excited. "See, I said, I told you dere would be lotsa friends here." We went down de path to de Misting Pond and sat down beside de cool clear water. With one swish he saw a vision of his family appear. He got so excited he started waving and dooking with all of his might. "I love you Mum and Dad. Thank you for loving me. It is beautiful here. There are lots of friends here. I have lovely wings and soon I will be able to fly. Everyone says we have lots of toys here too, so don't worry that I wasn't able to take any with me." Den he began to throw hugs and kisses and wrapped dem with all of his love and laid dem on a nearby shooting star and by de time you should read dis it should have landed dere. And with another swish de vision was gone. We left dere and went down de road to dere wonderful cottage and of course dey had planned a party. You could see streamers hanging all around and of course de beautiful NZ flag a-waving above dere cottage. Music was playing and fuzzies from all nations were coming over. Crusty could not believe his eyes. I could see a picnic was laid out. Food of all kinds, esp. that so dear to a fuzzy's heart and oh-so-forbidden on earth. I was invited to stay and dance and party. But as usual I had other tasks to do so I gave Crusty a hug and promised to visit later. I said my good-byes and headed for home. But I thought to myself, Wowsie, dat boy sure was a charmer. Lovey and hugs, SaraFerret, bridgegreeter [Posted in FML 6467]