When we left off... Most of the altar had been assembled simply from things lying around the house. The white altar cloth was no more than one of the Hoomin's T-shirts, laid flat and upside down so that none of the writing on the front showed. The cloth was lying atop a natural surface, in this case the seat of a wooden chair. Caff-Pow and Todd the ferret had contributed a nice assortment of shiny things that they had collected and stashed. Shiny things are pleasing to the ancestors. Arranging all the "shinies" had been tiring work. Todd sat next to 'Pow, both breathing heavily and resting against one of the altar's maple legs when he realized that everyone, including 'Pow was looking at him. "Oh!" he said. "Next...next..." He looked up suddenly and said "Spirits! We need a bottle of spirits for the ancestors." Sterling the Cat heaved a heavy dramatic sigh as only a cat can and said "But these Hoomins don't drink spitits." And Todd said...nothing. He screwed up his face into a tight fist that denoted the most strenuous concentration...and said nothing. The Dog looked at the Cat. It had been such an exciting night so far. It could *only* be improved by a nice cat chase. Loki narrowed her eyes... The Cat looked at the Rooster and the hens, imagining fried chicken dinners. Then Sterling looked at that nice, plump egg, just sitting there on the carpet. The Rooster gave the Cat his best "Try it, punk" expression. Todd looked down at his toes and said...nothing. It was a bad moment and it seemed to go on for a long time. Caff-Pow listened to the silence, all the silences, the very bad silences lengthening and turning into something that would no doubt come out unhappily for all. He looked up and just by chance he happened to see...Tina the Turtle's tank. Tina knew things. Tina was more than six. Tina was wise. True, she was in mourning, dark and solitary mourning. But...Sometimes there were great rewards gained by the one who dares to take a chance. Ferrets are daring by nature, especially Caff-Pow who had never given up on trying to forge some pleasant relationship with the Turtle, although everyone else had long since given up after being soundly rebuffed. Caff-Pow imagined what it would be like to be abandoned by his Hoomin simply because he had grown, and his upkeep was no longer "convenient." He shuddered a bit at the thought, and began the climb up the Dog's chair and to the kitchen island. Tina was resting atop her artificial rock in her customary position, basking beneath the warmth of the heat lamp. Her bullet-shaped head was tipped with two perfectly round nostrils and a genuinely weak chin (it is a fact of turtle life, that chin.) Her head was raised high so that she could better hear all that was going on around her, far beneath her tank. Caff-Pow stood up on his back feet at one of the long sides of her 55 gallon glass tank. He jumped, missed. Jumped and missed again. He was successful on his third try. He caught the edge of the tank with his front paws and he scrambled up with his back feet until he was perched above Tina comfortably. He could look down onto her rock and her curved muddy green and brown back. Tina looked up at the Ferret with one of her unreadable expressions. The red stripes just behind her eyes were very handsome. "What?" she said. Simply that, as was her customary fashion. "Well, " 'Pow began. "I think you heard about our dilemma." Tina stared at the ferret, neither confirming nor denying anything. Her gaze never wavered. She merely closed her eyes and turned her head away from 'Pow. It dipped down lower and lower until her (very weak) chin rested on the rough surface of the rock. She volunteered nothing. 'Pow wiggled a bit to guarantee his grip on the corner of the tank where two sides intersected and said "If you can, please help us. Please. This is very hard for us, and we're really trying hard to do something important." Tina's thick neck flared out, thinned. flared out, thinned. That was the only way you could tell that she was still breathing. The silence lengthened until it became a statement in and of itself. Atop the tank Caff-Pow had begun to calculate the jump back down to the floor. Obviously, there would be no help here. He started adjusting himself for the leap to the back of the Dog's chair, tail raised for balance when the Turtle spoke quite unexpectedly. 'Pow was so surprised that he completely missed what Tina had said. He turned back to his perched position quickly and said in surprise "Huh?" Tina, eyes still closed and chin on rock said quietly "I am a poet, you know." 'Pow couldn't help himself. His jaw dropped and he froze in place. He coughed and sputtered once or twice and asked "Poet?" Tina, eyes still closed and once again motionless said nothing. 'Pow remembered all the times that Todd that warned him away from Tina. Todd insisted that Tina's mind had somehow shattered under the loss of her original Hoomin. And now...'Pow had to wonder. He tried very hard to maintain a completely neutral expression and voice when he asked Tina "Are you published?" Tina opened her green -yellow eyes, raised her head a bit and and said "I'm a Turtle. A Turtle." What followed was a lengthy silence that suggested to 'Pow that it wa s time for *him* to say something. He, however, could think of nothing. Tina drew in a deep breath and said " I write my poems with my nose on the inside of the tank glass. And sooner or later, some Hoomin washes them away." At that her eyes closed and her head sank once more, chin returning to the basking rock. Caff-Pow was absolutely, completely at a loss for words. This was not one of his natural states. He was a healthy ferret, and he bounced through the world as if joy were easy. But at that moment he was afraid to say anything lest he make things worse. Weirder, anyway. He turned for his leap and landed effortlessly on the back of the Dog's chair. He turned to make the secondary leap that would bring him to the floor when he heard a sort of buzz coming from Tina's tank. He turned back to the tank, gave a hop up and then stood up against the tank on his back feet once again. Tina's eyes were still closed but she repeated something slowly and concisely. If you weren't up close to her when she spoke her voice was a sort of buzz through all that glass. Tina said one word. "Durkee." Durkee... Part Five Tomorrow Alexandra in MA [Posted in FML 7297]