Combine: one high speed pool filter system with over size leaf trap.. one automatic timer malfunction.. 6 water loving pool sharks in ferret disguises Mix well... and you have 6 fuzzys with cuts, bruises, broken bones, and enough water in their lungs to relieve a major drout. Meet: Peter, Paul, and Mary.. and Manny, Moe and Jack welcome to my 'wake up call' for this morning... Beeper goes off, return call is immediately answered, before the first ring stopped, I managed to extract an address from a hysterically sobbing man... and practically flew to a home in a very wealthy neighbourhood fairly nearby.. the Vet they use told them to call me [that was a shock to be sure] as I was closer and better equipped to handle field trauma than the vet was.. and time was critical! I was greeted by an incoherent woman half way up the driveway who was running up and down watching for me to pull in.. she pointed at the back of the house and took off at a dead run around the side driveway to show me the way.. I just knew I was going to have a human patient at any moment as this lady was in no condition, much less youthful enough to be abusing her body in that mad dash up a steep drive way in shoes suitable for an elegant carpeted office and nothing else.. I was snatched out of the jeep by a very large man running on pure adrenaline and dragged bodily, large emergency med. unit and all, thru a pool gate and into a gorgeous pool yard elaborately furnished with every fuzzy play device ever invented.. At the edge of a large square hole in the pool decking crouched a white faced young man who appeared to be in shock.. I was immediately sickened when I got my first look into that filter trap.. there was a roiling mass of screaming, bleeding, choking, vomiting, gasping fur... AT that point a calm voice intruded the only note of sanity into a scene from a nightmare.. it simply asked : 'What do you need?' I started listing items in a rapid fire stream and opened the med unit and got to work... in no time the things I had listed were piled neatly next to me and every time I asked for something or gave instructions for something to be done it was immediately attended to.. without another word being said.. I removed six mangled fur kids from that trap and after over an hour I finally was pretty sure they were going to able to make it into the infirmary alive.. Each one was gently lowered into a laundry basket padded with elegant expensive linnens and after they were loaded into the jeep I finally took the time to look at the silent assistant I had been working with all that time.. The elegantly dressed and handsome young man patiently waiting to hand me my meds case was standing peacefully at the rear of the jeep.. I held out my hand and introduced myself and began to thank him for all his quiet, competent, and swift help with the little ones.. it was only after he didn't change expression or return my offer of a hand shake that it dawned on me his sunglasses weren't to cut the glare of the bight morning sun.. He was blind... After recovering my composure I withdrew the hand he couldn't see and gave him a hug instead and thanked him again for his help in treating the 6 fuzzys fast enough to save their lives.. His only reply was a softly asked 'Call me when you know, OK??' and he turned and walked back through the gate into the yard that surrounded the pool.. The little ones are stable and the medical work is finished and they are sleeping now... and I am still trying to get my emotions in order.. I just called him and told him they were going to be all right and were resting comfortably.. The only reply was 'Thank You for helping my fuzzys.. ' and with a click on the line he was gone.. I never had the chance to tell him that without his gentle, calm, and efficient response to every single need I had out on that pool deck, those six little accident victims wouldn't have had a chance... In this case the blind saw far more clearly than the sighted. I am privileged to have met this incredible person.. And these 6 fur kids couldn't have a better Daddy.. I look forward to the day I take these kids back to be reunited with this remarkable young man.... Peace..... dayna and the Woozles :] "Resident of... Marvelous Menagerie Of Mirthful Mayhem" dayna frazier 102046,3162 03-Oct-1996 14:21:33 PST [Posted in FML issue 1711]