Baarney Secretly Crosses the Bridge and Finds his Mom a Raalphie

 

There was no fanfare when Baarney crossed the Bridge, as he requested.  He came at night, in secret, to protect his mom.  After nearly 17 years, Baarney left his sister Tabaatha, his partner in the Laambies, his mother Patricia, and his father, Robin.    After his last heartbeat rang across the world, he arrived at the Bridge, insisting that his appearance would be on the down-low except for a few close friends.  He correctly believed that being an original DS dog with hundreds of friends, when news spread of his passing, it would create countless tears, and people would tenderly reach out to his mom with the best of intentions.  But sometimes, a wave, even created by tenderness, is too strong to bear.  That is why Baarney hid to protect his mom and let the word of his angeldom spread slowly.  

It is challenging for a new angel.  They miss their parents with the same intensity that the grieving humans mourn them.  We try to keep new angels busy, so they do not slip into a depression.  But, Baarney insisted on being alone. He stayed in a room at Tommy Tunes' mansion.  It was so big he could have a whole wing to himself and not be detected.  I checked on him every morning.  He thanked me for coming, then dismissed me because he was busy.  At what? I wondered.

I would soon find out.  Baarney knew his parents were grievously hurt and that the only thing that could cure such sorrow was a new dog.  Baarney's task was arduous because his mom wanted another Bedlington, a rare breed and a male.  The odds of meeting this specific requirement were monumental.  

But, Baarney has proven to be a wizard in lamb's clothing.  It was not long before he found Raalphie, who needed a new family.  Baarney knew within the first five minutes of their meeting that he had found the right dog.  He used two of an angel's most fantastic tricks:  Dream dates and persuasion.  Soon, his parents welcomed Raalphie into the family.

Raalphie has proven to be the perfect remedy for a broken heart, thanks to the many hours a solitary Baarney counseled him, and he gave his mom the strength to tell everyone of Baarney's passing.   The tears will still come, as her friends tell her how much they loved her special boy, she will have Taabitha and Raalpie to comfort her.  You need love to combat grief, and her two pups will provide her with plenty.

When news of Baarney's arrival swept across the Bridge, hundreds of angels came to greet him and tell him how much he meant to them and speak of their undying love.  It will help Baarney combat his grief too.

Nature Friday

 

 

 

Pocket loved flowers and saved her best poses for them.

The Christmas Mouse

 

 I have had many prayer requests from odd animals before, but I have never received one from a mouse until today.

The mouse was outside in the cold and dark.  It needed to find a new home.  I asked what caused him to be in this predicament, and this was his answer:

"This summer, I needed a new place to live. I noticed a shed next to a house. I slipped inside and saw plastic tubs piled one on top of the other. Curious, I climbed to the top.

"At the very top was a tub with a folding lid.  I burrowed in and found ribbons, strings, and plastic figurines.  At that moment, I realized I was the luckiest mouse around.  I had stumbled upon the perfect place to make a new home.

"It took me a day to chew through the strings and gather the ribbons to make me a proper nest, which I built snuggly in one of the many compartments that separated the trinkets.  My nest was on the top floor, the second was for food storage, and the third was to hide when the humans came into the shed.   Luckily, they never detected the presence of my luxury apartment.  When they stopped working in the garden for the year, I thought I was safe for the winter.

"There were bird feeders near the shed, and all I had to do was sneak ten feet across the yard, fill my mouth with them and bring it back to my deluxe apartment.   I had piles of it stored up until spring.

"I was sitting down to my Thanksgiving feast when suddenly the shed door opened, my tub was picked up, and moved into the porch.  Nothing else happened, and I took this as a bit of good luck.  It was a lot warmer on the patio.

"Four days later, the tub was moved again, this time into the warm house.  But, it wasn't a bit of good fortune.  They opened the tub lid, and the humans found my nest and little piles of bird food scattered in the compartments. Thankfully, they were not at the higher intelligence end for their species because, while they could tell from things being chewed that something had been in the tub, they thought the creature had fled.  Little did they know I had just taken refuge on the first floor.

"I stayed low, trembling, as the trinkets were removed and hung on a tree. What kinds of barbarians were these people?  I went to a corner of the tub and tried to hide.  Finally, the woman removed the last level, and I was exposed. At first, she thought I was a fuzzy ornament,t then that I was dead until I looked up, smiled, and said, "Hiya, Sweetie."

"She screamed, then I did too, and a man came from another room and told her to close the lid.   He picked up the tub and, while I hoped I would be brought back to the shed, once we got outside, he turned the tub sideways, kicked it once, and I hurried out, evicted from my home, just before Christmas.  There ought to be a law!"

You will be pleased to know I made a little nest for the mouse next to the heater underneath the kitchen.  As long as Ugly Joan does not patrol the underworld, he can still get his food from the birdfeeder and be safe from prey.  

And, when spring comes, he will crawl up the wall, find a crack in the floor, climb inside, and run across the floor because that will be his revenge.

You can't kick a mouse out of his home before Christmas.

Wordless Wednesday