Tails From Rainbow Bridge: From the Moon and Back with Smoochy

The day Smoochy joined us at Rainbow Bridge was very draining.  I was looking to sleep late the next day.  It was still dark when there was banging on my door.  I got out of bed and stumbled forward. I opened the door catching Smoochy in mid-knock.
            Being awoken by an angel on their first night at the Bridge was not unusual.  I had spent many a night comforting them.  But Smoochy was not there to be comforted.  He grabbed me by the paw and pulled me into the crisp night air.
            “Foley’s here!” Smoochy announced.  Standing in a circle were Hershey, Smartie, Reba, Willie, Brody, and many other angels.
            “Let’s go!” Smoochy yelled, and the group of dogs took off.  I began running as fast as my little legs could carry me.  Then they jumped and began to fly.  I fluttered my wings as hard as I could, and I lifted off.
            My friends were far ahead of me, but I caught a gust of wind and, being the smallest of our clan, caught up with them.  I maneuvered next to Smoochy and asked him where we were going.  He smiled a big Labby smile and said:  “Up!”
            And we went up.  Higher and higher.  Higher than I had ever gone before.  We passed through a dark haze and then we were no longer flying through the night.
            We were flying through space.
            I realized where we were going.  “Smoochy, we can’t do this!” I said.
            “We have to,” he said flying straight ahead.  Above us, it grew brighter and larger.  Our destination:  The moon.
            I called Smoochy’s name several times, but he and the rest of his flock were determined.  Then the moon appeared and began to pull us towards it.  We couldn’t stop.  We were going to:
            Crash!
            We slammed into the moon’s surface.  A cloud of moon dust surrounded us.  I couldn’t see a foot in front of me.  I felt a big paw grabbing the scruff of my neck.  Smoochy pulled me up and urged me to flap my wings.  We headed back home.  This time, instead of crashing in the dust, we splashed down in the River of Life.
            We climbed out, soaking wet, but clean of moon dust.  I asked Smoochy why we had flown to the moon.
            “Look at it Foley,” he said.  “You see that ring around it.  That is from the dust we created.  Now when my Mom looks at the moon and sees the glow, she will know I created it, and that I love her, to the moon and back.”
            I was wet, still a bit dusty, suffering a headache from my moon crash, my wings ached, and I was very tired.  But I was also proud to have been invited on this quest.  Now all our parents, when they look at the sky at night, will see our message and know we love them.
            To the moon and back indeed.