A Floppy Hop

 

By

 

Gene Fredericks

 

 

The light was soft and pink, just like me then.  I could feel the other bunched up next to me, making hungry cries.  It was time to eat. We all squirmed around until we found a spot and settled in for a first meal.  I fell asleep when I was done until it was time again.  This went on until I could squint past my shut eyes and see my fluffy mom, my fluffy nest, and my pink siblings with big, bulging pink bellies and their pink eyes.  Some were open, others not.  The very comfy padded nest got smaller as we all got bigger.  The pleasant warmth of my nest mates changed to the need for space. Even finding a spot to suckle was a challenge.  The soft strands of nest hair no longer stuck to my bare pink body as my first flurry coat began to cover me. I itched as the others with new fur rubbed up against me, pushing to claim some space. We moved around to be as comfy as our safe little home, and our growing bodies would allow.

 

Our eyes were fully open now, and we could see out just above our small underground nest.  There was mostly green out there beyond the shade above us and some brown around the tall things that stretched up to the changing skies.  The sounds out there began to take shape as we nosed our way out of our birthplace.  One of the new fluffy nesters popped out and hopped around.  Then another.  Then another.  I watched until I saw what to do, and I climbed out and hopped around, then fell back in to get another meal.

 

I felt something come out of the back of me and saw it happen to the others.  One ate the little pellet, and I did the same.  I got more meals from mom, but these little pellets fill me up much better.  I hopped around and explored the nature of my neighborhood.  The green areas were fun to hop through.  I watched other big creatures walk on the green areas, some with two legs, others with four.  The four legged once were louder and more active.  I watched them as I explored a wider and wider world.

 

When I’d return to the nest, it now had empty spots.  Mom would go off for a while and then come back.  One day, I was alone.  I looked up. There was one of these big creatures.  They picked me up and examined me.  They touched my soft belly and floppy ears.  They were gentle, and I didn’t mind.  After a bit, they put me back.  My mom hopped back in and sniffed me.  She lay down, pushed around and around and around, and then I saw all these little pink things coming out of her.  I sniffed them with my wiggly nose and wondered.

 

There was now no room for me to get fed. I didn’t need her food or attention anymore and hopped out of my birthplace.  I left the nest and never came back.  I made my own private nest nearby.  I roamed around and around as the air got hot and then cold.  I saw things fall from the sky.  Some browns and reds and orange, some white and cold.   I saw a lot of those two and four-legged creatures run around during all of the changes.  They were there when it was green and when it was covered with white, and then green again.  I found some of the for legged one wanted to chase me.  I thought it was a game until I saw one of my siblings get caught.  I hid when they were out now.  Except for a very big and fluffy one that never ran.  Their two-legged partner was the one who picked me up from my nest.  I knew he was gentle, so I sat still and let him pick me up and pet my very fluffy and floppy ears.  His big four-legged companion would sniff me and lick me.  I didn’t mind much.  I saw them often.

 

As I roamed around, wondering at it all, I found a new friend.  We hopped around, played, and ran, and then had a togetherness game.   After that, the togetherness game we stayed with each other most of the time.  We made our own togetherness nest.  It was just as fluffy as my first one, with a long strand of hair and soft things to keep us warm in our safe place.  I didn’t hop around as much, but still played with my two-legged and four-legged friends.  I eat more and was getting bigger and bigger.  I settled into the nest more than hopping and playing until one day I lay down and squirmed and squirmed and pushed and pushed.  My togetherness partner watched as ten little pink things wiggled around and covered the floor of our fluffy, hairy nest.  I felt the little ones as they flopped around and made their way to my tummy, and they knew what to do to get fed.  

 

My togetherness partner sniffed them and then left us alone.  He never came back to the nest as his job was done.  I watched and fed the ten pink packages as they grew and grew and got fluffy just like I did, and then they started to leave one by one, until the nest was empty.  I left too and found another togetherness pal, and we played and played.  My two-legged friend saw us as we played.  He was with two other little four-legged creatures and the big fluffy one.  I sat still as they came over and picked me up.  He stroked my ears, and the other little four-legged creatures sniffed and licked me.  My new togetherness partner came over and hopped around, and we all played.  The little ones ran off when they saw some other fluffy one hopping around.  It was all very nice. And so it goes.