10-03-2009, 12:37 PM
Earlier I posted a video and some pictures of Debbie.
Shortly after she passed away in September 2008, I wrote a story in her honor.
Following are the first 9 pages of that story, which all in all holds 45 pages or 10,779 words.
If you're interested, please let me know what you think.
Hi there.
My name is Debbie and I’m a ferret.
Please don’t say that I look like a rat, I’m nothing like a rat.
For starters, rats are rodents, ferrets are mammals.
Rats are very active creatures, always scurrying after something.
Ferrets have a much more relaxed lifestyle. We like to take things easy. Did you know that we sleep on average 17 to 20 hours a day?
Other than that, rats are not exactly the prettiest animals in the world now, are they? But ferrets definitely are. I mean look at me, am I cute or what?
Whenever humans saw me and my friends, they stopped in their tracks, peered into our cage and said, “Oh look at these ferrets! They are so cute and adorable.” They would comment on our pretty little pink ears; tiny black beady eyes; pert little pink nose and short little legs.
I was different from my sand colored friends though. My fur was a mixture of the same color but with touches of black. I even had a black strip over my eyes. I heard people say that I look like a bandit. Hmm, perhaps that would be an appropriate name for me as ferrets are thieves by nature. Well, not actually thieves, let’s just say that ferrets like to collect things and hide them
But that was not the case. As it turned out, when I was adopted, my new owner had a proper name ready for me He picked me up, held me at eye level and said “Hello cutie, I’m Andrew and what shall I call you? How about Debbie?”
Fine by me, I liked the name Debbie.
Andrew, a tall human with red hair and green eyes, bought me a big metal cage, wood curls to line the bottom, a flowery velvet hammock to sleep in, a bag of dry food pallets especially for ferrets, some toys and a litter box for ... hmmm, well you know.
Home was a condo on the 15th floor. Through the holes in my box I saw a large sunny room. Then again, small as I am everything seemed a bit overwhelming to me.
My cage was placed in one of the rooms and I saw Andrew taking my food to another room.
And then, moment of moments, I was taken out of the box.
Whow, but the place was spacious. If I had thought the place was large while I was in my box, once I was out of it, the room seemed enormous. Scared I cowered low to the ground.
“Welcome to your new home Debbie,” Andrew said, picking me up. “Shall I show you around? This is my bedroom. This is where I sleep at night.”
As Andrew started walking I got the feeling that I was gliding through the air. He took me from room to room, and explained all the names of the rooms. Let me see if I remember them all. There was a guest bedroom where someone slept when Andrew had a visitor; a bathroom where Andrew washed himself; a kitchen where meals were prepared and the dishes were done; and a living room which was, as Andrew said, for hanging out. “And that,” Andrew said, still holding me as we were back in the living room, “is the balcony. Want to see?”
Did I have a choice?
He opened a floor to ceiling sliding door and stepped outside.
Good grief and we must have been high up because I could see for miles and miles.
“We’re on the 15th floor,” Andrew said, moving closer to the edge of the balcony. “Here, have a look.”
Good heavens, now that I could look down I saw just how high 15 floors up really was and I went rigid with fright. I had never been outside. My whole life I had spend in a cage and if I had thought Andrew apartment to be spacious, that was nothing compared to what he called outside. There seemed no end to this breezy room. I guessed it was a room, except that I saw no walls, no ceiling and most frightening of all, the floor was so far away.
“Don’t worry,” Andrew said, feeling my panic. “I won’t drop you.”
Good, I thought, because that seems like a long way down. Now can we go back inside please because I’m feeling rather tired and I would like to take a nap.
Andrew must have understood because he carried me back to his bedroom and put me in my cage.
I crawled right into my velvet hammock and rolled myself into a ball. Ah, that was better. I knew I would go to sleep the moment I closed my eyes.
I awoke from a frantic tapping against the bars of my cage and Andrew calling my name. Drowsy with sleep I opened one eye.
“Hi Debbie,” Andrew said. “Wanna play?”
Was he serious? I couldn’t have had more than four or five hours of sleep. I yawned wide, indicating that it was way too early for me to get up.
He persisted in rattling my cage, but I ignored him. He would give up eventually. And he did. After he had poked and prodded me a bit through the material of the hammock and gotten no reaction, he went away.
He must have started cooking something because a short time later delicious smells wafted my way. Human food no doubt, so no need for me to get up.
Later still Andrew made a second appearance. Again he tapped my cage, but I still felt too tired to move, let alone get up.
“Come on Debbie wake up,” I heard him say. “I want to introduce you to someone.”
Oh I really had to do something about this man rattling my cage. It was most inconvenient. Didn’t he know anything about ferrets? Didn’t he know that we sleep most of the time?
I yawned, hoping he would get the message, but clearly he didn’t. He kept on making that dreadful rattling noise.
“Wake up sleepy head,” he sang. “Someone wants to meet you.”
Oh alright then, let him make the introduction. The sooner we got this over with the better. After yet another yawn I slowly uncurled and got to my feet, ready to meet whoever I was about to be introduced to.
I was just about to leave my hammock when … GOOD HEAVENS WHAT WAS THAT?!
Right in front of my cage sat this enormous white monster. It was big and hairy and had green eyes.
“Hi,” the white monster said, “I’m Charlie. What’s your name?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. I was frozen with fear.
While the monster had spoken I had seen a great number of teeth, including fangs. I knew what fangs were for, they were for killing prey. Was the monster going to kill me? Surely not. Why would he introduce himself and ask for me for my name if he was about to kill me?
“Well?” the monster said, “aren’t you gonna say something? What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?”
He burst out laughing. “Got it? Cat got your tongue. I crack myself up.”
Not understanding what was so funny I sat there, waiting for the monster to stop laughing.
“Don’t you get it?” he asked. “I’m a cat and I asked if the cat got your tongue. That would mean that I ... oh never mind. So who are you?”
“I’m ... I’m ... I’m ... Deb ... Debbie,” I stuttered shaking with nerves. “I’m a ... a ... fer ... ferret.”
“Yes, I know you’re a ferret,” Charlie said. “I’m a cat and I’m not stupid. Well, nice to meet you Debbie. I’m gonna take a nap now, but maybe we can hang-out later.”
Hang out? A cat that hangs-out with a ferret? Whoever heard of such a thing? But okay, I wasn’t going to argue. Instead I just nodded. “Sure, whenever you want.”
With this the monster turned and walked away.
This was a strange turn of events. The monster was a cat named Charlie and he wanted to hang-out with me. Did that mean that we were friends? I mean, that’s what friends do, right? Hang-out together?
Andrew had been following the conversation with some dumb look on his face. I suspected that he hadn’t understood one word of what had been said. Charlie confirmed this.
“Don’t worry about Andrew,” he said, pausing by the door. “He doesn’t understand cat language. I’ve been living with him for five years and we’re no further now than when I was a kitten. I suspect he doesn’t understand ferret language either.”
“But I understand you,” I said.
Charlie winked at me. “That’s because animals are smart, but humans ... well, let’s just say they have a lot to learn. Just talk to him, a lot, maybe in time he will catch on. See you later.”
“Now do you want to play?” Andrew asked, oblivious to our animal communication.
No, I was still too tired. I wanted to tell Andrew that he had woken me up before I was ready to wake up, and as such, I was going back to sleep now. I demonstrated by clambering back into my hammock, rolled myself in a ball and closed my eyes with a yawn. No more interruptions please.
I woke up several hours later when Andrew switched on the light in his room.
“I’m going to bed Debbie,” he said when he noticed I was awake. “See you tomorrow. Have a good night.”
See you tomorrow?
Have a good night?
What happened to play time?
Why was he going to bed now?
It was time for me to get up.
All day, when I was tired, he wanted to play. Now that I was awake and rested he was going to sleep! No, no, no, no, no, this was unacceptable. He had to let me out of my cage so I could go out and stretch my legs.
When Andrew climbed into bed and turned off the light, I knew it was time for action. Andrew obviously did not understand me as Charlie had suggested. So I had to come up with a plan. I stood on my hind legs in my hammock and pushed my nose against the metal door in the ceiling of my cage. It made a horrible loud clonking noise.
“Debbie, be quiet,” Andrew said.
No, I was not going to be quiet, not until he let me out.
I pushed against the door with my nose again.
“Debbie,” Andrew hissed, “be quiet, I’m trying to sleep.”
Yeah well, that was his problem. He’d had all day to sleep, but then he had preferred to stay awake. Now that it was finally time for me to get up he wanted to sleep ... I didn’t think so.
I banged against the door with my nose again and again and again.
“Debbie!” Andrew yelled. “Go to sleep!”
“No!” I yelled back. “I slept all day. I’ve slept enough. I want out of my cage. Now!”
I gave the metal door another forceful push to let Andrew know that I meant business.
“Oh alright then,” he mumbled. “I’ll let you out.”
“Thank you.”
As soon as the door opened, I clambered out of my cage and ran. Andrew had mentioned that the kitchen was for cooking and eating, so maybe that’s where he kept my food. I could do with a bite to eat and a drink of water.
I was just about to take a mouthful when Charlie walked in. “Ah Debbie, I see you’re finally awake.”
“What do you mean, finally?” I asked.
“What do I mean?” Charlie laughed. “You’ve been sleeping all day.”
“Yeah well, that’s what ferrets do,” I replied. “We sleep a lot and I do mean a lot.”
“What is a lot? Ten, fourteen hours a day?”
“More like twenty,” I said.
Charlie blew a whistle. “That is a lot. So now what? What do you want to do?”
I looked at my bowl with dry nibbles. “After I’ve eaten I was hoping that Andrew and I could play a bit.”
Charlie sadly shook his head. “Not much chance of that kiddo,” he said. “Andrew’s asleep now.”
“For how long?”
“Hours.”
“And when he wakes up?”
“Then he goes out.”
“For how long?”
“For most of the day.”
“Where does he go?”
“To work silly. He has a job.”
“What is a job?”
“A way of making money. He needs money to buy us food, and toys, and a nice basket to sleep in. Which is where I’m going now. Goodnight.”
“Can I ask you one more question?”
“Sure go ahead.”
“How come you know so much?”
“Cats are very clever,” Charlie said. “Also, I read a lot and I watch a lot of television.”
“Television?”
“No more questions,” Charlie growled. “I’ll explain everything you need to know in the morning. Right now I’m going to bed. Have a good night.”
Charlie walked away, his tail high in the air.
Shortly after she passed away in September 2008, I wrote a story in her honor.
Following are the first 9 pages of that story, which all in all holds 45 pages or 10,779 words.
If you're interested, please let me know what you think.
Hi there.
My name is Debbie and I’m a ferret.
Please don’t say that I look like a rat, I’m nothing like a rat.
For starters, rats are rodents, ferrets are mammals.
Rats are very active creatures, always scurrying after something.
Ferrets have a much more relaxed lifestyle. We like to take things easy. Did you know that we sleep on average 17 to 20 hours a day?
Other than that, rats are not exactly the prettiest animals in the world now, are they? But ferrets definitely are. I mean look at me, am I cute or what?
Whenever humans saw me and my friends, they stopped in their tracks, peered into our cage and said, “Oh look at these ferrets! They are so cute and adorable.” They would comment on our pretty little pink ears; tiny black beady eyes; pert little pink nose and short little legs.
I was different from my sand colored friends though. My fur was a mixture of the same color but with touches of black. I even had a black strip over my eyes. I heard people say that I look like a bandit. Hmm, perhaps that would be an appropriate name for me as ferrets are thieves by nature. Well, not actually thieves, let’s just say that ferrets like to collect things and hide them
But that was not the case. As it turned out, when I was adopted, my new owner had a proper name ready for me He picked me up, held me at eye level and said “Hello cutie, I’m Andrew and what shall I call you? How about Debbie?”
Fine by me, I liked the name Debbie.
Andrew, a tall human with red hair and green eyes, bought me a big metal cage, wood curls to line the bottom, a flowery velvet hammock to sleep in, a bag of dry food pallets especially for ferrets, some toys and a litter box for ... hmmm, well you know.
Home was a condo on the 15th floor. Through the holes in my box I saw a large sunny room. Then again, small as I am everything seemed a bit overwhelming to me.
My cage was placed in one of the rooms and I saw Andrew taking my food to another room.
And then, moment of moments, I was taken out of the box.
Whow, but the place was spacious. If I had thought the place was large while I was in my box, once I was out of it, the room seemed enormous. Scared I cowered low to the ground.
“Welcome to your new home Debbie,” Andrew said, picking me up. “Shall I show you around? This is my bedroom. This is where I sleep at night.”
As Andrew started walking I got the feeling that I was gliding through the air. He took me from room to room, and explained all the names of the rooms. Let me see if I remember them all. There was a guest bedroom where someone slept when Andrew had a visitor; a bathroom where Andrew washed himself; a kitchen where meals were prepared and the dishes were done; and a living room which was, as Andrew said, for hanging out. “And that,” Andrew said, still holding me as we were back in the living room, “is the balcony. Want to see?”
Did I have a choice?
He opened a floor to ceiling sliding door and stepped outside.
Good grief and we must have been high up because I could see for miles and miles.
“We’re on the 15th floor,” Andrew said, moving closer to the edge of the balcony. “Here, have a look.”
Good heavens, now that I could look down I saw just how high 15 floors up really was and I went rigid with fright. I had never been outside. My whole life I had spend in a cage and if I had thought Andrew apartment to be spacious, that was nothing compared to what he called outside. There seemed no end to this breezy room. I guessed it was a room, except that I saw no walls, no ceiling and most frightening of all, the floor was so far away.
“Don’t worry,” Andrew said, feeling my panic. “I won’t drop you.”
Good, I thought, because that seems like a long way down. Now can we go back inside please because I’m feeling rather tired and I would like to take a nap.
Andrew must have understood because he carried me back to his bedroom and put me in my cage.
I crawled right into my velvet hammock and rolled myself into a ball. Ah, that was better. I knew I would go to sleep the moment I closed my eyes.
I awoke from a frantic tapping against the bars of my cage and Andrew calling my name. Drowsy with sleep I opened one eye.
“Hi Debbie,” Andrew said. “Wanna play?”
Was he serious? I couldn’t have had more than four or five hours of sleep. I yawned wide, indicating that it was way too early for me to get up.
He persisted in rattling my cage, but I ignored him. He would give up eventually. And he did. After he had poked and prodded me a bit through the material of the hammock and gotten no reaction, he went away.
He must have started cooking something because a short time later delicious smells wafted my way. Human food no doubt, so no need for me to get up.
Later still Andrew made a second appearance. Again he tapped my cage, but I still felt too tired to move, let alone get up.
“Come on Debbie wake up,” I heard him say. “I want to introduce you to someone.”
Oh I really had to do something about this man rattling my cage. It was most inconvenient. Didn’t he know anything about ferrets? Didn’t he know that we sleep most of the time?
I yawned, hoping he would get the message, but clearly he didn’t. He kept on making that dreadful rattling noise.
“Wake up sleepy head,” he sang. “Someone wants to meet you.”
Oh alright then, let him make the introduction. The sooner we got this over with the better. After yet another yawn I slowly uncurled and got to my feet, ready to meet whoever I was about to be introduced to.
I was just about to leave my hammock when … GOOD HEAVENS WHAT WAS THAT?!
Right in front of my cage sat this enormous white monster. It was big and hairy and had green eyes.
“Hi,” the white monster said, “I’m Charlie. What’s your name?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. I was frozen with fear.
While the monster had spoken I had seen a great number of teeth, including fangs. I knew what fangs were for, they were for killing prey. Was the monster going to kill me? Surely not. Why would he introduce himself and ask for me for my name if he was about to kill me?
“Well?” the monster said, “aren’t you gonna say something? What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?”
He burst out laughing. “Got it? Cat got your tongue. I crack myself up.”
Not understanding what was so funny I sat there, waiting for the monster to stop laughing.
“Don’t you get it?” he asked. “I’m a cat and I asked if the cat got your tongue. That would mean that I ... oh never mind. So who are you?”
“I’m ... I’m ... I’m ... Deb ... Debbie,” I stuttered shaking with nerves. “I’m a ... a ... fer ... ferret.”
“Yes, I know you’re a ferret,” Charlie said. “I’m a cat and I’m not stupid. Well, nice to meet you Debbie. I’m gonna take a nap now, but maybe we can hang-out later.”
Hang out? A cat that hangs-out with a ferret? Whoever heard of such a thing? But okay, I wasn’t going to argue. Instead I just nodded. “Sure, whenever you want.”
With this the monster turned and walked away.
This was a strange turn of events. The monster was a cat named Charlie and he wanted to hang-out with me. Did that mean that we were friends? I mean, that’s what friends do, right? Hang-out together?
Andrew had been following the conversation with some dumb look on his face. I suspected that he hadn’t understood one word of what had been said. Charlie confirmed this.
“Don’t worry about Andrew,” he said, pausing by the door. “He doesn’t understand cat language. I’ve been living with him for five years and we’re no further now than when I was a kitten. I suspect he doesn’t understand ferret language either.”
“But I understand you,” I said.
Charlie winked at me. “That’s because animals are smart, but humans ... well, let’s just say they have a lot to learn. Just talk to him, a lot, maybe in time he will catch on. See you later.”
“Now do you want to play?” Andrew asked, oblivious to our animal communication.
No, I was still too tired. I wanted to tell Andrew that he had woken me up before I was ready to wake up, and as such, I was going back to sleep now. I demonstrated by clambering back into my hammock, rolled myself in a ball and closed my eyes with a yawn. No more interruptions please.
I woke up several hours later when Andrew switched on the light in his room.
“I’m going to bed Debbie,” he said when he noticed I was awake. “See you tomorrow. Have a good night.”
See you tomorrow?
Have a good night?
What happened to play time?
Why was he going to bed now?
It was time for me to get up.
All day, when I was tired, he wanted to play. Now that I was awake and rested he was going to sleep! No, no, no, no, no, this was unacceptable. He had to let me out of my cage so I could go out and stretch my legs.
When Andrew climbed into bed and turned off the light, I knew it was time for action. Andrew obviously did not understand me as Charlie had suggested. So I had to come up with a plan. I stood on my hind legs in my hammock and pushed my nose against the metal door in the ceiling of my cage. It made a horrible loud clonking noise.
“Debbie, be quiet,” Andrew said.
No, I was not going to be quiet, not until he let me out.
I pushed against the door with my nose again.
“Debbie,” Andrew hissed, “be quiet, I’m trying to sleep.”
Yeah well, that was his problem. He’d had all day to sleep, but then he had preferred to stay awake. Now that it was finally time for me to get up he wanted to sleep ... I didn’t think so.
I banged against the door with my nose again and again and again.
“Debbie!” Andrew yelled. “Go to sleep!”
“No!” I yelled back. “I slept all day. I’ve slept enough. I want out of my cage. Now!”
I gave the metal door another forceful push to let Andrew know that I meant business.
“Oh alright then,” he mumbled. “I’ll let you out.”
“Thank you.”
As soon as the door opened, I clambered out of my cage and ran. Andrew had mentioned that the kitchen was for cooking and eating, so maybe that’s where he kept my food. I could do with a bite to eat and a drink of water.
I was just about to take a mouthful when Charlie walked in. “Ah Debbie, I see you’re finally awake.”
“What do you mean, finally?” I asked.
“What do I mean?” Charlie laughed. “You’ve been sleeping all day.”
“Yeah well, that’s what ferrets do,” I replied. “We sleep a lot and I do mean a lot.”
“What is a lot? Ten, fourteen hours a day?”
“More like twenty,” I said.
Charlie blew a whistle. “That is a lot. So now what? What do you want to do?”
I looked at my bowl with dry nibbles. “After I’ve eaten I was hoping that Andrew and I could play a bit.”
Charlie sadly shook his head. “Not much chance of that kiddo,” he said. “Andrew’s asleep now.”
“For how long?”
“Hours.”
“And when he wakes up?”
“Then he goes out.”
“For how long?”
“For most of the day.”
“Where does he go?”
“To work silly. He has a job.”
“What is a job?”
“A way of making money. He needs money to buy us food, and toys, and a nice basket to sleep in. Which is where I’m going now. Goodnight.”
“Can I ask you one more question?”
“Sure go ahead.”
“How come you know so much?”
“Cats are very clever,” Charlie said. “Also, I read a lot and I watch a lot of television.”
“Television?”
“No more questions,” Charlie growled. “I’ll explain everything you need to know in the morning. Right now I’m going to bed. Have a good night.”
Charlie walked away, his tail high in the air.