A Night On Hat Island

 

            My parents and my two sisters were going to Yakima for some kind of Indigenous roundup and pow wow. Since I was 18 years old they gave me the choice of coming along like a kid or staying home. Of course I elected to stay home. I had an idea which I had be formulated for some time. I thought a nice free weekend without family would be just about the time I needed.
            At one time, my peeps, the Snohomish people had a village on Hat Island, a tiny spot of land out in Possession Sound between Everett and Whidbey Island. The village which was washed away by a tidal wave had been on the north end of the island. This was where I wanted to spend a night. I was curious as heck. I wondered if there was anything of them left there. I mean something intangible. Not ghosts, or anything silly. I just wondered if I could feel them after all this time.
            There is a little ferry that goes over there on weekends a few times.
            I gathered my gear on Friday after the family took off. I was loaded. I had a one man nylon tent, hotdogs, instant coffee, energy bars for breakfast, sugar, cup and a roll of paper towels, spare socks, and anything else I could think of that might come in handy. I had a modern flashlight too. I was not armed, unfortunately, but most of us aren’t carrying around here with the law the way it is. I had a good knife for utility purposes. Coat, hat, and high topped sneakers. I may have forgotten to list a few things here.
            Oh, my name is Bob Jones. An almost invisible name. It seems like I should have an Indian name, but my grandparents were long dead before I was born, and nobody was handing out Indian names to kids born in the 2000s.
            Thus prepared and loaded, I boarded the small passenger ferry at the Everett Yacht Club and took the short trip over to the island. Fewer than 30 people live there year round, but Hat Island does get visitors. Heck, I was one!
            It’s a short walk from the ferry dock to the north end of the island. It was still daylight; it’s early summer right now. The weather was warm, but felt like rain was coming. Clouds were starting to cover the sun. Well, that’s fine. We know about rain around here.
            I was pretty tickled that nobody knew where I was. I carry a phone like everybody else, in case of trouble. I didn’t expect trouble. Who does?
            By the time I got to the north end of the island the wind was kicking up. There were some white caps out on the water. I started looking around for a good camping spot. I thought I’d like to be on the sand, but up near the trees for cover from some of the wind and rain. I mean, if the storm that seemed to be coming did come.
            The place I liked was close to the forest but still down on the top of the beach. There were logs scattered around, very big logs. My spot was kind of down in a sandy dip between two of those logs which were high enough to provide some shelter. It just felt right. So, I popped the tent up there. I stuck my backpack just inside the opening, out of sight.
            A fire seemed like the next thing. There was smaller driftwood all over the beach. It was an easy job to haul a bunch of it up by my tent. It was starting to get dark, so I went ahead and made a good hot little fire on the sand. My lighter is one of the things I forgot to list up there at the top of this story. I lit a Camel. (Yeah, I know, Mom.)
            Then, I decided that it was dinner time. Hotdogs are easy. You don’t even need a pan. A stick will do. I ate three in a row and drank a bottle of chocolate milk. Didn’t list that either.
            It got dark and started raining a little. I checked my phone. No messages. I was feeling pretty good. I thought that yes, this would have been a good place for a village back then in those days. I did sort of sense a presence there, in a light way. Of course that could have been my imagination.
            What was not my imagination was a guy I saw down at the edge of the water. He was walking out of the Sound like he had been swimming out there. What the heck? I couldn’t see much about him, except that he was big. Real big, and he was heading straight for my fire. Maybe he wanted to get warm and dry off.
            I watched and waited, not knowing what kind of guy would be swimming out there at night. I thought about saying something, but the wind was loud and I didn’t know what to say.
            When this guy got to about 50 feet away and was approaching the firelight, I could see that he was not a regular guy. Of course, I knew about Sasquatch. You’d have to live in a cave not to know, right? This guy was 7 feet tall, covered in almost black hair, and must have weighed nearly 500 pounds. OK. What next? His move.
            He limped up to my fire and stood there dripping. I saw that he had a wound on his left foot.
            “You’re kidding,” I said reflexively. I think my mouth might have been hanging open.
            He smiled and shook his head. He held up both palms to me and then to the fire. So maybe he did want to warm up.
            Not knowing how to communicate, I just patted a spot on the sand near the fire. He sighed and took a seat. I had never been near such a large person before. Maybe he was hungry.
            “You hungry?” I said, not knowing what else to say.
            He nodded, and smiled again. So I demonstrated how to roast a dog on the fire and put it into a bun. I gave it to him. He took it delicately in between his right thumb and forefinger and ate it in two bites. Then he smiled again.
            I indicated with my hands that he could help himself. He was a fast learner. He roasted three more hotdogs and tucked them carefully into rolls and ate them quickly. So, I gave him my other bottle of chocolate milk, having demonstrated that you drink from the little bottle.
            I bet you thought this was going to be a scary story. Surprise!
            “Do you have a name?” I said after we had been just sitting by the fire for a while.
            He looked amused. Finally, he said, “Big.” I will never know what he thought I had asked him.
            The wind kept blowing, the rain got heavier. I put more wood on the fire once in a while. It was nice to have company, even if we couldn’t talk much. I noticed that the gash on his foot looked deep and painful.
            We were doing fine, but then something weird happened. The tide had come in, so that the water was closer to my campsite. Something was crawling out of the water. It was low and long, like 15 feet long. I pointed it out to Big. He frowned and stared. He jumped to his feet and started screaming. It just about blew me over. He grabbed my arm and pointed to his foot and then pointed down the beach at this slithering thing. I got the point pretty quick.
            Big grabbed a log and headed down the beach. I followed him. What I saw was horrifying. It could only be described as a Sea Monster. It had bulging eyes and vicious teeth, and it was hissing as it headed up the beach.
            Big hit him square on with the section of log he had armed himself with, then he started grabbing rocks and piling those in on the monster. I grabbed all the rocks I could find and threw them too.
            The beast kept hissing and trying to reach Big, but it was too late. Its body was broken.
            The monster died there on the beach while the wind blew white caps up on the waves and the rain beat down.
            Big dragged the dead thing down to the water of the Sound and threw it in. It floated there, barely showing in the dim light of the sky.
            We went back up to the fire. I piled on some more fuel, then we ate the energy bars. Big indicated that he would stay by the fire to sleep. I was beginning to think that I could hear him thinking. I crawled into my tent and went to sleep in my wet clothing.
            In the morning, the sun was shining from over the mountains to the east and Big was gone. I saw no sign of the dead monster out on the Sound. And when the Saturday morning run of the ferry came, I was on it. I sat there among the few other riders, squinting into the light and wondering what any of them would think of my story.
            The only person I told was my younger sister who knew how to keep her trap shut, and would believe me. She did, and she was sorry to have missed it herself.

👾

Toots & Suzy Make An Announcement

 

             In view of the fact that someone around here took Catfurday mostly off, and didn’t write anything, Toots and Suzy decided to create some content of their own! They were pretty excited about this and feeling just like a couple of real Content Creators!
            “Since our successful missions to the Mewn and then Mrrrz, we have decided to make it official,” said Toots.
            “Yes, everybody, Toots and I are here to announce our official, and perhaps startling, decision to make it our mission to explore further. To go where no cats have gone before, we are pretty sure!” said Suzy. “We’re not scared either!”
            “That’s right,” said Toots. “We finally got it through our Purrception™ that nothing can do anything to a Point of Vision. Hence, no fear! Meow!
            “The next thing was to name this thing, you know? Nameless missions are uncool. So we set to work yesterday, while all was quiet. We put our heads together, so to speak,” added Toots.
            “This is what we decided, after long consideration,” said Suzy.
 

Cat Vision Exploring the Mewniverse & Beyond

Or

⭐CVEM&B⭐

 
           
            “Pretty neat-o, huh,” said Toots! “We sure think so, and we hope you will look forward to our next Expurration™ of Space, Inner n’ Outer!”
            “We even have our own theme music picked out. After you listen with that in mind, we are sure it will set the mood nicely!” said Suzy.
 

“Behold!”

“Over and Meowt!”

Toots & Suzy

😻😹

Dreamy Old Ralph & The Unfinished Story

 

  

          When Ralph told Ramona about the strange dream, she was almost outraged, in a quiet way. Ramona is a very curious Firekeeper, and the unknowns in the story ate away at her sense of completion.
            She just looked at him for a while. Then, “How can you have a dream like that? The rest of the story must be there somewhere, Baby! Try to remember!”
            “Really. That’s all there was, Mona! I wish I knew too!” said Ralph. He didn’t mention what he had heard from his toe. He didn’t think it would translate well to Ramona. When he thought about it, he figured that the toe speech must have been a sort of dream too. It must have been. Toes don’t talk. They just get on with their work, which when analyzed, is pretty much what the dream toe told him, sending feedback from ground level.
            “But, Ralph Baby, what did the men expect to find in the box? It must have been some kind of treasure, right? Some woman must have fooled them somehow. But how did that happen?” said Ramona, urgently.
            “Yeah, not only were they angry when they saw the bones, they were terrified, and I’m not sure why? What’s so scary about an ancient box of old dead bones? And whose bones were they,” said Ralph. “I wonder if that small of a box must have held very small bones.”
            “Brrr!,” said Ramona. “See, there’s a story there, hiding.”
            “We don’t even know if it really happened, Mona. It might just be a crazy dream,” protested Ralph.
            Maeve had been listening carefully from her usual perch on Ralph’s left shoulder. She looked from person to person, thoughtfully.
            “I’ve heard a story like that,” she said. “I don’t even know if it’s true. My dear mate’s original family lived many day’s flight toward the sunrise in another deep and dark forest full of many tales.”
            “How does his story go?” said Ramona.
            “I will try to remember,” said Maeve. “But it has been a very long time since I spoke to him.”
            “That’s alright, Birdy,” said Ralph, reaching up to give  her a little pat on her black feathers.
            “It goes like this: One time there was a rich farmer. He saved all his earnings in cash. Never banks. He was afraid of banks.
            “He had an old wife, for he was old too, but they had no children to inherit this good farm. They also had three local men for farm workers.”
            “Did the farmer keep his money in that wooden box?” said Ramona.
            “That’s what Moshe* said he did,” said Maeve. “One day, he took most of his money, in the box, into the forest and buried it, marking the spot with river stones. He told his old wife where the box was buried, and then after a few years he died.”
            “But, in the dream there were only bones in the box, not money or any kind of treasure!” said Ramona.
            “In the story Moshe told me, the farmer made a false bottom in the box. The gold and bills were under the false bottom. For a joke the farmer piled a bunch of sheep’s bones on top of that fake bottom. Or maybe, he did it to scare anyone who found the box because they would think it was a burial,” said Maeve.
            “Why did the farm workers come to dig it up like sneaks at night?” said Ramona.
            “Oh you know. They were there to rob the old woman. She must have let slip that the box was buried under those rocks. Maybe she promised them something?
            “Maybe they threatened her to get her to tell where it was. Moshe didn’t know,” said Maeve. “But when they saw nothing but bones they were angry and felt that she had tricked them. He didn’t say what became of the box or the money after they had run away.”
            “In my dream, there was someone watching, a park ranger,” said Ralph. “I bet he came back the next day and investigated. I don’t think they were supposed to be doing sneaky stuff in the park at night.”
            “I wonder if the ranger was able to find out whose money it was and return it,” said Ramona.
            “In a proper story, he would have done that,” said Ralph. “But my dream didn’t go that far.”        
            “And Moshe didn’t know that part of the story, or he would have told me,” said Maeve.
            “I still think it’s strange how angry and frightened the men were,” said Ramona.
            “They probably thought the bones were human, and when they realized that they were being watched, thought that it was a burial and that they would get blamed for a death,” said Ralph. “But, you know, maybe it didn’t happen at all. It was just a dream.
            “Oh, Mona, wise and merciful Firekeeper, let’s let the dream fade away. Let’s take our Cherry up to the meadow. Now is a good time to visit Koba, the Star Child, and his caretakers as well! The day is warm and beautiful and full of pleasant whispers.
            “Who knows what wonderful and true things we will meet this day?”
            “Oh, Baby! You’re right! We have better things to think about!” said Ramona. “I miss that child so much already that my heart hurts for him!”
            “Evermore!” said Maeve as she lifted off, soaring into the middle of the glorious air.
            So, like truly heroic characters in all the best tales, the group of four set out for the meadow immediately.
            Maeve flew overhead. Cherry drifted along beside her parents. Ralph and Ramona held hands as they walked. When they came out into the open all eyes could see the leafy dome of the Alder Tree House and in their eagerness, no one gave the old dream a single thought. It was quite forgotten.

🍀

 
*Moshe was Maeve’s old mate's name.

Time is Purrception™

 

            House cats don’t have a lot of chores. It leaves them lots of time for intellectual pursuits. This explains a lot concerning Suzy and Toots. The truth of the matter is that those two can get pretty far afield, out there, in a word, or two words.
            One day recently both of them found themselves with time on their paws..
            One thing led to another and soon they were chatting about their recent foray into space; travel to the Mewn.
            “It was great!” said Toots, “Though we did  have to leave suddenly!”
            “That thing saw us, Toots,” mrrred Suzy.
            “Oh, really? We weren’t even there, just our Purrception was there! Don’t be so scairdy, Suzy!” continued Toots. “Nothing can getcha when you’re just a point of vision flying free!”
            “Then why were you in such a hurry to leave?” said Suzy.
            “Purely instinct, I didn’t have time to think it through,” said Toots. 
            “Time!” said Suzy. “What is time?”
            “Hm. Nobody knows that, Suzy. Personally I think it might be a way of looking at things, depending on where you are,” said Toots, confusingly.
            “Oh, ho, Toots! So, it’s all a matter of Purrception?” giggled Suzy.
            “I daresay that everything we notice is a matter of Purrception,” said Toots. “How about a trip to Mrrrz next?”
            “Where?” said Suzy, Cautiously.
            “You know, the Red Planet. People think they are going to go build cities on Mrrrz. I bet there are already cities there. Maybe underground, but we could check. We might be the first persons to know!” said Toots. “We should be famous already for seeing those towers on the back of the mewn. But nobody listens to cats!”
            “Um, when? Do we have time?” said Suzy.
            “If we want to, we have time,” suggested Toots.
            “Well, OK. Now?” Suzy asked her friend. “Well, let’s do it, Toots. Now!”
            Each girl closed her eyes and concentrated on her awareness. First they synced up. That was easy. They had done it many times before.
            “You know, Toots, there are a lot of places on Earth we haven’t seen,” said Suzy. “Still wanna go to Mrrrz?”
            “There is world enough and time for both,” said Toots. “Let’s go!” 
            In no time Toots and Suzy’s Purrception was cruising over the surface of Mrrrz. They wanted to see well, so they were only like a hundred feet above the surface. They had to slow down because at first they were going too fast to see anything.
            “Wow, Toots, it doesn’t look like anybody lives here,” said Suzy looking over the rough desert of the surface of the planet. “I don’t see a single plant or any living thing. I wonder if it’s as dead as it looks.”
            “Wait a minute,” said Toots. “Aren’t those hatches scattered here and there? Like big doors set into the ground?”
            “They almost look like craters, but I think you’re right. The craters don’t have a split in the middle!” said Suzy. “They must be doors! Shall we peek inside?”
            “Are we not cats? Of course we shall,” said Toots. “How about this one, my dear?”
            As soon as they wished it they found themselves in a dark place behind one of those hatches. After a few moments, they could see better, because they wished it so.
            “It’s an airlock!” said Toots. “The city is on the other side of the second door!”
            Soon the girls were on the other side of that inner door too.
            There was a long tunnel leading down into a lighted area. A creature was walking toward them. They could hardly believe their “eyes.” It looked more like a crab than anything they had ever seen before. It moved with purpose, like it was coming right to them. Could it have sensed the intrusion somehow? It was blue, by the way, walked on two larger limbs on its bottom part, but sported 6 others, arranged around the main body part. It had eyes on stalks like a regular crab, but it looked disturbingly aware.
            The girls began to feel very Cautious™, indeed!
            “Toots, I think our work here is done!” messaged Suzy in a panic.
            “I believe you’re right! We’ve proved our point, to ourselves, if no one else!” agreed Toots. “Let’s get out of here! I’ve seen enough of Mrrrz, and I bet you have too!”
            “Amen, Sister!” said Suzy.
            In no time at all Toots was back in her cozy little bed, snoozing with Sammie, and Suzy was asleep in the green chair in front of the gas heater. Perhaps they had only dreamed, but for sure, their warm sleeping spots are the best place for them!

🦀

Purrsday is for Purring™

 🤍

Zonked and purring up a storm at the same time!

🌸

            One of the cutest things I’ve noticed about having the new kits, is that if they are disturbed while sleeping, or getting into something, their first reaction is loud purring.

            I just went in to where Booker was sleeping and talked with him and petted him a little, and right on cue, loud purring! OTOH, when I have to remove one of them from some situation, I get the same result. Lots of purring.

            What does it mean? For one thing they purr much more than the other cats ever did. Hm.

            At the bottom of it, I wonder if it’s not just a bonding thing, like we’re all together in this, whatever it is. Solidarity!

            Maybe it means, for one thing, that these kittens have never had a bad experience in their lives. They’re just genuinely happy boys?

            I know cats purr if they feel sick sometimes.

            I’ve knew a cat who would purr against me if I cried.

            Some have been known to purr with an injured or ill person.

            It think it can have an element of petition, “Let me down, I’ll purr nicely.”

            Of course I think of it as love and happiness expressed in a cat way.

 

            It’s a strange thing to wake in the dark in the middle of the night and to hear loud purring somewhere nearby. Very soothing and peaceful. Maybe someone, some little soul, in the house at night is Purring™ for us all!

            I think that’s true.

🤍

The Meditations of a 7th Toe

   

         

           So, anyhow, Ralph and Uncle Bob went fairly far afield rounding up some dry deadfall for the girls to cook with. Dry is best of course because it burns hotter, though green wood is far better than no wood. On the way back to the Meadow and the Home Clearing they encountered a flock of hen turkeys. Ralph kind of crooned at them, which made them easy to catch, and their numbers were decreased by four. A pretty good day of hunting, since they had not really been hunting at all.
            Ralph carried the firewood in his big leather backpack and his turkeys by hand. Uncle Bob had to make do with his hands. He had a tough time, but they finally got him home to Suzie.
            Ralph delivered the fuel and the turkeys to Ramona, kissed her and hugged Cherry.
            By now it was late afternoon, not that Forest Giants care about the time of day, so, he decided to go pick up where he left off that morning when Uncle Bob showed up.
            It was a nice mild, gray day without rain. It was quiet in the forest. Sound seemed hushed. He didn’t even hear the river talking to itself. Maeve was down chatting with Ramona and teaching Cherry Raven folklore. It was such a nice comfy day. His log beckoned.
            “Now,” thought Ralph. “I was just waiting to hear from my 7^th toe when I got interrupted.” Soon he was in sleep’s antechamber.
            “If you read from left to right, as most do in this fair country, I myself dwelt on your right foot, Sir. My position is subsidiary. I am next to your Most Auspicious Great Toe, on your right foot. A goodly position, Sir, as you commonly stride out first with your right foot!” said No. 7.
            Ralph’s eyes opened briefly, but then they drifted shut again.
            “I see life at a fundamental level, dear Sir. I am nearly the least of your servants, but not quite the least. We toes, in fact, read the earth you stride on. We send subtle messages up to you. ‘Lightly here!’ and ‘There are thorns here!’ and such. We toes are on your side, um, in a manner of speaking. We live to serve, and when you prosper, indeed we toes prosper in like manner.”
            By then, Ralph was well and truly in sleep’s throne room. And a vision came to him.
            He saw in his mind’s eye that he was in another great forest far away to the east. He gazed upon a clearing among a stand of mighty trees, foreign to the Douglas firs of his own home. Soon, three rough fellows came pacing in carrying shovels and strong flashlights, for it was nighttime there.
            They were looking all around for something. One said to the other two, “She said it was marked by a flat black rock, round from a river.”
            “By now, it will be buried,” said another one.
            “Keep stomping and kicking, it will be the only river rock out here,” said No. 1.
            They did this until at last No.2 ran his toe into something under a layer of forest duff.
            “That’s it!” said No. 3, the youngest of the crew, visibly excited.
            It seemed to Ralph that he was looking through another’s eyes. Human eyes. The man whose vision he saw had authority, but not enough power to enforce it. He was afraid of the odds against him. This young man represented law, but could not afford to challenge these diggers. He watched.
            No. 1 poked his fingers under the edge of the flat black river rock and rolled it aside. The flashlight beams danced all over the clearing. All three men set the lights around the area where the stone had been so that they could see to dig. And dig they did. Frantically, hungrily, quickly.
            Soon they had a pretty good sized hole. The watcher watched and stayed hidden. He wanted to know what was in the hole, if anything at all.
            About three feet down, a shovel hit something that made a dull thud, perhaps a wooden object. It seemed to Ralph that it must be a chest of some sort. Anyone would assume so.
            The three men dug all around it. But they were tiring. They rubbed their hands on their old pants, spat, cursed and dug again. They got their shovel blades under the bottom of the object, which did seem to be a wooden box, much deteriorated. It wasn’t very big, maybe two feet long and 18 inches high and a similar measurement deep.
            It was drawn up out of the hole. It was locked, but the wood was rotted around the lock, so they struck the box until the lid could be lifted.
            No. 1 lifted the lid and turned it back. The hinges broke and it fell away.
            “That bitch!” he screamed. He kicked the box over and over. Nothing fell out but bones.
            The watcher gasped. Then he ran. He had seen their faces well and he knew them. It seemed to Ralph that the young officer raced to save his own life, and in hopes to discover a mystery. He was in much better condition than his pursuers, and he ran well, leaving them far behind in the depths of the forest…
            Ralph woke suddenly. He shook his head in amazement. “Wow!” he said to the air around him where he lay. He sat up blinking for a few seconds.
            But, he could smell roasting turkey, and suddenly all was well again, and the dream drifted off to wherever dreams go and was forgotten.

🏴‍☠️

"Hey, Ralphie!"

 

            One fine morning Ralph was stretched out on his dear old cedar log. He was sensing each toe separately as a sort of meditation. He had gotten to the 7^th toe, and it was just about to spill some toe secrets about its life as a toe, when a familiar voice interrupted his pre-nap considerations.
            It was Uncle Bob.
            “Hey, Ralphie,” he said. “What’cha doin’?”  Bob’s friendly face looked down at Ralph’s startled one.
            “Um, thinking. What’s up, Bob,” said Ralph, rising to a sitting position, because he knew this wasn’t going to be a quickie. It never was. He mentally kissed his nap goodbye.
            “Have a seat, Bob, and let’s hear it, whatever it is,” said Ralph.
            Uncle Bob swarmed aboard Ralph’s log, but ended up facing the other way and had to turn around to talk. It took a minute.
            “I just remembered something! Usually I can’t remember anything that happened back after we grew up and I was still smoking so much. Did I ever tell you about the guy in the green truck I met one day?” said Bob. “He was a really nice guy!”
            “I don’t remember hearing about the guy in the green truck, Bob,” said Ralph. “What happened?”
            “All I remember is that I was lying on the ground by a road. My eyes were open and I was looking up at the sky wondering if it was gong to rain. I guess I was really close to the road because I heard a car or truck slow down like they were taking a look. And I was really worried that a human was looking at me laying in the grass by the road,” said Uncle Bob.
            “What happened then, did someone see you?” asked Ralph, to help the story along.
            “I guess he parked. The engine stopped running. I heard him get out of the truck. I peeked. It was an old green truck with a truck box thing on the back. Then I shut my eyes so maybe he would leave me alone!” said Bob, eyes wide.
            “Did it work?” said Ralph.
            “No, Ralphie! He came right up to me and said, ‘Are you alive?’ I sneezed. So, I guess he figured out I was alive. He said, ‘Why are you laying there by the ditch? You look dead. What’s the matter with you?’
            “It was freakier than heck, Ralphie. He wasn’t scared of me at all. He was just this dad looking guy in jeans and a white t-shirt. I wasn’t scared of him either I guess, so I got up.”
            “He said, ‘You look like hell. Are you hungry, or what?’ When he said that he smiled and I was really hungry. He guessed that right. I didn’t remember eating for a long time.”
            “He said he had a sack of groceries in the truck and why didn’t I come with him? I was so scared, Ralphie, but I was really hungry. So, I got into the truck. It was like a dream. There I was in a human’s truck!” whispered Uncle Bob.
            “Wow, Bob. You amaze me!” said Ralph. “Then what?”
            “He started up the engine and got back up on the road and drove down to a little dirt road. He turned in there, then turned the truck around so he was facing out. He parked again. He gave me some coffee out of a can thing with a lid. I didn’t know it was coffee back then, It was hot and brown and bitter, but I drank it anyhow. Then he gave me a banana. He had to show me how to peel it.
            “He laughed at me, but not mean. Then he gave me some kind of slices of meat put into bread. Then he opened up a paper bag of little things like sweet bread, I didn’t know about cookies back then. ‘Feel better, kid?’ he said, and I did. I ate all the cookies.”
            “You know, Bob. You were awful lucky he found you! You know that? It could have really gone wrong. Passed out on the road like that?” said Ralph. “Some fool might have freaked out and shot you!”
            “I know, Ralphie. I think he pretty much saved me,” said Uncle Bob.
            “How did you manage to understand each other?” said Ralph.
            “I don’t remember talking, but I understood what he said. Maybe it was that head thing? I don’t really know,” said Bob.
            “What’s the end of the story? I’m really curious,” said Ralph.
            “Not much. He gave me a bag of orange roots, or carrots. I didn’t know what they were. He told me to knock off whatever made me lay by the road looking dead. He showed me how the door handle worked and I got out. I said my thanks in our language, he nodded. I shut the truck door and watched him drive back out to the paved road. That’s all,” Bob said.
            “That was an unusual human,” mused Ralph.
            “It’s funny I forgot about him for so long,” said Uncle Bob.
            “He was right, wasn’t he?” said Ralph, giving Uncle Bob a sideways look.
            “Yeah. He was like somebody’s dad,” said Uncle Bob.
            “Funny it took you so long to get the message,” said Ralph.
            “But I did, Ralphie! I did! I really like having memories!”
            “Ah, Bob. Yes you did! Let’s go get some firewood for Ramona and Suzie. Make ourselves useful, eh?” said Ralph.
            “Good idea,” said Uncle Bob.

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