=================
There was a familiar echo of hysterical laughter in the guinea pigs' cage. Stumpy, having finally gotten free of the wheel again, looked over at his cage mate in horror. "Oh, no."
Slim, panting exhaustedly, whimpered, "There they go again!" He staggered over to the wheel and crawled up next to Stumpy. "Ready?"
"Okay, on three. One, two ... " Stumpy started to count off.
"Wait! On three or after three?" Slim pulled on tuft of fur on his head, not that there was much left.
"Slim, we've been over this *how* many times? When I say 'on three' that means you run when you hear me say 'three'." Stumpy shook his head.
"Okay, okay! Got it this time! Sorry, sorry!" Slim wheezed asthmatically.
This time everything went as it should and the two took off in a shot. Things went well for a while, then suddently Stumpy let out a shriek. He'd gotten caught in the wheel, again. Slim tried to duck, but still got knocked off as Stumpy flew around the inside of the wheel, leg stuck in the wire.
Slim lay on his back, panting and wheezing, watching his friend spin around slower and slower until the wheel finally squeeked to a halt. "You okay, Buddy!?"
Stumpy lay dizzily on the bottom of the wheel, "Mother?"
Slim shook his head and pulled at another tuft of fur. "Poor guy! Probably has another headache!"
Stumpy yanked his leg free and staggered, weaving, over to collapse next to Slim. "Didja happen to catch the thread of this story yet?"
Slim wheezed, coughed and said, "No, but I'd like to know for my fur pile!"
Just then, the lid to the cage popped off. And the 'Hand Of Above' came in and TOOK their WHEEL! Slim fainted in amazement, while Stumpy started to hum the Halleluia chorus. "We're saved." he muttered, quietly.
Looking up, he saw a strange contraption being lowered by the 'Hand Of Above'. "What in the ... Slim, Slim!" Stumpy poked his unconscious friend in a panic.
Slim raised his head out of the cedar chips and looked at Stumpy blearily. "You wouldn't believe the dream I just had! Somebody took our wheel!" as he spoke he looked toward the wheel's usual spot and screamed at the vacant area. "AH!!! Stumpy!" He looked to his friend, still staring above. Standing up, he raised his head to see what was so interesting and screamed again. "AAHHHH!!!"
As Slim tried to avoid passing out again, weaving back and forth, Stumpy said in a stunned voice, "Oh, my ... that's pink. Very pink. Incredibly *bright* pink."
Slim muttered, "I thought it was just a nightmare! Why can't I wake up?!"
As the apparation settled into the dent in the cedar, where the old wheel had been, they heard the lid snap back into place. The two guinea pigs walked over and around the contraption.
"So, whatcha think it is, Slim?" Stumpy sniffed experimentally. "It's plastic, anyway."
"I can't imagine anything but plastic coming in *that* color! It's shaped kinda like a wheel, but roomier!" Slim shook his head in wonderment.
Stumpy stepped up onto it cautiously, nearly jumping off when it rocked back and forth slightly. "Hmmm...it moves like a wheel, but there's no spokes. Just these funny little bumps running across at intervals."
Slim joined him on it and took a wavering step. "Definitely a wheel! Hey, Stumpy, no more getting caught!"
Stumpy looked up and reverntly thanked the 'Hand Of Above'. "Okay, Slim, on three. One, two..." He stopped and waited for the interruption.
"I gotcha Stumpy! Say three! Let's go!"
"Three."
As they ran, Stumpy said, "Hey, Slim, remember when I came to live with you?"
"Yeah, that was a good day!"
-----Spinning of the pink wheel spirals into a flashback: -----
Slim was running as fast as he could, just like every other day. But this was no ordinary day.
The sound of the cage top being lifted made him stop and look up. The 'Hand Of Above' was lowering something, it was, it was -- another guinea pig!
As the top snapped back on, the two animals stared at each other suspiciously. Slim studied the intruder and saw a round, average sized, chocolate male with one white leg. ~Hmmm, must not work very hard!~
At the same time, Stumpy sized up his new cage mate. He saw a very skinny, some might say anorexic looking, tawny male. He peered a little more closely and noticed the poor bugger's head was peppered with bald spots. "What in the world happened to you?"
"Whatcha mean?! Whatcha mean, what's the matter with me!? I'm fine! Whatsa matter with you!?" Slim ranted.
Stumpy sighed. Looking at the frantic rodent, dancing in front of him, "My name is Stumpy. Pleased to meet you."
Slim stopped dancing and reached out his paw. "Hi, I'm Slim! Not just that! It's my name! Really!"
Stumpy smiled and raised his white leg to shake, unfortunately that's all there was. Just the leg.
"Whoa!! Man, somebody ran the paws right off you, buddy!" Slim stared at the stump in shock and no little amount of sympathy.
"No, it's not my human's fault. I was just made that way. And it's only this leg. See." He waved at Slim with his other front paw.
Slim nodded. "Yeah, happens! So, wanna run on my wheel?!"
Stumpy shivered in terror. "I think that's what I was put in here for. Our human's have joined forces on their stories."
Slim sighed, fatalistically and pulled at a tuft of fur on his head. "Yeah, it's about time for another pile!"
Stumpy looked around the cage. In the far end, lined against the wall was a parade of tawny fur piles marching around the perimeter of the glass.
"What are those all about?"
"Those are my story piles! See this one is from Protecting the Prophecy, Part One!" As he indicated the first pile of fur, Slim touched a bare spot on his head. "Part Two! WindShadow! Coming to SIMs City! One! Two! Three! And Four! And the Babysitting story!!" For every story section, he pointed to a new pile and a different bald spot.
Stumpy noticed when Slim pointed for the Babysitting story there were two piles and two spots. "Rough story, huh?"
"Oh, Three parts, with kids and a KISS! That's all I've gotta say!"
Stumpy looked at his new partner, dubiously, and nodded slowly. "Uh, huh. Do you always ... sound so ... excited?"
"Whatcha mean!? Whatcha mean!? Excited!? How!?"
"Uh... never mind." Stumpy shook his head.
Suddenly from out side the cage came a wild 'Snidely Whiplash' sound. Stumpy cringed and sighed defeatedly. "I hoped maybe she'd take a break."
"WHAT is THAT noise!!? It sounds like a hyena!" Slim looked frantically for a place to hide, running madly from corner to corner.
Stumpy watched the other rodent dash around in puzzled amusement. About the fourteenth time Slim ran past him, Stumpy put out a leg and tripped him. Slim went nose first into the cedar shavings, pushing up a pile in front of him as he skidded to a halt. "Look, you better get used to that sound. That *is* the 'hyena'. My human makes that sound. It's a sort of twisted laugh."
Slim rolled over on his back and pilowed his head on the pile of shavings. "THAT was a LAUGH! You're in worse shape than I figured! I thought I had it bad!" The sound suddenly doubled as Slim's human joined in. "You didn't tell me it was contagious! Now she's got my human doing it!"
"Like I said, get used to it. When my human gets a funny story line going, she laughs so hard she can't breathe. That's the sound it makes. And laughter *is* contagious. Shall we get to work?" Stumpy climbed onto the wire wheel and waited for Slim. "Okay, on three. One, two..."
"Wait! Wait! Was that .... "
---Fade back to the present, focusing on the increased lineup of fur piles.---
Slim said, "Hey, Stumpy, I think I just caught the story line! It's not like they don't have enough fodder for stories! Now they are writing about US!!"
Stumpy stopped running, his body frozen in shock. The momentum of the wheel caused him to fly off. As he sailed through the air, he cried, "DOOOOOM!"
The End (for now!)
Back to: The Library
Return to: Main Page