TUFFY
A STORY OF THE
by Paul E. Jamison
"Unca Jack?"
"Hmmmphf?"
"Can I ask you something?"
Jack had been dozing in the warm
midday sun. He let out a big, toothy yawn, opened one eye and looked over at
the youngster beside him. Before coming to this place, he’d always get cranky
if somebody woke him out of a sound sleep. But he didn’t mind as much nowadays.
He figured that the magic of the
And of course, it depended a lot on who was doing the waking, and his little friend had meant a lot to him ever since the day they’d first met.
Jack had been the first to find
the little guy. He’d been strolling along, with a picnic lunch and no
particular destination in mind, when he’d first heard the weak little voice
crying nearby. Jack had figured that anyone crying like that had to be new to
the
So Jack had set out to befriend the kit. It hadn’t been easy at first; the little fellow was frightened of everything that moved, and he’d shrieked and frantically backed away when Jack approached him. But Jack was a patient soul when he needed to be, and he’d kept his distance, made no sudden moves and talked to the kit in a soothing voice. He’d guessed the little guy was hungry and shared his lunch with him (This had helped a lot to gain the kit’s confidence. How could any food in that special place be anything less than delicious?). Eventually, Jack had convinced the kit that he wasn’t going to hurt him right at the moment, so the little guy had started to open up and talk a little.
What Jack heard hadn’t been pleasant. No human had shown the kit any love or care when he’d been alive, and there had been no others of his kind around. The kit had no way of knowing if he’d actually been put down or had just died of simple neglect; either way, he’d passed over to the Bridge when he was only a few weeks old.
Jack hadn’t liked hearing this,
but he hadn’t been surprised. It is, alas, a typical story. A litter of newborn
kittens is placed in a sack and tossed into the river; a hamster is given as a
birthday gift to a human child who believes it’s fun to torment the little
creature until the day it doesn’t move anymore; a breeder decides that a
cross-breeding didn’t go the way he wanted, and the resulting litter of puppies
won’t fetch good prices… And so on, and so on. All these little ones come to
the
Nobody had cared enough about the kit when he’d been alive to even give him a name, and that was one of the first things Jack had taken care of. He had named his new acquaintance Tuffy.
It took time for Tuffy to get over his fear of this stranger; though he let Jack come closer, he was still ready to run. But he’d been a lonely little kit, and Jack had been kind. When night had come and Tuffy had difficulty keeping his eyes open, Jack had shown the kit a comfortable spot nearby. After Tuffy went to sleep, Jack had stayed nearby, so that when the little kit had nightmares and woke up screaming, there had been someone there to hold him and rock him and make soothing noises and tell him that it was all right, nobody was going to hurt him, it was just a bad dream.
Gradually, with kindness and attention – not to mention the delicious meals – Jack had gained Tuffy’s trust. Jack had assured the kit that, no, he was not going to hurt him, and, no, he didn’t think he would want to later. Soon Tuffy had believed him. It took longer, but Jack had also managed to convince his new acquaintance that there wasn’t anything or anyone nearby that would hurt him, either.
Soon Jack’s patience had been rewarded. Tuffy had grown from no longer fearing Jack to trusting him to liking him. Then he had carefully opened up his heart and let some love out – just a little bit. All young animals have an enormous capacity for love that it takes a lot of abuse and neglect to completely destroy, and Tuffy still had plenty; it was just hiding inside. When he tried loving someone, Tuffy found that he liked the feeling, and for the first time in quite a while, he was happy.
Almost before he’d known it, Jack had found himself with a happy, energetic little kit, and he couldn’t have been happier himself. Tuffy adored his Unca Jack, and Jack in turn grew to love Tuffy very much.
Soon Tuffy was no longer afraid of anything – as long as his Unca Jack was there. Soon he’d found his curiosity gland – something all ferrets have – starting to work overtime, and he began to ask questions. A lot of questions. About everything.
("What am I, Unca Jack?" "A ferret." "Are you a ferret, too?" "Yes, I am." "How come we’re different colors, then?" "Ferrets come in a lot of different colors. I’m dark-colored, with a mask on my face. That makes me a sable. You’re all-white with pink eyes. That makes you an albino.")
Tuffy wanted to know what everything was. ("What’s this green stuff?" "It’s called grass." – "What’s that tall thing?" "It’s a tree.") Whenever they met other animals, Tuffy at first would run and hide behind his Unca Jack, until he was assured that, no, it wouldn’t hurt him. Tuffy had soon lost his fear of new creatures and discovered that he liked making new friends. And he always wanted to know what they all were. Jack got asked "What’s THAT??" a lot. ("That’s a dog." "That’s a cat." "That’s a rabbit." "That’s a skunk." "That’s a gerbil – yes, I know it’s a funny-sounding name; he can’t help that.")
And sometimes Tuffy, like all
youngsters, asked simple questions about very profound subjects, like the
"Where does the Bridge go to, Unca Jack?" "It leads to Heaven, Tuffy. That’s where all good souls go to sooner or later. That’s where they can live in happiness forever and ever." "Can we go there, too?" "Someday, yes, but not yet.
"You see, Tuffy, when an animal has spent a long, happy life being cared for by a kind, loving human – for all practical purposes, that human has been that animal’s Mommy or Daddy – he’ll come here when he dies. (No, Tuffy, I mean girl animals, too, not just boys. When I say ‘he’ in this case, I mean boys and girls.) This special place is where he waits for the time when his Mommy or Daddy goes to Heaven. On their way there, they’ll stop by here and be reunited with the pet – or pets – that they loved so much before. And together they’ll go across the Bridge to Heaven, and they’ll never be apart again."
Tuffy had to think about this for only a short time before the tears had come. Jack had expected this, and he’d pulled the little kit to him and had held him while he went on, "Tuffy, I know that no human loved you before; that’s the way it is for a lot of little ones that come here all the time. No Mommies or Daddies to wait for. But listen: when the humans come through here and meet their loved ones again, they can adopt some of the orphans and take them along to Heaven too. The adoption depends on whether or not the humans and orphans like one another, but a human that loves one animal will be very likely to love others. I don’t know of any orphan that hasn’t been adopted sooner or later. So you see, you’ll go to Heaven someday. I know you will."
Jack had always liked answering
Tuffy’s questions, even those that he asked again from time to time. (Though
Jack didn’t think "‘What’s THAT??’
‘That’s a dog, Tuffy.’" counted as a repeat question, considering that the
dog in question may be a
So now Jack looked over at his little friend, smiled and said, "Sure thing. What do you want to know?"
"Do you ever worry that your Daddy won’t come?"
– which, when Jack thought about it, was a good question, indeed. He gave Tuffy the truthful answer that he deserved:
"Well, I think that we all have our doubts, but I know that Mommies and Daddies do come. I don’t know for sure how many pets there’ve been in the World or how many have died, and I couldn’t tell you exactly how many pets are here now at the Bridge. But I don’t believe that there are enough animals here to account for all the ones that have died. But they all come through here, so somebody has come through and taken all those animals on to Heaven. And I have seen some reunions." Jack smiled. "It’s always great to see that. (And, yes, Tuffy, I have seen quite a few adoptions, as well.)
"So, to answer your question, yes, I do worry that my Daddy won’t come, but only once in a great while. For the rest of the time, I’m – almost – absolutely certain that I’ll see him again."
Jack looked up at the arc of the beautiful Bridge above them in the blue sky, and sighed. "There’s only one thing – I don’t think it will make any difference, but you never can tell…"
"What’s that, Unca Jack? What’s wrong?"
"Well – Daddy was an Agnostic."
Tuffy’s eyes went wide. "Really?? Wow!! – Uh, what’s an Agnostic?"
"Well, some people would say that it’s the same thing as an Atheist, which is someone who doesn’t believe in God or Heaven, but it’s not. The way Daddy explained it, an Agnostic says that there might be a God or a Heaven, or there might not – but there’s no real proof that there is or isn’t, and there’s no way for anyone to know until we die."
Tuffy’s eyes got even wider and his jaw dropped open. "Huh?!? What’s he mean, ‘no proof’? Here we are, alive again, and there’s the Bridge above us, and – and –"
"But the point is that he doesn’t know that, and there’s no way that we can tell him. So, Daddy will just have to wait and find out for himself."
Jack looked off into the distance. "I can remember when I first heard Daddy talk about all this. It was when I shared the house with Daddy and two other fur-types: a lady ferret named Little Lady Lovekins – she’s that silver mitt I introduced you to the other day – and an old orange tomcat named Old Man Mufferoo – you haven’t met him yet; he acts like a grump but he’s really a nice guy.
"One evening we were all relaxing around the house – playing or sleeping or reading the newspaper, stuff like that – when the doorbell rang. It was some guy in a suit and a big smile. He called himself a Servant of the Lord – later Dad told us he was a Bible Thumper.
"This guy invited himself in and immediately started jabbering some stuff about Armageddon and the Coming Apocalypse and about the Signs and Portents – and was Daddy worried about saving his immortal soul? Daddy told him, ‘Well, I’m afraid you’re wasting your time talking to me. I’m an Agnostic, you see.’
"This Servant guy gave Daddy a strange look and said, ‘Brother, God above has made it my mission in this life to show you the error of your disbelief in Him.’
"‘Hang on, I didn’t say I didn’t believe or disbelieve. I’m an Agnostic, not an Atheist. I’m willing to believe in a Higher Power, if somebody can offer me any proof. But I haven’t seen any yet.’
"‘Agnostics, Atheist – they are the same in the Lord’s eyes, friend. They do not believe in Him, even though they have all the proof that they need, right here." And he held up his Bible and started quoting verses out of it. Daddy replied that the Bible was a series of books written by many men, and that other men put these writings together later, picking some stuff to put in and other stuff to leave out, and that other people later translated it into other languages and revised it. He said that a lot of the intent of the original had to have been distorted to get what we have today, and we just don’t know how divinely inspired any of it is. Then he started quoting verses from the Bible himself, and apparently it was a lot of stuff that the Servant guy didn’t know much about because he looked real confused.
"They both started to get excited, and from the way it sounded, things were going to get really interesting. Lovekins and I got closer, and even Muffaroo cocked his ears forward, so we could hear it better. That’s when the Servant guy noticed us for the first time. He pointed at Lovekins and started talking about Heaven again:
"‘My friend, when the time comes for God’s children to ascend to Heaven – and I know that it’s not too late for your soul, not if I can help it – we will have to be strong and leave many things behind us. You will have to say farewell to your pets, for you will not see them again.’
"Daddy looked at him in a funny way and asked, "And why won’t I?’
"‘Because the Scriptures
tell us that animals have no souls, and therefore cannot enter God’s
"That made Daddy mad. That made Daddy real mad. He’d been angry with me before, when I’d busted open a sack of flour and got it all over everything in the kitchen, and he’d scolded me for it, but that was nothing like this. He didn’t say anything, but the muscles in his jaws were as tight as a drum, and his eyes looked like they’d explode in fire any second. I saw all this and I thought to myself, ‘Boy, I hope I never do anything to get Daddy that mad at me!’
"Then Daddy started talking, real soft and quiet, and I realized that there wasn’t anything a thousand ferrets could do all at once that could ever make Daddy that mad! He said, in that real soft, scary voice, ‘Don’t you ever say anything like that about my animals again! I’ve had pets ever since I was a boy, and they all – every single one of them – meant a lot to me. I will not turn away from them now, and I will not turn away from them when I die, whatever happens then. Do you understand me?’
"This didn’t seem to bother the Servant guy ‘My friend, you may think you love them, but it is an illusory love.’ He started flipping through the Bible. ‘The proof is right here, in Book –‘
"‘NO!!’ It was the only time Daddy shouted, but it stopped the guy cold; he jumped about a foot and almost dropped his Bible. Daddy pointed his finger at him, and started talking in that soft, quiet voice again:
"‘Now you listen to me, mister. You come into a house that has seen a lot of the love that only animals can give, and you offer me chance at a Heaven where that kind of love isn’t allowed. You may actually believe in that type of Heaven, and you may even regret the no-animals-here part of it. Well, I think that the Heaven you’re offering is seriously flawed, and I don’t want any part of it. So, get out and get out now. And don’t you ever – come – back.’
"The guy looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. I don’t think he understood what Daddy was saying, and I’d guess that he’s the kind that never would. He just stared at Daddy and backed out the front door. Just as he got outside, he started mumbling something about immortal souls burning forever, and Daddy slammed the door in his face. Daddy then picked us all up – even Muffaroo, who wasn’t a cuddly type – and hugged us and kissed us and said that no matter what anybody said, he loved us and he always would."
Jack looked at Tuffy and smiled. "So I am worried, just a little bit. I wonder if his doubting will keep him from getting into Heaven. Maybe it won’t. He always loved all his animals and treated us very, very well, and that must mean something. I’m sure that I’ll see him someday."
Tuffy said, "Love must count for a lot – it surely does around here. You taught me that, Unca Jack." He stopped for a moment and frowned a little. "Uh – what’s a drum?"
But Jack didn’t say anything. He was looking off in another direction with an expression on his face that had never been there before. Tuffy asked anxiously, "Is there something wrong, Unca Jack? What is it?"
"I can feel something about to happen. Something –" Then he stopped and stared.
Tuffy looked around. A human had appeared nearby. "Who is that, Unca Jack?" Then the old fears flared up. "Is he here to – to hurt us?"
"No. No, he won’t." And then a look of wonder came over Jack’s face. "It’s him!" He jumped up and began to run as fast as he could for the human. "It’s him!!"
And as he ran, he shouted,
"DADDY!!!"
The human stood there for a few moments, looking confused; he probably wondered where he was. Then he looked around and saw something that astonished him.
For, besides Jack, there were sixteen ferrets running toward him. And beside them thirteen cats appeared from somewhere and ran for him as well. And seven dogs joined them. And six hamsters running amazingly fast, considering. And a couple of rabbits. And a skunk. And white mice of indeterminate number. And even a raccoon that the man had found, hit by a car, and had made as comfortable as possible for the last two days of his life.
All were running for this one man. And all were shouting, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!"
The human looked at all these animals and broke into a big, wide grin. "I know you! I know all of you!! You’re my BABIES!" He sat down and let all the little bodies wash over him.
Everywhere he looked, he saw a little furry face glowing with joy, and he recognized everyone and could remember all their names. "Loki! You little rascal! I never did find all those socks you stashed away! Not that it matters now, I suppose…" "Rex? Rex! I haven’t seen you since I was eleven! Oh, you look so good, boy!" "Carlita! You’ve got that front leg back!" "Lucy! Ethel! I’ve never seen the two of you so excited!"
(Lucy and Ethel were two cats.
Like the eleven other cats, they had thought quite a bit about this reunion and
had planned to handle it with all the dignity and restraint that the feline
race is known for. They had decided to saunter up to their human and politely
say something like, "Oh, hello, Father. It’s very nice to see you
again." All cats at the
The human was kissed, licked, rubbed up against and purred at. He patted heads and stroked backs and scratched chins and picked up and hugged and kissed Jack, Little Lady Lovekins, Old Man Muffaroo, Loki, Rex, Carlita, Lucy, Ethel and everyone else. He smiled at all the animals and said, "It is so good to see you all again. I’ve missed all of you so much." Which was greeted with a number of happy barks and squeaks and chittering and purring noisy enough to drown out a Harley. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he said, "I love you all."
Jack stepped back and looked at the mass of furry creatures. It was good to see old friends again. There were others that he hadn’t met before, but he could already tell what a nice bunch they were. He looked forward to getting to know them better. And it was so good to see Daddy again. Then he remembered someone else and looked around.
When Jack had run off to join his Daddy, Tuffy had stayed behind. He’d apparently watched the reunion for awhile, and now Jack could see him hang his head, turn and start walking away.
"Oh, Tuffy," Jack said softly. He looked around and said to the nearest animal – a white mouse that he’d never met before – "Excuse me, I gotta go talk to someone. I’ll be back!", and took off running.
"Hey! Tuffy! Wait up!" He caught up with the kit, and said, "Where are you going? You just gonna run off on me like that?"
Tuffy wouldn’t look at Jack. "I just figured I may as well go on. You don’t need me around when you got plenty of new friends. You look like you’re all happy together; you must be excited about finally crossing into Heaven."
"Tuffy…"
"I’ll be okay! I’m grateful for all that you’ve done for me. I know that I can make other friends here, and someday somebody as nice as your Daddy will adopt me and take me over the Bridge, too. I’ll be fine till then." The kit raised his head. "I’m Tuffy! That means I’m tough! I don’t need to stick around and do any of that – that silly g-goodbye stuff –"
His throat dried up and he couldn’t say anymore. Jack reached forward and gently pulled Tuffy to him as the little kit burst into tears.
Jack held his little friend and rocked him back and forth – just like so long ago – while Tuffy cried and cried and finally got his voice under enough control that he could be understood.
"I don’t want you to leave me, Unca Jack! You’re the only friend I’ve ever had and I don’t wanna be left alone! Nobody will be my friend now! Nobody will ever want me! I don’t wanna be alone!"
Jack responded with a "Sh – sh – sh – sh" and said, "Don’t cry, little one, don’t cry. You should know that I wouldn’t forget about you on this special day. I do care very much about what will happen to you, and I have an idea or two about it."
"I’m sorry", Tuffy whispered. "I shouldn’t act like such a big baby. I wish you could stay with me, Unca Jack." The kit sniffled. "I don’t wanna say goodbye."
"Now who said anything about goodbyes? I sure didn’t!" That made the kit suddenly stop crying and look up at his friend. Jack sat Tuffy up, dried his tears as best he could and took hold of his little paw. "Now come with me; we have to talk to my Daddy."
Jack lead Tuffy back to the reunion. The little kit didn’t say a word. What could this mean – could it be – ?
They found that the crowd had quieted down quite a bit, but it was still a merry gathering. The animals were getting acquainted with each other. Some that had never met before were introducing themselves. Some old housemates, who hadn’t run into each other since they’d come to the Bridge, were enjoying little reunions of their own. And a beagle named Sir Galahad was staring at a Siamese cat named Rum Tum Tugger, who had become his close friend after he’d come to the Bridge.
Galahad finally blurted out, "I never knew we had the same Daddy!"
Tugger smiled at him and said, "I guess that it never came up in the conversation."
"That means we’re brothers! We’ll always be together now! This is great!"
The cat rubbed against his friend and purred. "Guess I can’t complain."
Daddy was leaning back and chatting with the raccoon, whom he’d never gotten to know too well when they were alive. Jack came up to him and said, "Daddy, can you help us with something? It’s important."
Daddy smiled at Jack and said, "Why, I’ll be happy to do whatever I can! Who’s your little friend, by the way?"
"Daddy, this is Tuffy. Tuffy, this is my Daddy."
"Hello, Tuffy. I’m glad to meet you." Tuffy suddenly felt all shy and tried to make himself as small as possible. He finally managed to get "Hi" out.
"Daddy, all of us here knew you’d come for us someday – even though you didn’t know if you should believe or not – "
"Well, I believe now. I guess this is the kind of evidence that I’d been waiting for."
"It must be pretty
convincing. – Anyway, that’s what the
"But he can cross the Bridge if one of the humans that come here wants to adopt him." Jack looked up at the human that meant so much to him. "Tuffy needs a Daddy."
The man looked at Jack and looked over at the kit. "This little guy means a lot to you, doesn’t he?" Jack nodded. Tuffy scarcely dared to breathe. He was afraid that if he did or said the wrong thing –
The man finally spoke, "I know what Jack wants me to say." He then smiled, "And who am I to disappoint him? Tuffy, I’d love to be your Daddy. How about it? Would you like to come with me?"
Tuffy couldn’t say a word, but the look on his face was answer enough. The man gently picked him up, and they looked into one another’s eyes. Tuffy saw the kindness in the human, and he began to feel a love for him that would soon become strong and deep – and would last forever. The man kissed Tuffy on the head, and Tuffy kissed him on the chin.
The man looked around at the other animals. "Of course it would mean putting up with this crazy crew, but I’m sure you can manage. How about it, guys?" He held Tuffy up for all of them to see. "You want Tuffy as a brother?"
The decision, shouted out by an unknown number of voices (I suppose someone should really sit down and count those mice.), was a unanimous YES! As Cleveland Amory (a Cocker spaniel) put it, "You always did have good taste in furkids, Daddy!"
"Then it’s all settled! Tuffy, you’re one of us, now!" And all the animals whooped and hollered their welcome to the little kit. And Tuffy found out what it meant to cry for joy.
And the man spread out his arms and somehow – somehow – managed to wrap them around all the animals at the same time, and give that mass of furry creatures one great, big HUG!! And somehow, everybody there was able to hug everybody else. It’s all part of the magic of that place.
One of the hamsters piped up, "I’m gonna go tell the Elders! There’s always a big ceremony when somebody’s adopted!"
The human said, "Well, why don’t we all go? I’d like to see more of this place. And I’m sure that there are others that need a Daddy, too." So they all left together. The man carried Tuffy in his arms, and all the other animals trotted along beside them.
Tuffy had never known that he could feel so much joy. He looked around at all the creatures, and it made him happy to realize that he now had a family. He looked down at his Unca Jack, who smiled up at him, and he knew that they would be together forever and ever. That made him even happier.
But what made him happiest of all was knowing that he would never be afraid of anything, ever again, because he was with a human who loved him very much. Tuffy had a Daddy.
Tuffy smiled and snuggled down in the arms of his new Daddy.
THE END
Copyright © 1999 Paul E. Jamison
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