"Vinky," Vobble queried, "how long would it take me to earn $2500? Would it take a long long time?"
 
Vinky looked quizzically at Vobble. "Why on earth would you need $2500? What do you need money for? You've got a nice house, all the food you want and you have no expenses."

Vobble looked at Vinky with his sad puppy dog eyes look—you know, the one he used whenever he wanted her to feel sorry for him. "I'm looking at these puppies and kitties for sale in the paper. They cost a lot of money."

"Even the ones in the window at the pet store cost a lot of money, too. I really want a pet. I want something to cuddle."

"Vobble, you've got something to cuddle. I made you a perfectly good cuddle friend last winter. Isn't that enough?"

"Vinky, I'm tired of that old moleskin doll you made me. It's ratty and stinky and kinda ugly, ya' know? I want a pet—something alive and frisky and fun and warm. I just can't decide what to get."

Just then Zorro stuck his head in the door. "Did I hear someone mention puppies? I love puppies. It's dogs I'm not too fond of."

Kyle popped up. "Puppies. I saw the cutest puppies down the street the other day. They're so tiny and cuddly and fuzzy and warm and cute as the dickens."

Vobble perked up. "You saw puppies? I want one! Please, Vinky?"

Zorro shook his head. "Not so fast, kiddo. I saw those puppies. They're only a week or two old and they have paws the size of elephants. Those babies are gonna be HUGE! If you really want a pet, let's go to …

the VacaShelterForAllThingsFuzzyAndFurry," said Zorro.

"The VSFATFandF for short," said Kyle, snickering at the long name.

"No," said Zorro, "just call it The Shelter!"

and with that Vinky and Vobble flew out of the owl box and picked up Zorro and Kyle and flew to the front of the Shelter when…

When they arrived there was a huge sign in the window that read, "Puppies, Kittens, Ratz, Ferrets, and more - Come on in and Explore!"

"Wowza, it looks like there are more than just puppies and kittens to choose from," Zorro said, then looking at the other sign, a much smaller one that read, "Shirts and Shoes required." "HUH?"

Vobble spoke up, "What does that mean? Will I have to get a shirt and shoes for my pet?"

Kyle chuckled, "No, you foolish bird, it means we have to have shirts and shoes… wait a minute! I don't have any feet!"

The gang seemed quite confused… until…

a friendly voice said through a speaker, "Are you here to check in or look around?"

Kyle yelped and said, "Who's there?"

Then the door opened and a little old lady with curly white hair said, "Come on in, dearies. We'll talk."

She took them to a big room with a desk and chairs and on a table were several bowls of snacks. A sign said, "Puppy Chow—provided by CC's Cafe." There was Chocolate Puppy Chow and Lemon Puppy Chow and Cinnamon Puppy Chow and Butterscotch Puppy Chow and Rainbow Puppy Chow.

They all grabbed handfuls and then Vobble said, "I want a pet. do you have one?"

The woman looked Vobble up and down. "I'm sorry dear," she said, "but you can't adopt a pet. You're still very young. You need an adult's permission."

Vobble flapped his wings indignantly. "I may be young in human years but I'm much older in owl years!" He turned to Zorro with watery eyes. "Zorro, you tell her!"

Zorro chuckled. "But Vobble, don't you still have some owlet fuzz under your wings?" Vobble put his wings down and began a first-class Vobble sulk.

"Now, I happen to be an adult mouse," Zorro continued, "but they seem to have mice for adoption here so I'm not sure my word would hold any weight."

"Besides, your box is in the Dude's yard, we should probably get his permission before moving a new tenant in, dont'cha think?"

Vobble nodded. "Okay, that makes sense. Let's go ask him right away!"

So they trooped up to the Dude's front door and rang the bell. When it opened, Vobble said "Iwantapetreallyreallybad-pleasesayyes!"

Vaca said "Whoa - slow down! You want a what?"

"A pppppppppet," said Vobble, who sometimes stutterred when he was really excited.

"A pet?' said the Dude, taken by surprise, "What kind of pet?"

"I don't know exactly. Something warm and fuzzy. But I need your permission," Vobble answered.

"Well," said the Dude,…

First I need to tell you what having a pet entails! You have to feed it, clean it, walk it, vet it, and keep it comfortable, loved and happy! Can you do all that? he asked.

"Oh YES!!!" they all shouted sensing that the Dude just said, "Yes."

And, they were right.. The Dude took out a piece of paper, scratched some words and some pictures on it, folded it and placed it in an envelope. Vinky snatched the envelope and out the box they went.

When they arrived back at the shelter they found the little lady and handed her the envelope.

She gasped and laughed and said, "OK - you can have a pet but it can't be any bigger than this," and she showed them the elephant the Dude drew.

With that they all went down the corridors to look at the pets when Vobble spied...

a big fluffy soft great dane puppy! It had big paws and big 'adopt me' eyes and it sat so pretty and wagged it's tail.

"That's it! This is my new pet," Vobble announced proudly, but Zorro said, "Vobble, this puppy is clearly WAAAAAY bigger than what the Dude drew on the paper!"

"What do you mean?" asked Vobble. "Is this little puppy going to be bigger than an elephant?" his eyes wide with disbelief.

Vinky smirked and said "Vobble, you have to get something smaller than the PICTURE of the elephant... like these crickets!" Vinky pointed to an aquarium filled with crickets.

Vobble started to cry, "But I want the puppy! I think Dude meant a real size elephant!!!"

Vinkie put her arm around her sobbing brother and said, "It's okay Vobs, let's just look around a little more, I don't know whether we'd have enough gag shag to housebreak him anyway."

Vobble wiped his tears and they rounded the corner and saw… a bird… a little bird… a little bird with lovely green and yellow feathers… a little bird with lovely green and yellow feathers that smiled at Vobble… a big beaky smile, and then she batted her eyes at him too.

Vobble smiled. "Look at that Vinks! She's smiling at me! She's little, she's lovely, not quite furry, but feathery and that's even better. Think how owlsome the gagshag will look with green and yellow feathers. "Can I have her? Can I, can I, oh can I?"

They all looked at each other and then at the lady. She smiled. "Well, it looks like she likes you. I'm supposed to call your Dude friend and get his Okay, but I think it will be okay."

She made a quick call and said, "Well, Mr. Vobble, it looks like youve got a pet. Her name is Velvet and she can talk. I'll send you home with all the supplies you need."

She took Velvet out of the cage and the bird hopped up onto Vobble's head and said, "I'm a gooood bird! Let's go home."

As they all went through the door, Velvet said, "Farewell, farewell."

When they got home, CC was thre with a whole pan of Bird Nest Candy.

They all dug into the candy, Vobble made sure to sneak Velvet some pieces when nobody was looking. Then they decided to bring her into the house to show the Dude.

He agreed that she was a beautiful bird and just the right size. However, when they got out to the owlbox, she did not want to go inside. Instead she sat out on the owlbox porch chirping.

"What's wrong now?" Vobble asked. "She doesn't look unhappy, but this is home! We need to show her around!"

Vinky tilted her head. "Maybe she doesn't like to be inside during the daytime like we do. Look, she's sitting right in the sun."

"Maybe you're right," Vobble said. "But she can't stay there! What if one of our bigger bird friends decides to come for a visit and they don't see her and land on her? She could get hurt!"

Both owlets tilted their heads this way and that, thinking. Then Vinky said "I know! What if we asked the Dude to make a perch for her? I'm sure he would, if you promised to help."

So back they went to show Vobble's beautiful new pet to the Dude and ask him to make a perch for her.

Vaca admired Velvet and said that he was awfully busy with other projects, but when Vobble's lower beak began to quiver, The Dude assured him that he would surely be able to fit in a small project like a bird perch.

Velvet sang beautifully all the way back to the owl box, her new home. But once there, it suddenly dawned on Vobble that there were going to be some issues to face.

For instance, if he was up during the night when Velvet was sleeping and the other way around, when was he going to play with her and teach her things?

And how was he going to snuggle with her when he slept if that was when she wanted to be awake? And how were they going to sleep when she was singing and talking all day?

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all…

Back he went to the Dude. The Dude said, "Leave it to me. I know a solution."

The Dude got out a ladder and climbed up to the box. With a little drill and a couple of nails and screws, he had the problem solved. Velvet now had TWO perches!

With a little perch on the front of the owlbox, just the perfect size for a parakeet and another little perch inside the box, Velvet was happy.

She'd sit outside and sing and talk in the sun all day long while the owlets slept. She'd perch inside and sleep all night while the owlets flew and hunted.

And in the dawn and dusk, she and Vobble would play and fly and talk and sing and have a great time together.

Two-leggers who would spot them in the sky would often do a double-take and then mutter to themselves, "The light was bad. I KNOW I did not just see an owl and parakeet playing together." (Two-leggers can easily lie to themselves like that sometimes.)

And all was peaceful and happy in the owlbox … for now.

The End