“Saffwon am Saffwon,” the yellow fluffy practically sings. “Am soon-mama!”
“Soon… mama?” you stammer, stunned.
“Heehee,” she giggles, looking away. “Saffwon gon’ hab babbehs! Wub babbehs!”
Coco looks at her with surprise. “Bu Saffwon no hab speshuw fwen!”
“Saffwon no hab speshul fwen,” she said cheerfully. bu’ daddeh gib babbehs!”
“Hoomin daddeh?” Bubblegum asked.
“Hoomin daddeh!” the yellow fluff sang back.
“How did your daddy give you babies, Saffron?” Your face is burning, awash in horrible thoughts of what it could possibly mean.
“Weww, daddeh say dat Saffwon was good fwuffy cause Saffwon no make woud noisies ow make twouble. So said could haff babbehs if wan!”
“How yu daddeh gif Saffwon babbehs,” Coco voiced, repeating your question.
“Daddeh fwen cum to housie wiff two an’ one stawwions,” Saffron’s eyes looked back, thinking. “Towd Saffwon couwd pick stawwion fow hab special huggies wif fow babbehs, bu no fow be speshul fwen.”
All the other fluffies gasped. You might have as well. It was a bit of a relief to hear, though. Illegal as hell since fluffies are legally required to be spayed or neutered in Hawai’i, but still a relief.
“Saffwon saw pwetteh blue wingie stawwion wiff boo-ti-fuw white mane an’ taiw an’ wingies… Saffwon wanted babbehs pwetteh wike stawwion so hab speshul huggies!”
“An’ yu weawwy gon’ hab babbehs?” the brown fluff asks, her voice incredulous. “Coco nebah see soon-mama or mama befowe.”
The yellow fluff giggles.
“Saffron,” you say, before she can resume her story. “Can you please come here? May I see something please?”
The yellow mare comes foward at your beckoning, looking up as you crouch down. Holding up your smartphone, the flashlight is turned on, illuminating the inside of her ears. There’s no tattoo in either, with odds being pretty good she’s not chipped either. There’s a coo as you stroke her head when finished.
She’s not supposed to be here.
“Thank you, Saffron.”
“Yu wewcome!”
She continues with her story, talking about how excited she was, how she kept dreaming about the blue and white pegasus, and how she went out looking for him after discovering a hole in the house’s floor leading outside. Saffron was so happy and excited she was sure she could find him and make him her special friend. Until she got lost.
A lot of the old homes here, ones dating back 50, 60 or more years, were made of reclaimed wood from the plantation days and were lifted off the ground by wooden posts. There was usually a fair bit of crawl space between the house and the ground, with the only thing normally keeping things out from underneath was lattice or wooden slats across. But, if not kept up? Yeah, makes sense she got out. Old house.
You look at the yellow mare as she beamed. She’s so happy, not knowing the trouble she’s part of.
“Well everyone, I need to get to sleep because I have work tomorrow,” you announce. “But I think it would be best if our soon-mama slept in my house tonight.”
The fluff squeals with delight.
“Hello, Maui Humane Society! This is Miko, how can I help you?” the phone blurts at you. You texted your boss you’d need to come in late as you had errands to run. He was okay with that, thankfully. Morning came a little quick this time around given you were up late setting things up for Saffron, then trying to sleep through her humming a mama song to herself.
“Hi, I need to report a pregnant fluffy. Is this where I do it?”
“A pregnant fluffy? Are you sure?” she asks, not sounding confident in your statement.
“She says she’s pregnant. No tattoo in either ear. I’m going to bet she’s not chipped, either.”
“Oh dear,” she says. “Let me put you on hold.”
When the line picks up again it was in the middle of a good song. As always.
“Hello?” Miko says. “I’ve made this into a conference call.”
Another voice speaks up. “Good morning. I’m Officer Celario from the Maui Police Department. You say you’ve got a pregnant fluffy?”
“Yes sir. She’s been running around my neighborhood. Apparently she got out of her house and lost.”
“Do you have her? Or is she still running free?”
“I have her. Once I found out last night I brought her into the house.”
“Are you there yourself?”
“Yes,” you reply. You hope this doesn’t take too long. “Need my address?”
Its shortly after 9 o’clock when the police leaves with Saffron. They’re surprisingly quiet and discreet about everything. The car was actually one of the plain cars they use for surprise speed traps, which was sort of neat. Officer Renulfo Celario thanks you for your time, gets the rest of your contact information, and says he’ll be in touch.
As you turn to go back into the house to get ready for work, you notice Coco peering from the side of the car port, huddled up close to it. She looks at you, head tilted.
“Whewe Saffwon gu?”
A sigh escapes while you walk towards the brown fluff. Crouching its easy to see the concern written all over her face.
“Saffron went with the police. They’re going to keep her safe.”
“Po-wice onwy cum fow bad hoomins,” she replied. “Saffwon no hooman, iz fwuffy.”
“That’s right,” you say. “But Saffron’s daddy did something very bad.”
“Iz Saffwon in twoubwe?”
“I don’t know,” you reply with a sad honesty. “But her daddy is. And if he knew Saffron could get him in trouble, then he might make her go away forever.”
It hurts watching her, head going back and forth between where the police drove off, your face, and nowhere in particular. The little gears in her mind slowly turning on everything going on.
“Coco nebah see soon-mama ow babbeh fwuffy befowe,” she lamented. “Coco wan’ see soon mama an’ babbehs.”
“You and me both, Coco. You and me both.”
((questions and comments welcome as always))
