Jette woke to birdsong and the beginning of the sunrise, the sky was such a pretty mix of colors! There was red like the best sketties Daddy served, orange, yellow like the prettiest flowers that Daddy’s special friend kept right outside the windowsill that held Jette’s best velvety pillow, and purple like in her pretty, pretty mane and tail! But her morning bliss was cut short.
Jette had the worst burny itchies ever! The bugs that had swarmed her last night had left her with unseen welts and bumps, though she would never link the two events herself. Her whole body itched, but especially the parts of her that were more sparsely covered in fluff.
Jette frantically began to scratch her face against the rotten hollow of tree she had nested in. It didn’t smell very pretty, but it gave her some form of relief. That was short-lived as well, as rotten wood had given way to harder, more resistant wood fibers, and she found herself with one side of her snout full of splinters!
“-SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE- WAN… -SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE- Wan’ Daddeh! Jette hab wowstes owwies! -huu huu huuuuu- Pwease hewp Jette! Am gud fwuffy! -huu huuuu-“ Jette wailed. It wasn’t fair! All she wanted was to start a family. To show Daddy that she wasn’t just the best fluffy, but the best mummah, with the best babbehs. Why wasn’t he coming to help her with her owwies? To give her a warm bath and make her smell like pretty flowers again? To brush and detangle her mane so gently that it felt like getting a good petting? He was the worst, and Jette hated him for not helping and providing to her in her time of need!
Suddenly she heard the voice of a fluffy! “Hewwo? Fwuffy heaw ‘ou, buh no see ‘ou!” Jette quickly popped her head out of the hollow of the tree, still crying “Pwease hewp Jette, nice fwuffy! Stupie, meanie nestie gib Jette wowstes face huwties! -huu huu huu-“ She was saved!
Then she got a good look at her savior, at his dirt colored coat, and his darker, more drab brown mane and tail. He was a poopie fluffy! Jette felt bile rise in her throat, she almost threw up all over him. But she did need help. She was smart enough to know that getting that help from the poorly colored fluffy in front of her was her best bet, much to her dismay.
“Dun wowwy! Gawbaj am here tu hewp. Wiww take wittow pointy stickies out ub Jette’s nosie! Maybe have wittow huwties when Gawbaj puww, doh.” With that the fluffy grasped one of the splinters, a smaller one, between his teeth, and quickly pulled it from her face. A small trickle of blood came from the tiny wound, followed by a deluge of tears.
“Wai meanie fwuffy huwt Jette? Pwease no more huwties!” she begged, putting her front hooves up defensively. But Garbage spit the splinter on the forest floor before responding. “Gawbaj suu sowwies! Nu mean tu gib wowstest owwies! Wiww be mowe gentuw dis time!”
Jette had the admit, her nose DID feel a little better. “Otay, be cawefuw, doh. Pwease no mowe huwties, poo- nicie fwuffy Gawbaj. She managed to catch herself before insulting the ugly fluffy before her. She knew it would be necessary to capitulate, to trick Garbage into helping her. Jette felt so smart in this moment, it surprised even her!
Garbage continued to pull out splinters. From small to large, as his special friend had taught him when they had their first litter. Peanut Butter, the smallest of his foals, had gotten similar splinters and needed only slightly less gentle treatment.
When he was done Jette was still crying, but over the worst of it. “-huu- Dank ‘ou, p- Gawbaj. Jette hab onwy wittow huwties nao.” She said, drying her tears with her tail. “Buh Jette am su fiwsty, and suu hungry! Gawbaj hab nummies?” She was a smooth operator, clearly.
Garbage’s emerald green eyes brightened considerably. “Gawbaj am jus fin WOTS ub nummies! Tu many tu bwing back tu nestie! Hewp Gawbaj bwing nummies tu spechow fwiend, an Gawbaj wiww show ou!” And the unlikely duo set out east, toward civilization.
