Enter the Egrets

One evening Pegasus was sitting at home reading a book when she heard a thumping at the door, followed by an odd chirping noise. Upon investigating, she found a small box containing two fuzzy cyber-egret chicks, a small pile of white feathers, and a partially-eaten note.

Quickly seizing the remainder of the note from the chicks, she smoothed out the scrap of paper and read the following:

What in the world was Pegasus to do? She had no idea how to take care of a baby egret, let alone two!

Fortunately, Pegasus had a good friend named Ana who knew a lot about cyber-egrets. Ana had a large egret friend of her own, the Protectress of Anathia. Because the Protectress was so territor -- er, "PROTECTIVE," though, Ana could not handle any more than one egret in her household, but she was able to give Pegasus some advice on how to care for her chicks.

"Sometimes they eat Geoguides; other times they eat close table tags," Ana wrote in response to a frantic e-mail message from Pegasus asking about the feeding habits of cyber-egrets.

From the descriptions of the two chicks Pegasus gave her, Ana also deduced that one of them was a Dreamer Egret, while the other was a Jester Egret.

"You do have to entertain the Jester...constantly. Always...Urgh, it's soo annoying," Ana wrote. "Posting them in a sign guestbook page helps because people will visit them a lot there...or on the index page where they'll be visited... Just throw a book or two at the Dreamer and you'll be fairly safe."

Bemused, Pegasus set about trying to follow Ana's instructions while simultaneously protecting her site from being ravaged by her charges. Pegasus installed several egret-safety gates on her site and isolated them in their own play area, with a book for the Dreamer Egret and a colorful ball for the Jester.

Analisse and McGee's Playpen
Analisse		McGee

Weeks passed, and -- somewhat to Pegasus's surprise -- the little cyber-egrets grew and thrived. The egrets also began to express their distinct personalities. Analisse, the Dreamer Egret, was quiet and reserved unless you happened to lay hold of one of her favorite books. Then she would become very animated. In contrast, McGee, the Jester Egret, was normally a whirl of activity. He was also a prankster, often hiding objects (especially shiny things) and tickling unsuspecting visitors with his bill. Both of the egrets were fairly good natured, though. Pegasus found herself regularly blessing the day they appeared on her doorstep, though from time to time she still wondered who had left them there.