The pet store was pretty crowded. People were gawking at the fish and the hamsters and the puppies and the bunnies. Me, I went over the a pen where they kept the ferrets. There was one that was completely white. I picked her up, and immediately saw something in her eyes which I don't think I could ever describe. There was intelligence, but also an emotion... something even beyond emotion.
"How much for this one?" I asked a clerk.
He looked back and said "That one was sent by mistake. That's a weasel, not a ferret."
"A weasel?" I said in fascination. I looked into her eyes, and once again felt that something.
"I'll let you have him for fifty bucks."
"It's a her." I said.
"You sure?"
I was sure. I didn't know how, but I was positive.
I payed the fifty dollars and took the weasel home, not asking for a box. I didn't need one. I knew she would not run away.
I named the weasel Manya, though at the time I had no idea why. I followed her as she explored the apartment, talking with her all the while.
"It will be good to have some company here." I said. "It's been so lonely around here of late."
She looked up at me, and I could swear that she understood what I was saying. Encouraged, I continued. "I don't have any friends that stop by and visit. I never see my siblings. Dad passed away last year, and Mom five years before."
I sat down on the floor. Manya came up and snuggled against my leg. I continued to ponder my loneliness, and before long, I was sobbing. "Manya, you're the first friend I've had in so long!" I cried.
Then something happened. My clothes became very loose. I looked at myself, and then at my pet weasel, who stared at me very intently. I was shrinking, and fur was growing in all over my body.
The next thing I knew, I was climbing out of my shirt and padding across the floor on little paws. There stood Manya, looking down at me with love and compassion. The look in her eyes was that of a mother adoring her young child. Indeed, that was what I was. I had become Manya's baby.
I snuggled up in that warm, soft, white fur, churring softly as my mother put her tail around me, tucking me in. All of the worries of the world evaporated as I nestled in Mom's loving embrace.
When morning came, my first thought was that I'd had one very interesting dream. But was it? I was lying on the living room floor, stark naked.
Manya pushed my clothing toward me, seeming to understand that I had to get dressed and go to work. I hated to leave her in the apartment alone, but the look in her eyes told me that she would be all right, and would be waiting here when I returned.
I picked the weasel up and hugged her. She gave me a lick on the forehead. "I love you too, Mommy." I said.
I couldn't wait to get home from work.