Merely

"I PROMISE!" That was the last thing Merely heard. Those two words echoed in her mind. She began to cry softly in the burlap sack which swayed back and forth, back and forth, back and forth as the sailors carried her further and further into the unknown. To where? Where were they taking her? She did not know. All she knew was that wherever they were taking her, it would not be “home.” How could it be? Home was Mother and Max and her meerkat friends. Home was Africa with its beautiful white sands and tall giraffes pretending to be trees! Home was “achooing” until her super power, her conundrum, sent lions and rhinos fleeing! Home was all those things. And home was gone. The sack, this thing she had been thrown into, was pitch black and scary. Her heart ached; that deep kind of ache one feels when one is ever so lost. She was frightened, and she shivered terribly. Her teeth chattered, and her little paws shook with fear. This journey seemed to take forever, and Merely could see nothing through the darkness of the sack. But she could hear. And she heard sounds, new sounds. Talking and chanting, grass being trampled carelessly, twigs being cracked and broken. She heard the shouting of voices, "Get the boats ready, mates! Let's head back to the Miracle.” Merely's sack was tossed into something, and she felt herself moving. She heard the sound of water lapping around her for a very long time. Then, "Lower the plank! Unload the cargo, boys! Secure the boats!” There was a clamor of loud thumping; thump, thump-thump, thump-the-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump. What was happening? Suddenly, Merely heard a loud squeak, and she was thrown away. Her tiny meerkat bottom landed on something hard. “Ow,” she whispered to herself. There was a terrifying clank and then more thumping which grew softer and softer and softer until there was only silence. A sad and lonely silence. She was alone. Merely flung her head into her arms and cried and cried, and then she cried some more until there was, quite simply, no more crying to be cried. She was all cried out. Having no more tears left, except maybe a sniffle or two as always happens when one has a really good cry. The clouds of terror began to lift, at least for a moment, and a feeling of clarity and light filled the darkness. She brushed the last straggling tears away, lifted her weary head, and thought about the things Mother Mernie and Max had told her. “Open your heart. Be good and kind. Embrace your conundrum. I will find you. I promise.” Very carefully and ever so slowly she edged her way to the opening of the sack and cautiously peered out. She saw tall, thick black bars, lots of hay, and all around her were more bars and more hay. Through the bars she could see animals of every shape and size, each in their own cage. Lots of cages were lined up one next to another. She recognized some of the animals, but others she had never seen. Slowly she crept out of the burlap sack and began to sniff and look around. She moved to the black bars and stood as tall as she could. She placed her tiny paws against the cold metal. It felt harsh and not at all like Mernie’s warm embrace. Bravely she peered about. Bit by bit she began to piece together the puzzle of where she was. “The bars must have made the squeaking and clanking I heard. Maybe all the thumping was the sound of the sailors' boots." “Um?” Merely froze. What was that? “Um?” There it was again. “Uuuum…?” This time the “um” was accompanied by something wonderfully soft and warm brushing against her tiny feet. She looked down and saw what appeared to be a giant mound of white African sand. Ever so slowly Merely followed the white sand up and up and up. Her little neck was straining, but still her huge coffee colored eyes looked even further up into the air. Then she saw something that made her strangely happy. She did not know why her broken heart felt somewhat soothed. She did not know why she felt a tiny bit of peace creep upon her. She did not know why this great mound of white sand made her smile in spite of all her fears. Perhaps it was the gentle grin she saw way up at the top of the mound. Or was it the softness of the two eyes which suddenly appeared above the grin to reveal the friendliest face she had ever seen on a mound of white sand. This unknown face tilted to one side as it looked at her. Its ears twitched with what seemed to be, oh my goodness, oh, my goodness gracious, delight! “Um, hi there, little friend!” The mound spoke! It not only spoke, it spoke fluent meerkat. “Amazing!” thought Merely. “This must be some magical mound. I must get to know it.” “Welcome aboard. Um, my name is Sam. Sam, the polar bear. " "A polar bear?” thought Merely. "This isn't a mound of sand at all. It's a new creature. One I've never seen before. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness gracious.” "I don’t mean to be rude,” said her new acquaintance, "but what in the heck are you?” Merely took this in for a second and then folded her arms behind her as she had seen Max do at the Elder meetings. It always made him seem very wise and very smart. She felt she needed to be very Max-like to speak with this polar bear. After all, she reasoned, any creature this huge, as white as her beloved African sands, with such a friendly face, and who could speak fluent meerkat must be very, very rare and special and must be spoken to with reverence. She pulled herself up to her full meerkat height. She tried, oh she tried with all her might to look most terribly, most terribly important. “Hello, Sam the polar bear,” said Merely in the most respectful and confident manner she could muster. “I am a meerkat, and my name is Merely."