Under the Flowered Bed Part 2

"The stories are real!" Pumble repeated, his eyes wide. "Look!" He pointed ahead of him.

A few feet away stood a creature they had never seen before. He had a plump purple body with thin long arms and legs. He had long ears of some kind of woven fur that were almost translucent, like a web woven from silkworms. He blinked, black luminous pools that shone with a curious expression. He had a thin little red mouth, like someone had literally stitched his lips on. His torso, like the dust bunnies, was very fuzzy and looked quite soft. He looked like the underside of a sweatshirt.

"It's Fuzz!" Hairy whispered in awe. "It's Fuzz the Lint Gremlin!" The seals and Cookies gasped. Lint Gremlins, particularly Fuzz, were legendary in the Land of the Flowered Bed. Lint Gremlins lived in clothes dryers and laundry baskets. They spent their days searching for socks to cover their thin ears, which were perpetually cold. If they got too cold, their ears turned a bright blue and glowed. Once their ears were properly covered, Lint Gremlins generally caused mischief around the house and searched for rubber bands and paperclips to eat. Fuzz was famous for being the only Lint Gremlin ever seen by a human...who survived.

"What are you doing down here, Mr. Fuzz?" Hairy asked. "Are you looking for socks?"

Fuzz nodded and a series of squeaks and twitters tumbled out of his thin red mouth. He stroked his ears and looked sadly at the floor. The seals seemed to understand him. They began to hop up and down, barking intently.

"Slow down!" Hairy cried, tilting his head to listen. "I can't understand you." Sticking his tongue between his teeth, he listened carefully. "The seals said that Fuzz and the dust bunnies have been searching for socks for days here, but haven't found any. Fuzz's ears will begin to glow soon if we don't find him some socks."

"What's the problem with glowing ears?" Cookies asked. Fuzz began to squeak and clutched at his throat, sticking out his tongue.

"Oh," Cookies said.

"Well, we must hurry!" Pumble shouted. "We must find him some socks."

"You know, I'm sure there's some socks in the great Laundry Basket," Hairy said, tapping his chin. "In fact, I know I've seen Ben drop his socks there."

Fuzz's eyes widened at the mention of Ben's name, but he stayed silent. The animals quickly rushed out of Under the Land of the Flowered Bed, with Fuzz trailing behind them. The dust bunnies stayed behind, waving bits of fabric softner sheets from behind the bed skirt. As Under the Bed animals, they would not survive in the bright light and clean conditions of the Land of the Flowered Bed.

Pumble rushed to the Laundry Basket and stared up at it as the others crowded behind him. It seemed to reach to the heavens.

"How are we going to get up there?" Hairy asked, biting his lip as he looked up. "That's very far up."

Fuzz squeaked and waved his arms. The seals barked and looked at Hairy. Hairy shook his head. "I'm afraid we don't know any spiders."

"What about the ducks?" Pumble asked. The ducks in the Spa had been eavesdropping, as normal.

"We're taking a nap!" the first duck shouted.

"Don't disturb us!" the second duck shouted.

"Did you have a nice journey?" the third duck asked kindly.

"Miserable, selfish creatures," Cookies mumbled. "Giving a bad name to birds, that's for sure. Won't get up from a nap to help us get socks for that linty-little fellow over there."

Fuzz's ears turned the color of a pale glacier. Hairy widened his eyes as the seals whined and howled. "We must think," he said, tapping his head. "Pumble, can you fly up there?"

"Ha!" Cookies snorted.

"I wish I could," Pumble said, looking regretfully at his large belly. "But I had several sandwiches..."

"Never mind," Hairy said, turning to Cookies. "What about you?" Cookies looked up and shook his head.

"I damaged one of my long feathers going under the bed," he said. "I don't think I could get that high."

"Is there no one that can help us?" Hairy cried. Fuzz's ears were turning a dangerous pale blue, and he had curled up on the carpet.

"We will help!" several voices cried. Hairy turned to see the Flying Pigs.

"You can find the socks for us?" he cried. "You don't mind?"

"We would be happy too," the Flying Pigs said, with a stern look at the ducks cowering in the Spa. "Besides, we've always wondered if there was any tasty grass in the Laundry Basket."

The Flying Pigs galloped a few steps and took flight, diving into the laundry basket. The animals waited with hushed anticipation as they listened to snorts, grunts and general ruffling about.

"Please hurry!" Pumble cried, looking at Fuzz's ears. "They're almost pure blue!"

The Flying Pigs swooped down from the basket, carrying a pair of thick wool socks. They helped Fuzz pull them over his ears. Immediately, Fuzz sat up and beamed. "They were at the very bottom," the first Flying Pig explained. "We had to go through a lot of clothes."

"Was there any grass?" Hairy asked.

"Grass stains, but no tasty grass," the Flying Pig answered. "We'll have to go outside for that."

The animals cheered as Fuzz kissed each pig. "Hooray for the Flying Pigs! Hooray!" they cheered. The seals chortled and clapped their fins in delight. Pumble promised to bake them a grass pie in honor of their service.

At sunset, Fuzz bid the animals goodbye and slipped back under the bed skirt. Pumble munched on his honey pie with a huge grin as Cookies sulked.

"That was a fun adventure," Hairy said. The seals chirped in agreement.

"I guess the only thing left to explore is the closet," Pumble said thoughtfully. All the animals looked at him.

"Another day," they all said in unison. For now, the Land of the Flowered Bed was content in staying where they were.