Buster is Busted Again!

Tarka:

I sat up in the desk and looked at the clock over the blackboard. At the head of the class, the teacher was telling us that she would see us all next year. It was only two minutes till school was over for the Summer and we were all just waiting anxiously for it! It had been a long year for me... far too many classes and far to much homework to do. I guessed that I had managed to live through it.

The bell rang and all of the kids were out of their seats in a moment and filing out the door. As for myself, I managed to get out of the building quickly enough so that I could take off running for home!

Buster was there today. We had gotten him the night before and had to leave him home along for just this one day. The backpack I wore flopped as I ran, doing its best to take the air out of me, with the contents of my locker held within it.

When I got home, the rest of the family was packed and ready. I had done so the day before myself. The car was loaded and everyone proceeded to pile into it. My kid sister and I got the back seat all to ourselves, as my older brother had to work for his company this time of year and couldn't go camping with us. That was alright with me, as the back seat would have been too crowded with him and his laptop computer. We stopped at McDonald's on the way out of town to get dinner for the road, then hit the freeway and headed north.

Dad said that it would take many hours to get up to the little lake Bolan in Oregon, but that I could just sit back and sleep most of the way. I guess that we stopped at a reststop once so that everyone could sleep for sometime, for I woke up in the middle of the night and we were not moving. There were dark shapes outside the windows. I fell back to sleep soon after seeing these images...

We got there in the morning on Saturday and the lakeside was empty of people. When I say 'lake' I use the word only with a little humor, as the lake is only about 30 feet across at the widest point that you can see. It extends into the trees on its south bank at this time of year. There are only three areas set aside for camping, and getting to the lake takes many hours over dirt roads, dodging logger's trucks if you go up at the wrong time of year. We settled down and set up camp all that morning, and then went for a swim. The water was almost freezing cold this far up. The water that came to it was from the snowmelt farther up in the mountains. Still, the sun was shining down so it helped us all cool off rather well.

That afternoon we all went on a hike into the woods, following a trail that led to a lookout many miles back. We didn't go far that day... just to a lookout rock that was up there.

I went back before the others so it was I that meet Buster first. Why that otter was there, so far from any main rivers or streams, I don't know. Perhaps he had smelled the fish in the lake and had just followed that. However he happened to be there did not matter, though. It was what he was getting into that did... for when I got back to camp, I found the catsup jar over on its side and Buster's nose buried in it. He pulled out it soon enough as I looked down on him and looked up at me, chittering gently. He was still of a small size, perhaps a year old to the day, from the look of fur and tail. The tail was rather stiff-looking with a tapering end like that of a pencil. It had a minty smell, perhaps from the catsup. :)

It seemed such a strange beginning to the Summer's friendship. He rolled over onto his back right there when he first saw me and I could look down on his four padded webbed feet. Funny to think that he could also get into more trouble than every kid put together that I know at school.

Argon:

I watched the small otter as he rolled onto his back and gave a 'who me?' expression to me as I cleaned up the catsup bottle. He soon rolled over and watched me as I sealed up the food and got things straightened out. I was finishing up and wondering where the little fellow had come from. It was funny, but he seemed completely at ease as I moved around... not at all fearful of me as I would have expected a creature of the wild to be. I watched him as I moved around the campsite. He sat up on his back paws and watched me intently as I put my pack away, and found myself a chocolate bar. As soon as I pulled the candy out, his eyes lit up. "Hungry?" I asked, as he started to move toward me. I broke the candy in half and held a piece out to him...

"Would you like a snack...?"

I wondered what to call him. He seemed like a... like a 'Buster' to me... "Would you like a piece, Buster?"

He took the candy from my hands. As I heard the rest of my family approaching the campsite, he took it in his paws and started munching. As my dad stepped into the clearing, Buster looked at me and in a clear voice said, "Thanks!..I was hungry!"

Seaweed:

My dad's eyes widened as he watched the otter's lips move and speak just like a human's. I looked at Buster, then at my dad. "D-dad?" I said shakily, then I looked back to Buster. "B-but how can y-you do that?"

"Well first, my name isn't Buster! It is a name humans can't pronounce cause it is a bunch of chitterings." He shrugged and sighed... "Well, I guess Buster will work then." His whiskers twitched as he seemed to smile.

WalksFar:

Buster looked toward my dad who came cautiously forth, the rest of the family behind him, then winked at me. "Later!" His voice was soft but sharp.

Before I could say anything, he'd scampered off, candy sticking out of one side of his mouth like one of my dad's ten cent cigars. That was my first meeting with Buster.

No matter how much I tried to talk to my dad and mom about it, they refused to believe my insistance that Buster had talked. My dad thought I'd used ventriloquism.

Heck!... I didn't even know what that was! My mom thought we were all imagining things and thought we might have eaten something bad. She wanted to go home before we really got sick. My dad said we didn't eat anything bad unless it was the 'fossil' burgers from the AM-PM the day before when we stopped for gas. Me and my sister knew what we heard. I know what I saw, too! I was wondering what would happen next and hoping he'd come back...

Tarka:

I stayed near the edge of the camp for the rest of the day, not taking part in the family games that day. Mostly I was looking for Buster again, but he didn't turn up that day. Mother was getting out the ghost story book for the night and father was just getting the campfire ready for the night when I went back into camp to spend the eve with my family.

By Twohart

Mother opened the book to a random page and laughed. "Oh. Here is one everybody. I will read it first." The fire was all set and hot and the embers marched into the sky as mom held the flashlight over the book and started to read. "It was a moonless night... only a week ago now... that I saw the one armed man."

Something warm flopped down onto my leg. I almost jumpped out of my skin tell I looked down. Buster had his head laying over my leg. "Hello" I said.

Buster looked up at me, "I could tell a more scary story than that one anyday."

Mother looked up from her book. She seemed a little startled... but this time her pride was on the line. "Ok." The book closed with a thump. "Be my guest!"

Argon:

Buster sort of laughed, "You humans are funny. You have to make up silly stories that didn't really happen. You make up stuff that's scary, when there are more frightening things all around you. Have any of you ever been chased by a bear? Or, being able to read and talk, and having no use for the skill? Here I am.. an otter.. I can talk to you, but you refuse to believe it. I can even read that book.. pro.. probably better than you can, mom, and have no use for the skill. Here I am, about a year old.. with no family.. no friends, and no place to call home. I try to make friends with humans. But they either don't believe I am what I am.. or they shoot or throw things at me. So.. you want a scary story? Hows that for one?"

Seaweed:

"Well, I never thought about it that way," my mother said, feeling a bit bad all of a sudden.

Buster nodded his head. "I am scrambling to find foot before Winter so I can make it throgh the season, and I have to dodge all these new horrors. It is very tough!"

I looked down at Buster, who was looking back up at me with sad eyes, as he stirred up the horrors that he for so long had been trying to put behind him.

WalksFar:

I wanted to do something to help. I could tell my family believed in Buster, but... I didn't know what to say. I just stared blankly at him while he talked.

"I can't find enough food anymore. People camp and dump stuff in the waters. The fish go away. Trees are being taken away and the land is all torn up. The real HORROR story will be Winter itself. . . . I don't hibernate. If the fish are gone and the small game run off, what will I do? I will starve. That is the real scary story. What would you do? If I try to go near places lots of humans live, I will end up dead, killed by them, or run over by their machines! Is that fair?" He stood on his hind legs and gestured about. "In another year, this will all be paved over or desert 'cause somebody wants the trees, or thinks this might be a good place for buildings, or a farm, or. . ."

"Enough!" spoke my father, having kept his silence all this time. "We didn't come here to be lectured by an insignificant environmentalist!" My dad got up and began wandering off into the darkness.

"Then, you think its fair that I and the rest of the animals here should lose our homes, our families, our lives just for humans to satisfy themselves? Put yourself in OUR place. What if something came and mashed your home down with its machines and shot at your family while you tried to escape, and took all your food leaving you with no means to live? How would you feel?" Buster folded his forelimbs across his chest and stood tall, whiskers twitching a bit angrily. "WELL?"

Noone said anything. My dad had disappeared in the dark. My mom looked embarrassed and put the book away. She started tidying up around the fire. That's when I knew she was upset. I wasn't feelin' so hot either.

"You ain't got no right talking like that!" I said. "We ain't done nothing to you or any animals here. We just came to camp!"

"You're mean!" My sister screamed at him and ran to the tent and went inside. I stared at him, waiting for him to say something.

"You don't talk to friends like that!" I added tersely.

"I-I don't mean to . . . You don't understand. . . . I-I haven't anything left! I-I'm scared!" Buster lowered his head, averting his eyes. His ears drooped and he began to cry softly. Your heart may never have truly melted until you have witnessed an otter in sorrow...

Tarka:

I reached down and picked up Buster after that and held him in my lap. He didn't cry for long though. He was still and otter and you can't keep their spirits down for long.

I spoke, "Well, then I can tell you that that wasn't a scary story. It was just a mean one!"

Buster looked up at me and frowned. "It was scary to me! I would guess that you are right, though. By the way, what is _your_ name?"

Now here I have been talking to him and never once did I think that he might want my name! It was silly of me to overlooked that. "My name is Jed. My father's is Alex, and my mother's is Sally. My kid sister's is 'Squirt.'"

Buster laughed and started to try biting my fingers off... in a friendly kind of way and all.

By the time many days had passed, Buster had managed to make friends with the rest of the family. They couldn't stay mad at anyone. Buster went swimming with us and ran along with us on hikes into the woods, up to the viewing rock and to the old foundation of someone's old cabin. When it was time to go though, there came a choice.

Buster looked right at my dad, "I would like to go with you."

My dad looked very unsure about that idea. "Look. We live in a city... not a place for an otter."

The argument when on like that for over an hour. Finally they met in the middle. Dad would take him south a bit to let him see what things were like further on.

That is where Buster would meet the other half of his race: Females.

Argon:

The next day we loaded up the car and headed down the road. Buster sat in my lap, and hung his head out the window, almost like a dog with his small ears flapping in the breeze. As we bumped and jumped down the road, Buster was amazed as we came upon small signs of civilization.

He saw telephone poles and cellphone towers and all sorts of things, more and more as we grew closer to the main road.

We soon came to the main highway. Dad stopped and waited as a string of logging trucks, whose mufflers must have fallen off during the civil war, roared past us.

Buster closed his eyes and covered his ears.

"Those things smell bad," he said. I had to agree, but a lot of folks owed their livings to those trucks.

I was surprised when, instead of turning left towards home, dad turned right and headed down the other side of the mountain.

By Twohart

"Where are you going, dad?" My sister and I both asked. Mom looked curious too. We headed on down the road, Buster watching with bright eyes and curiousity, as civilization encroached a bit upon the countryside.

Soon, dad found a small dirt road that circled a hill, and came out upon a huge lake, with several small streams running into it.

A small cabin was set back beneath some huge trees.

As we pulled up, the door of the cabin opened, and out stepped a huge man... he almost looked like a bear. He walked over to the car, and seemed to recognize my dad.

"Well hello, Alex... haven't seen you in a Coons age!"

Seaweed:

My dad opened his door as the great bear of a man walked to it and smiled a great, toothy smile. "Ben!" my dad yelled, as he stopped the car and the bear called Ben extended a paw, er, hand.

"Alex!" he yelled. "How the hell ya been, ol' friend!" My dad tried to crush his hand in his own grip but failed, getting his own hand crushed in that normal display of male testosterone.

"I am great, ol' buddy! I want you to meet my family, Ben! This is my lovely wife, Sally."

"Hi," mom smiled, speaking gently and waving a hand.

"These are my kids... my boy, Jed, and my daughter, Jenny."

"Squirt," I interjected.

"Well, he calls her squirt," my dad smiled and covered for me, giving me a little mean wince.

Ben looked into the car and saw the otter. "And what is this, your little pet?"

Dad smiled and my got an embarassed look on his face. "Well, er," my dad stammered..

WalksFar:

Ben drew back, mouth agape in surprise.

"He talks," my father said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder at Buster.

"Talks?" Ben peered in the window, wide eyed. "Imp. . . ."

"Impossible?" Buster snarled at Ben, whiskers twitching madly.

"Well, I'll be . . ." Ben blinked and grinned. "So he DOES talk!" He laughed. "Well, Mr. Otter, I'll bet you have quite a bunch of tales to tell, doncha?"

Buster turned to me and blinked. "Who's the walking mountain?"

"He's a friend of my father's." I looked out the window and watched them talk to each other. Presently my dad came back to the car. "Buster, would you mind coming out with Jed? I think we've got something to show you that you may like!"

Buster looked at me. I looked at my dad, whose face was grinning and lit with an eager expression I hadn't seen too often in my life. I looked back at Buster who shrugged. I grabbed him and scooted out of the car. Buster clung to me like a leech, and I walked down toward the cabin with my dad and his friend, Ben.

"What's your name, Mr. Otter, sir?" Ben asked, opening the door to his cabin.

"My friends call me Buster. You call me Mr. Otter."

Bem laughed. "Come on in, Mr. Otter!"

I took Buster inside the cabin and my dad and Ben came in. The cabin wasn't all that simple inside. It looked like the inside of our house... all sorts of stuff you wouldn't think to find. Stereo, big screen TV, regrigerator, that sort of stuff.

"Welcome to my home, Mr. Otter." Ben gestured about, "Jed's dad was saying how you got run off yer place by all the idiot developers and timber people. This place belongs to me -- all of it, lake, forest, all of it is mine. I don't let all those others in here. I like it like it is!"

Buster's whiskers twitched and his ears quivered. I watched as his nostrils flared and he looked about anxiously.

Ben noticed and laughed. "Oh, you noticed!" He whistled low and we heard something that sounded like, "whatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhat!" A full grown otter, all slick and shiny slid into the room, sniffed and investigated all of us, and came up into Buster's face and nuzzled him before dropping down and heading into the bathroom, from where we heard a splash.

"That was Suzy." Ben chuckled. "I've had her living here since she was a pup. She's a good friend of mine. Did you like what you saw, Mr. Otter?"

"Uh . . . call me Buster. . . ." Buster never looked at him. His gaze was riveted to the bathroom entrance. "Excuse me , , , Gotta see someone about a bath . . ." He slid from my arms and scampered into the bathroom. "HellOOO, sweety!"

I laughed!

My dad chuckled. "I think Buster has a place to spend the Winter in safety!"

Tarka:

Ben looked right at me for a bit and had a rather thoughtful expression on his face. "So did you teach Buster to talk there, Jed?"

I had to shake my head. "No, I am afraid not. He did that all on his own."

Ben laughed and nodded and sat down in an overstuffed chair. "Wave the rest of the family in and we can all have dinner together.:

I went out the door and waved. Mother and my kid sister both came over. "Hey! We are going to have dinner here Mom!"

By Twohart

As I walked into the room and opened my mouth to talk, I heard the toilet flush. I didn't think much of it though tell I looked at Ben's face. He had a look about him... that, 'aw crud, now we are in trouble' look.

When the toilet flushed a second time I just had to look. When I looked into the bathroom Buster was in the bowl of the toilet chittering like mad to himself as the water swished around him. Suzy was sitting on top. Pushing the handle down and flushing.

I stepped back out of the bathroom and Ben looked up. "You look good at math... guess how long before the septic system overflows?" :)

---------

I stayed for the rest of the Summer, as the rest of my family headed home. That first night was just the start of the wildest Summer of my life.