Welcome to Gaia! ::

I almost had a heart-attack this morning. I turned my back for a minute taking care of my rabbit, and then they were gone. Vanished. Disappeared. Vaporized into Limbo. Whatever you may call it. They were gone. My precious Pekin ducks had skedaddled. The pair were right behind me only a moment ago before they were gone. I casually walked to the other side of my house, looking in all their favorite hiding places and nooks, calling softly for them. But I found nothing. My heart raced, and I was sweating profusely under the hot summer sun and the intense stress I was undergoing, staining my deep blue t-shirt an even deeper blue. With the sun blazing down on me, I ran like a mother looking for her lost children in the never-ending depths of our local Wal-Mart. I flourished their favorite treat in the air, Iceberg lettuce, now shouting at the tops of my lungs for them as I sprinted through my neighborhood like a maniac. Through the ditches I roamed, searching for them as hard and as fast as I could without fear of the ravenous ticks that infested the underbrush around me. A flash of white in the brambles darted by. My heart bounced and landed squarely in my stomach. I pursued the creature, screaming for my babies! "My, these ducks are fast for having such short legs" I thought. Finally I cornered it; my heart sank. It was my neighbors white cat, cowering and hissing ferociously at me for disturbing its nap. I began freaking out again. "What if an animal ate them?! Or, or, they were trapped in the water pipe?! Or even worse!! What if they wandered away with a stranger?!!" I had the whole household on patrol. I nearly dove into the pond behind my house to see if they had drowned. At this point, my hair was tangled and filled with leaves and spiders, the neighbors have probably called the cops on me by now, I had ruined my clothes (mostly by sweating), and had a myriad of scratches and bruises in my attempts to find them. I wanted to cry. My babies were lost and needed me to save them! I ran home, retracing my steps for a third time, sprinting the whole way. I couldn't find them. My eyes were watering up with hot, salty tears, and my breathing became heavy and frantic. The world around me was beginning to black out, getting fuzzy around the edges. My chest hurt as I ran in not-so-circlely circles. I nearly tripped over my own feet, impersonating the territorial ritual dance of large, flightless birds. At the point when I was about to pass out from dehydration, I heard quiet peeping from under the bright-red truck in the driveway. I stopped, almost afraid to look. I crawled down on my hands and knees, to peer under. Low-and-behold, there they were, napping in the shade on the cool cement beneath the vehicle. Safe, sound, and looking at me like I’m a lunatic. Now, I’m blushing, embarrassed, flustered, and calling off the search party. They were right behind me the whole time! Silly me! Of coarse my chest still hurts and I have a terrible headache. Laugh at me if you will, but now I know for sure my babies are safe!