Aspen woke very early in her dorm, the morning of her last final exam. The fire alarm blared. Hair a mess, wearing flannel pajamas and a sweatshirt, she evacuated the building. Fire trucks pulled up, lights and sirens going. The students huddled together wondering what caused the hullabaloo. Usually, it was students burning food in their microwaves, but it was too early in the morning for that. After a quick check of the building by the fire department, the building was cleared for the students to return to their rooms. It turned out someone stayed up all night studying and tried to make brownies in their microwave. They burnt them to a crisp. It was a great way to finish the semester.
After her final, she checked out of the dorm and headed home for Christmas break, relieved to have Organic Chemistry behind her. Aspen was a bit of a perfectionist. This class made her come to the realization that she did not have to get an A in every class. She was happy with a B-.
Jack was very excited to see her when he got home from school. He found her snuggled up with Vader asleep on the couch. They spent the evening catching up. Jack told Aspen about the hawk that flew into his classroom window and how the school security officer took it to the center. She told Jack about the five fire alarms in her dorm since Thanksgiving. Aspen spent the next few days catching up on sleep and doing the laundry, which she neglected during finals before she headed to the center to volunteer.
“Hey, Aspen!” Nicole greeted her when she arrived.
“Hi, before I forget, whatever happened to that piglet?” Aspen asked.
“Oh yeah, that little piglet went to another rehabber that has feral pigs and experience with piglets. It was here for about a week. Just like a newborn, it was always hungry, so we had to feed it every few hours. I was bummed to see him go. Are you here to volunteer?” Nicole asked.
“Yep, I’m sure it’s slow, but there’s always something to do,” Aspen chuckled.
“Have you met the Duck of Many Names yet?” Nicole asked as the Pekin duck charged Aspen.
“Yep, we’re old friends,” she replied as she pet the duck’s back. “What do you need help with?”
“I haven’t done Trinity yet if you want to do that,” Nicole responded. Aspen nodded and grabbed the key to Trinity’s enclosure, and a bunch of clean blankets. It was December, but it had been remarkably warm until a few days ago. Opossums in the wild did not need blankets to keep them warm, but Aspen was sure Trinity appreciated them. Aspen spent some extra time with Trinity since it was slow and Nicole had everything under control. The opossum was starting to show signs of middle age; she moved slower and was gaining some weight. Aspen knew opossums did not have long lifespans, possibly three to five years. She tried to remember how old Trinity was as she sat in the enclosure petting her. After a little figuring, she decided it must be about three, which would make her middle-aged she guessed. When Aspen was done and locking up, she noticed an owl in the trees beyond the fence. Startled she rushed to Luna’s enclosure to see if she escaped, but was surprised to find her safely inside.
“You have a friend!” Aspen said to Luna as she peered into the woods at the other owl. “Are you two dating?” she giggled as she rushed back inside to tell Nicole. They both reemerged a second later, Aspen pointing the owl out to Nicole.
“Wow, look at that. I guess he heard Luna and came to visit. It only makes sense. We are surrounded by woods, and Morgan said they saw a barred owl several times during summer camp.” The owl in the forest looked down at them perturbed. “Let’s go, I don’t want him to fly away,” Nicole whispered. The duck was quacking at the back door when they opened it, annoyed that she was left behind again. “Yes, Yes, we know. You didn’t miss anything. We’re back, calm down,” Nicole said petting her.
Quizzically, Aspen ask, “Why the Duck of Many Names by the way?”
“Funny story,” Nicole replied. “Two pekin ducks were brought in within a week of each other; one male, and one female. They did not like each other much, so with the election nonsense going on Morgan named them Donald and Hillary. Some people didn’t like that name, so they called her Ms. Duck, Lilly, Baby, whatever, so with multiple names, I call her the Duck of Many Names. We are hoping she will stay and become an education animal.
“Wow, that’s funny. Besides petting the duck, what else needs to be done?” Aspen asked.
“Do you like to organize?” Nicole asked optimistically.
“Sure,” Aspen replied.
“We have been organizing cabinets, if you want to start down there and work this way, I’ll start over here and work towards you. Pull things out, make sure they are in the right place, wrap the heating pads, fold covers, you know,” Nicole explained. The two of them sat on the floor and organized while the duck paraded back and forth between them looking for kale. Suddenly there was a SPLAT and a terrible smell. Aspen turned to see poop on the floor about a foot away from her. Nicole chuckled.
“Nice baby, Hillary, Ms. Duck, whatever your name is. Real nice!” Aspen said standing to clean it up. The duck got excited thinking Aspen was going to the kitchen for kale but was quickly disappointed when she returned with paper towels to cleaned up the poop. The girls continued organizing the cabinets. Nicole shared stories of her farm animals at home. Her most recent addition, a piglet that was surrendered at a local vet office. The owner said they were told it would stay small like a teacup and were unhappy because it grew. It was still a cute pig, just not a teacup pig because there is no such thing. Nicole showed Aspen pictures of the pig on her phone when someone came to the door.
Nicole greeted them at the intake desk. “Hi, what do you have there?” Before her stood an older man holding a box.
“Afternoon, I have bug traps in my garage, and this bird got stuck to it,” the man said. Nicole opened the box to find a Carolina wren frantically struggling to free itself from the glue trap. Some tail feathers were already torn from the bird and stuck in the glue. Nicole had the man fill out an intake card and said goodbye then headed to the hospital to free the bird. It did not take long with the unique concoction Kim taught them to make for just this situation. However, the wren was already missing quite a few feathers. Nicole placed the bird in an intake box to relax. Later she would give it a bath to remove the remaining glue. In the meantime, she went back to organizing with Aspen. It was an hour or so before there was another person at the door.
“Hi, What can I do for you?” Nicole asked.
“I’m here to make a donation,” the man said. “I just got your end of the year newsletter.”
“Cool, we sure could use it to feed all the reptiles that are wintering over with us,” Nicole said. “They can’t be released until spring since they would normally be hibernating.” They talked briefly about the duck that was quacking away behind Nicole. “Thank you so much. We will put it to good use, I promise.”
“I am sure you will. Take care,” he said leaving.
“Hey, has Dusty left for Australia yet?” Aspen asked. Nicole nodded, yes. “Wildlife rehab does not pay well, how can he afford that?”
Nicole replied, “Dusty’s parents spoil him. They are both doctors. They keep hoping he will go to medical school, but for now, this is as close as he will get.” As they finished the cabinet organization, the night shift supervisor came in, and Nicole updated Robert on everything new from the day.
“I’ll see you guys later,” Aspen said.
“Thanks for the company today,” Nicole replied.
Aspen picked up Jack and then headed out for some last minute Christmas shopping. As Jack jumped in the shotgun seat, he asked, “Where’s Grandpa Dean, today?”
“I’m not sure Jack, look at the itinerary he gave you. He should be making his way back by now. Christmas is right around the corner.” While they were out Jack had the great idea of getting some of the education animals presents for Christmas, so Aspen texted Kim to find out if it would be all right. She quickly got a reply, “Sure, since they are all education ambassadors, just make sure Morgan handles the raptors.” Since you could not buy cockroaches anywhere, they got Trinity a tub of worms, giant grasshoppers for the raptors, a big bag of kale for Ms. Duck, and with help from Dad, Jack made a spoon wind chime for Indy.
The next day Aspen and Jack visited the center and gave all the animals their gifts. First, they visited Trinity. They got a shallow pan and mixed dirt and worms with some fallen leaves and mulch, that way she could forage for her treats. Aspen held the pan as Jack unlocked the door, then he placed it inside for Trinity. It only took her a minute to smell something new. She came right out sniffng the air and went straight to the tray and began rooting around in the leaves. She had her first worm in a matter of seconds.
Next was the Corvid aviary. Aspen went inside with a ladder and was hanging the wind chime when Indy hopped up on the top step and looked at Aspen inquisitively. He landed on her head looking around. Jack, standing outside laughed; Aspen knew this made his day. Once Indy flew off, they were ready for the raptors. Morgan came outside with the keys and a leather glove.
“Jack, it’s important that you stand right where I tell you and stand very still and speak very softly. I’ll bring Takota out, and then give her a grasshopper. You just watch,” Morgan explained. “Ok, stand right there. It will take me a moment to put on her jesses then I will come out.” Wearing a thick leather glove to protect her from Takota’s sharp talons, she entered the red-tailed hawk’s enclosure. Holding the glove up, Takota hopped right on. Morgan attached the jesses so Takota could not fly away. Once outside, Morgan placed a grasshopper on the glove between the hawk’s feet, which Takota quickly snatched up. Jack watched silently in awe. After a few grasshoppers Morgan returned Takota to her enclosure then they quietly went to Luna’s aviary.
Aspen stood Jack on a log so he could see inside where Morgan placed a few grasshoppers before Luna. Due to her poor eye site, it was better to leave dead grasshoppers for her. Luna showed no interest; impatient Jack led them inside to give the duck some kale. She was waiting at the back door. They gave her some kale in a fresh dish of water. Quickly she had her beak in the water munching on the kale. Splashing water all over the towel Aspen laid down, in expectation of the mess she would make. Once the kale was gone, the duck looked from Jack to Morgan to Aspen.
With all the presents delivered Jack and Aspen said good-bye to the staff and headed home. Aspen listened as Jack retold each encounter with vigor and excitement. She loved sharing this with him. He would be retelling these stories for weeks. Grandpa Dean would return from his adventure soon, and then it would be Christmas, New Years, followed by a new semester of college and a new season at the center. Tons of possibilities lay before them, and they looked forward to more wildlife adventures together.
