Library, Taxidermic T-Resurrection

            I was helping clean out the library at the site I used to work at. The Library collection of Trading Cards was in great disarray, I didn't even know the library had a card collection as part of its vertical files. The cards were in protective sleeve. The librarian was going to toss them all because someone had written on them. I pointed out that the writing was a signature of the artist; these were actually what are called "chase" cards. They were rare and potentially valuable. The librarian didn't care, it made them “look vandalized.”

I said I'd take them. She handed me several card catalog boxes full of them (I'd thought there were only a few!)

            There were several other unusual items; the most disturbing one was the dried stuffed and mounted front half of T-Rex! I was stunned. I started to pet his head. I'd really missed him, and had no idea what had become of him. (He'd just vanished one night, in my dream memory.)

            I petted him to resurrection. The librarian ran off when he grew a back end and came back to life. It was a little creepy when he hocked up a quart of sawdust instead of a fur ball. I gave him the meat and cheese out of my sandwich and he drained two glasses of water. Then he began purring loudly. He followed me outside where I introduced him to Virginia, a red and white Llama, only a year and a half old. They sniffed one another. "Don't make your return unhappy," I chided him when he started to growl.

            We walked towards home. Virginia carrying her bag of feed on one side and my trading cards in her pack on the other. T-Rex got tired and jumped up onto her back. She turned and he licked her on the head. She made a soft cooing noise as he settled between her packs and started purring. I could tell they were going to be good friends. I was wondering what I was going to tell N. I figured I'd better leave the "taxidermy coming to life" part out of it and just say we found him as we traveled home. “He must have hitched a ride in a car and ended up lost the last year or so. What great fortune to have found him again.” For some reason I was not in the least bit curious as to how he'd been mounted and given to the library. (Until I woke up, that is)

 

Ad astra per technica,

FF