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THAT HORRIBLE FEELING IN THE TUM!
When in doubt, And you can’t find out
Where something is, you’ve lost,
And shout out clear ……
I’M LOST! I’M LOST! I’M LOST!
(Puggle and Wills 1892)
Early (Australian) Puggle Explorers
Shruggles look something like your pet cat, only they are puggle pets, and have long thin bodies and come in all colours from cow brown to pig pink..
Penelope Puggle was holding this one upside down, shaking it violently over the kitchen sink! Now I’m sure you know your cat well, but I’ll bet you a bubble gum to and old fashioned jelly baby that it wouldn’t take kindly to that sort of treatment. Firstly it would try to bite your arm off, then, using your ears as stepping stones on its way up to your head, it would sit aloft eagerly pounding your eyebrows with wet front feet, while trying to stop you breathing with its fat tail stuffed up your nose!
Shruggles quite like being upside down…it gives them a different view of life, but it was being shaken that upset this one!
“I know you’ve eaten it. I can’t find it anywhere! It was here this morning when I took Grandma Puggle’s breakfast tray up, and then when I came down to do the washing up it was gone! You know that I know Shruggles will swallow almost anything, especially bright and shiny objects and you can’t find anything brighter and shinier than Grandma’s Puggles Silver Eggtimer!”
“That eggtimer has been handed down through the Puggle family from generation to generation and then, when it comes into my care, I’m the one that has to lose it, said, Grandma Puggles!
She gave Shrugg, one final shake and he slipped from her grasp, head first into the sink, whereupon the poor creature scrambled out with back legs flying, and jumped to the floor, straight into a large, empty paper bag, which slowly tipped over onto its side and made slight crinkling noises, as its contents maneuvered for a better viewing position!
“No, I don’t think you’ve eaten it Shrugg, because you didn’t rattle when I shook you! I’ve searched Gum Leaf Cottage from top to bottom and found nothing – nothing but a lot of old papers and junk which I threw out, Grandma Puggles said… “Her speech turning slower than children getting out of bed. She finished the sentence with “this morning” then stopped suddenly, realizing that there was only one place the silver eggtimer could be…. And that was at the Puggle-town Rubbish Dump.
Anything in Puggle-town that looked remotely like it wasn’t being used, somehow disappeared overnight like magic and always ended up on the dump with the Uggles.
Puggles usually never went near the rubbish dump, because it was a mysterious, dangerous place for them to be. The Uggles wouldn’t exactly eat you, but those sharp claws could give you a nasty cut, or they could run into you with their hard noses, giving you a nasty bruise. They were so untidy they made the Dump look clean. Sometimes, they became so bad tempered, (usually on flyless days, such as the Morteen-th of each month) that any poor unfortunate Puggle that strayed into their clutching claws was rarely ever seen again in pugglic. If a Puggle was really lucky though, it might just get away with only being thrown in oily mud, then dropped into a bag of used budgerigar seed and chased back into Puggle-town, trying to avoid the sting from Uggle whips which were made out of rat’s tails.
By now Penelope puggle knew what she had to do, but she didn’t think she had the courage to go through with it. Then she remembered the advice her parents had given her:
“Penelope Puggle” they said, “any problem or worry becomes smaller if you share it with someone!”
Who was brave enough to share this particular problem with her? Who did she know that would ever just listen to her problem? Who did she know that was crazy enough to come with her to the Puggle Town Rubbish Dump?
There was only one person that fitted that description; he wasn’t crazy by any means, in fact, at times he was really quite bright…even if he did become a bit boring with his endless puns and riddles. He always meant well…and liked…yes even enjoyed attempting things that hadn’t been said or done ever before. Also he was a kind and loyal friend, who she had met many years ago at Puggle karten. Yes, that was settled. By hurrying she could reach Willow Weep Creek just before lunch, where she would be sure to find her friend, Geoffrey Greentoes Fruggle! (G.G. for short).
An excerpt from The Puggle Tales.
Grandma Puggles Missing Silver Eggtimer
Copyright The Lost Forests.
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