Stanimals

Episode 10: Preparations

The parade was to begin at noon.

Frumpy was in charge of trail preparation, clean-up and dirt compacting. She assembled all of the little ones and began lecturing them about how to prepare a parade route. "First, you walk everywhere and leave trash laying about. That way when the parade comes the marchers have to walk around things. It makes it interesting. Particularly for the band. They make funny sounds."

Frumpy Instructs the Little Ones

Sir Francis was listening and smiled. Oh well, Frumpy never gets it right, but at least the little ones find out early, "Do the opposite!"

Hugs was already rolling down the parade path to smooth the trail's surface and give it an even look. He always waited for Frumpy to get out ahead so she wouldn't come back and make another mess.

Talking Machine followed Hugs, first talking to anything that moved on the left and then on the right. Sir Francis could hear her from afar, and that is what he preferred.

High Five and Flit coordinated everything from the air. Flit was up ahead and then back at the beginning. Their work every year was brilliant and, but for them, the parade would never start on time, end in the right place, or, for that matter, even take the correct route.

Snooks gathered his usual bag of nuts and ran hither and yon. First eating his snacks, then finding other food bags and eating them. Two hours before the parade he was napping from his full stomach, paws in the air, and a satisfied grin on his face.

He awoke five minutes before "show time" and began the search for his guitar. The portable battery was a big thing to lug, but since Howdy put the nuts on the bottom for wheels it was manageable. As for the sound, which usually chased neighboring animals further afield for the day, Sir Francis thought, "We can all tolerate this once a year." But the Elvis wig and jacket was a bit much.


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