Chapter Three

It was many hours later, in the odd hours of the darkest night, when the littlest otter was startled awake by a thunder clap. Many nights spent in the wild by himself had conditioned him to be a light sleeper who woke at the slightest sound. There was a window across the room, and he saw another flash of lightning through the glass and shuddered. The thunder followed a moment later, though he noted that there was not yet any rain to accompany the coming storm. He looked around and saw that Small Otter and Starfish Otter were still fast asleep, and didn't want to wake them. But he felt restless, and knew that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again until he explored his surroundings and felt safe again. So he carefully worked his way free and hopped over Starfish Otter's back paws. He worked his way downstairs and out the flap in the back door. 

There was static energy in the air, and it made his fur stand on end. He shivered. No matter how he licked the fur on his shoulder, it refused to lay flat again. Finally he gave up. A strong gust of wind blew out of nowhere, and in the dim light the littlest otter saw the sides of the tents down the hill pushing against the metal rods that supported them. The entire assembly strained uncomfortably. He could see two doors in the side of the tent clearly when the wind blew, and that bothered him. It meant that the flaps which should cover the doors were unsecured, and wind could get into the structure and disturb all the hard work that everyone had done. 

He decided that it would be a good idea for him to go down to the tents and tie the flaps together to close the door. He exited through the dog flap in the back door, and made his way down the porch steps. Just as he reached the bottom, another bolt of lightning snaked out from the clouds, tracing four different branching paths to the ground and flashing for almost two seconds. He scurried over close to the bushes and the fence so as not to stand out in the open. He wished he was secure in a cave somewhere next to the safe and familiar river. But there was something that needed to be done, and it was Important. So he continued down the hill.

When he was half way down the hill, it started to rain. It was not the gentle increase of drops that happened for a pleasant summer shower. Rather, he heard the torrential wall of stormdrops hitting the leaves and the ground as it approached faster than an otter could run. The large drops pounded against his fur, which had still been standing on end. But the dousing rain quickly plastered his fur down onto his sleek back. Otters have very thick and oily fur that repels water, so the littlest otter was not terribly uncomfortable with the sudden rain. But he had never before seen such a sudden change in the amount of precipitation, and the wind continued to lash the bushes to his left.

Once he made it into the tents, he finally paused to shake himself off. It felt like shaking off right after coming out of the river. Then he took a moment to groom his fur. He knew that no matter how much of a rush one was in, it was always important to take care of one's fur. His mother always taught him that “if you take care of your fur, your fur will take care of you.” He found the first door flap, and grasped the corner of it. As he remembered, there was a cord near the bottom. He grasped it in his teeth, and when the wind subsided, he darted across the opening of the door and grasped the pole on the far side of the door with both paws. The wind gusted weakly this time, and as soon as it subsided, he looped the cord around the tent pole twice so he wouldn't lose it even to a strong gust, and then began to fashion a knot that would hold it.

There was, of course, no moonlight showing through the clouds, but otters have very sensitive and dexterous paws that are used to working in the dark, and he could see well enough by the frequent flashes of lightning. After securing the door flap, he looked at the interior of the tent. The littlest otter was glad he had come to close the doors. Wind had blown fiercely through the structure, and knocked one or two flower stands over. The tables were ruffled, and if the otters had not secured the tablecloths earlier that day, most of them would have blown away and knocked over even more of the table decorations.

The littlest otter repeated the door tieing process for the other door he had seen from the window in the house, as well as for two other doors that had been hidden. He then made a patrol around the tent to make sure everything seemed secure. He was about to venture back out into the maelstrom, when he heard the entire structure groan from the corner closest to the house. He rushed in that direction. It was too hard to see what was going on in the shadows by the ceiling, but he could see a crack of dim light by the ground where one edge of the tent was starting to lift higher. He flattened himself to the ground and worked his way under the crack. Immediately he was pelted by the heavy drops of rain. It was a chilly night, and the littlest otter was glad he had a full coat of clean fur to keep him warm from the wind.

Since his eyes were adjusted to the pitch black of the inside of the tent, the dim ambient light outside was sufficient to see his surroundings. He spotted the problem with the tent immediately. The tent pole nearest him was leaning ominously in toward the center of the tent. The rope coming down from it was hanging slack. All the other poles had taught ropes coming from their highest point down to pegs secured in the ground. But the stake for this pole had come out of the ground, and the weight of the tent roof was pulling the pole down. It was starting to put strain on the two adjacent poles as well. The littlest otter wasn't quite sure what to do, but he knew he had to move fast. The strain on the other poles might start pulling their pegs out of the ground as well, and then the whole tent might collapse. He rushed over to the loose stake and tried to shove it into the ground again. But it refused to go any deeper. Maybe it had never been sunk as deep as the others to begin with. Maybe it was just under more strain. Either way, the ground around the top of the stake was muddy and loose from the intense rain, and would not provide any support.

He took a few steps back to look at the tent, the rope and the peg. The rope was still tied around the peg, but there was also plenty of length past the knot. He estimated at least three dozen otter lengths (measured from his nose to his tail) all coiled up next to the peg. Since the peg wouldn't go any deeper in its current spot, he considered trying to put it out further away from the tent and push it into the ground again. But really, he was just too small. The entire tent peg was almost as long  as he was, and thicker than his arm. He didn't have the weight or the leverage to drive a peg into the ground enough to be stable. Not without help from his pod... or, he reminded himself, not his pod but "The Pod." They had asked him to stay, but he wasn't actually part of it officially.

He continued looking for some other way to support the sagging tent pole. He investigated the tent peg of the next pole over to see if he could secure the rope there. But it was driven all the way into the ground, and a small lateral protrusion held the rope firmly against the earth. He couldn't add another rope without first pulling the peg up, and that was certainly not a good solution. The only thing he could see that might be useful at all was a sapling near the tent peg two poles down. It was definitely not ideal, but if he couldn't get a peg into the ground, the best he could do was to pull the rope taught around something that couldn't get pulled out of the sodden earth. He quickly untied the simple knot that held the slack rope around the useless peg, and grasped the end of the rope in his teeth. The tree was slightly farther away from the wall of the tent than were the tent pegs, so his slack rope didn't interfere with any of the still functional ones. Fortunately there was enough rope to make it to the tree, though only just barely. 

He didn't have the weight to pull the sagging pole upright, so he just ran a circle around the tree to stop it from dipping any farther. There was only enough rope for just that one pass, and the littlest otter knew that he wouldn't be able to fashion any kind of knot even if he did manage to coax some more length out of the line, but he tried anyway. He held the loose end of the rope against the tree with his paws, and when the wind subsided he pulled as hard as he could on the tight end with his teeth to get a tiny extra bit of length. Then he quickly pulled that length into the slack he held with his paws. He continued the process many times, gaining enough for a half turn more slack around the tree before his jaw became too tired to pull any more. He decided it would have to do. At least the rope was now wound enough around the sapling that the friction mostly held the weight of the sagging tent pole.

Now, otter fur is very good at keeping a little otter warm even in icy water, but the biting wind nipped at his ears and his paws. He even pulled his ears back close to his head... something he only ever did when he was in the water. And he huddled close to his paws, both to keep them warm and to give himself better leverage as he held the rope down. Sometimes a strong gust of wind would blow at the tent, and he would have to push down on the rope to hold it against the tree. He continued trying to think of a better solution, but he didn't see anything to work with. And he was so tired. He even thought about just letting the rope go. But he was certain that the tent would cave in at the first strong wind, ruining all the hard work of the humans and the otters. He reminded himself it was very important that the humans have a big ceremony the next day, otherwise they would forget that they were a pod. 

The wind continued to lash him with rain, and it grew even colder. It was both terrifying and boring all at the same time. He grew sleepy, and was struggling to stay awake when something hard thwacked him right between the ears! He started awake, and heard a few more thumps nearby. In the dim light he could make out an irregular shaped lump of ice bigger than his fist laying on the ground next to him. Another one cracked off of the tree just above his head. And they were falling from the sky!

He sidled around the tree so that he was on the lee side from the wind, but this meant that he didn't have as as much leverage on the rope and he had to hold it harder with his paws. On the strong gusts of wind he even had to hold on with his teeth so the rope wouldn't slip. The chunks of ice got bigger and more frequent. He lost all track of time, only paying attention to each moment and his fight with the rope and the storm. The littlest otter had fought many times with the swift currents of raging rivers. But even in the worst flood an otter can always find a way to get out of the river if they want to. But this storm surrounded him, and he couldn’t just escape without letting something valuable go. So he steeled himself, and determined he would not let go of his rope no matter how cold or sore he might get.

Eventually ice no longer fell from the sky. The littlest otter adjusted back to a position with better leverage, but by that time his teeth ached and his paws were rubbed raw. But he couldn't give up. It was important for the humans, and the humans were important to his friends The Pod. Even though it was only a day, he cared about the other otters, and even for the humans.

The littlest otter didn't remember when the rain stopped. He was so sleepy he had been drifting in and out of consciousness. His ears and all four paws were numb, and it hurt to touch anything with his front paws. The ground was soaked, and the littlest otter had mud, tree bark, and strands of jute fiber stuck in his fur. But everything was starting to turn funny colors, including the sky. He drearily noted that the sun must be dawning off in the east, but was still masked by the clouds. Tired as he was, he almost didn't care when he heard an alarmed chatter off in the distance. It was the kind of cry that an otter would make when there was a danger or an emergency, and was calling for the help of other otters. Usually he would try to investigate, but at this point the littlest otter was in need of help himself. As muzzy as his brain was, he still thought it was strange that an otter would be calling for help. There was no one around to hear, and no reason that any sensible otter would be around at this time of morning. And then all of a sudden he was being lifted up. He started to struggle, reaching back for the rope! He had held on for so long, he couldn't let it fall now! But... Medium Otter was in front of him. Holding the rope for him. And Small Otter was standing on hind legs, looking very concerned. He relaxed just a bit, and realized that he had been scooped up by Starfish Otter, who was chittering comfortingly in his ear. Once he stopped struggling and let himself be carried, Starfish Otter informed him that they were going to get the humans and fix the tent, only first they had to make sure he was alright.

He didn't have energy to argue or to try and look dignified. So Starfish Otter cradled him into a big embrace and slowly carried him up the stairs and into the house. Small Otter quickly made a nest of dry blankets by the fireplace, and they deposited the littlest otter onto the softest part. They helped him to groom his fur until it was merely shabby and no longer disastrous. Then Small Otter went to fetch the humans and deal with the tent pole. The littlest otter was too exhausted to even lift his head, so he just wiggled deeper into the warm blankets. Then Starfish Otter curled up next to him and held his paw so he could drift off to sleep without floating away.

The humans had their Big Event later that day. Since the tent was still standing, the woman liked the spot very much, and so she gave the man a ring, and promised to remember that they were a pod. The otters never mentioned to the humans about that night's events, because the humans were very stressed as it was, and the otters were afraid that introducing any other complications might tax their mental faculties to the point where they couldn't remember the important things they were doing the Big Event for. Still, once the littlest otter woke up, The Pod did introduce him to the humans. The woman thought that he was a delightful and adorable otter, and she would very much like him to stay with their other otters. The man chatted with him for a while, and decided that he was a respectable otter, and would love to have him around.

That night after the humans were in bed, The Pod gathered around the littlest otter to thank him in their own ways. They groomed his fur, scampered around, talked about the big human event, and got the entire story of the tent pole from the littlest otter. After hearing his story,  they told him that they woke up at dawn, and were immediately surprised that he was gone. None of the otters thought he would have left without saying goodbye, and they were very concerned that he was missing. So it was generally decided that they would search the surrounding area to see if he had gone for a walk and gotten lost. Medium Otter had found him, and immediately called for help. It was obvious that something had gone very wrong, and the littlest otter needed help. They realized that he was holding the rope, and that it was Important. Medium Otter took over the task so the others could look after the littlest otter and make sure he was alright. Later while he was asleep they discussed and analyzed the entire situation.

It was generally agreed that the littlest otter was not the most sensible of otters. However, it was most definitely agreed that he was the most loyal, heroic, and even the most practical otter they had ever seen. They would be honored if he would stay with them and be part of their Pod. They also generally acknowledged that even if he decided that he wanted to continue on his way, he would always have a home there whenever he wanted to stop by. At this point, Starfish Otter needed to go hold the woman's hand so she would not float away during the night, but the other two otters of The Pod started making their nest for the night. The littlest otter curled up between Small Otter and Medium Otter, and as he fell asleep for the second time that day, he told them that he very much liked the idea of being in their Pod, but that in the future he hoped to avoid falling ice from the sky.

Chapter Two

It was a sunny day in the middle of Autumn, and the littlest otter was swimming up river. Of course, the littlest otter didn't have a name at the moment because he didn't have a pod. But for the convenience of our human readers, who are forgetful creatures and require names for anything important in order to remember that they exist, we will for the moment call him the littlest otter.

The river was small. Just large enough that an otter could sensibly frolic across the width without stopping to worry about its size. The gentle current posed little challenge, and so the little otter would casually swim, pause to pry loose a fresh water clam here and there, and occasionally climb out of the water to sun himself on a limestone outcrop or nap in a convenient cave. He had traveled this way for many days, and was searching for some place where he would belong.

Nowhere ever seemed to be a good place for very small otters with big ideas. Everywhere he stayed too long people would complain that he had too much energy, or say that he "caused trouble" with his ideas for games, or even accuse him of "looking for trouble" when he got bored. What was a young otter with big ideas supposed to do in a world that didn't care how sensible or practical a game was, only that it was different and therefore bad. But he was in no hurry to settle down anywhere, having become quite used to keeping his own company. And until he found a place to live where the creatures didn't mind his ideas, he was perfectly happy to settle for the occasional adventure here and there whenever someone needed his help. This is why the littlest otter left the river on that sunny Autumn day to investigate a Commotion.

He clambered up a hill with big overhanging oak and black walnut trees. There were wild blackberry bushes with razor sharp thorns, but his claws were nimble and his fur thick, so they didn't bother him. The littlest otter saw big white sheets through the foliage in the distance, so he kept climbing up the hill. The trees stopped abruptly, and the littlest otter observed a well kept lawn. Not knowing what might be going on, he sensibly stayed hiding in the thick brush that grew in among the trees, and observed the people in the yard. There were about a half dozen humans, and they were setting up enormous tents, with thick white canopies and sides that were tied to big metal poles. Inside the tents he could see all kinds of decorations. There were brass lanterns with glass sides and giant candles inside. There were enormous white Magnolia flowers with some smaller burgundy ones for accent, and there were twenty tables under the two tents, each with a different set of decorations on it. This was such an enormous amount of effort for humans, and the littlest otter had never seen anything like it!

Just then, the littlest otter heard a crash up the hill. He looked to the top of the hill where there was a house for humans. The back of the house was facing him, and had stairs leading up to a porch with a door. At the bottom of the stairs he saw three otters gathered around some object. Three other otters! This was worth investigating! He sprinted off along the edge of the trees hoping to get closer to the other otters without going across the yard or being seen by humans.

As he moved through the brush, he started to worry, though. Would the other otters talk to him about what they were doing, or would they be grumpy that another otter was sneaking through their yard? Would they like him for being friendly, or would they think he was making trouble by investigating? He decided it was best not to worry about what the otters would think of him. He would find out soon enough, and it might be the case that they could use his help. Of all the things the littlest otter liked to do, his absolute favorite was being helpful in a sensible and practical way.

Once he got close enough to the collection of otters looking at the object, he bounded out of the woods. The largest of the other otters noticed him immediately, and they all turned to look at him. The littlest otter greeted them in the formal way that otters greet each other when on a sojourn, and mentioned that he left the river to investigate because he was curious why so many humans would be doing a great outdoor thing, when they usually do things in buildings like the one they were all standing next to.

At this, the other otters perked up and became excited. They explained that their humans had decided to be a pod. For otters, pod-ness is a thing to be decided formally, and once decided it is done. But humans are forgetful creatures, and so they have to make a very big deal out of anything important so that they don't forget it. And they have to invite many other humans to experience the big event as well, so that way even if several of them forget the important thing, the others can remind them that it happened. Thus, once humans decide to be a pod through their formal ritual of offering rings in a suitable location, they still have to do something with all their relatives and friends to make sure that they don't forget how they have been podded.

This made sense to the littlest otter, so he nodded attentively. The requirement of having other humans involved seemed very impractical to the littlest otter. But on the other hand, if humans were really so forgetful, it might be a sensible way of doing things, even if it were not a practical one. These otters clearly had a lot to teach the littlest otter!

The littlest otter looked back at the tents, and then he looked at the colander and the pile of rocks scattered around the brick patio where they were all standing. He was very interested in what the new otters were trying to accomplish. His curiosity showed, and the new otters explained that they were trying to solve a problem for the humans. It turns out that flowers are extremely important for the ritual of pod-remembering, but this collection of flowers all had stems too long to fit in the container that was intended to show them off. The otters had taken it upon themselves to try and remedy the problem by shortening the stems so they would fit better into the container. 

Flower stems are tough and woody, so shortening them is not a trivial task. Humans have lots of very useful tools to help with this difficulty, but unfortunately most of those tools are designed for use by humans without thought to how other creatures might have to make use of those tools. In this case, the otters had taken the tool that their humans used for flowers, a two-sided cutting tool known a "scissors," and sensibly tried to apply the force needed to make the device work. This involved placing flower stems between the cutting surfaces of the “scissors" and then dropping a heavy weight onto the lever end of the “scissors.” The only weight they could move reliably up the stairs was a colander full of rocks.

The otters had tried this three times, and all three times the result had been mixed. Whenever the otters had tried to cut multiple stems at the same time, the "scissors"  partially cut two or three out of ten stems placed between the cutting surfaces. The one time the otters had tried cutting a single stem, it had cut clean and fit into the container quite nicely. But it was so much work to drag all the rocks up the stairs so they could chop only a single stem! So the otters were trying to figure out how to cut many stems at the same time. But the "scissors" never worked for more than two stems at a single time when they dropped a colander of rocks. If that is the best rate of cutting stems, it would be several days before the otters could finish cutting all the stems for all the flowers!

But more than that, there were several other tasks the otters needed to take care of before the big event the next day. The littlest otter began to think about the problem of cutting stems. It was tough, and he liked challenges! These new otters seemed very nice, and the littlest otter liked how helpful they seemed to be for their humans and for each other. So he asked if they would like for him to help with the tasks they had to accomplish.

The otters all looked at one another, and it was generally acknowledged that an extra pair of paws would be very practical, and that they would all be very appreciative of some help. The littlest otter excitedly turned himself in a circle. He was sure that if he thought about it for a while he could come up with an interesting solution to the problem of cutting stems. In the meantime, he asked about the other tasks that still needed to be accomplished.

The new otters explained that the first task was to carry the end of a thick power cord from the house down to the tents on the grass. The path had to go underneath a long row of bushes along the fence. They had measured, and it was at least 300 Medium Otters long! The cord would reach, but it was very heavy, and none of the otters could move it by themselves. The second task was to search the garage for all the lanterns to go out in the tent for extra lighting. The tent already had some strings of lights up high, but the otters were sure that would not be enough, so they were sensibly going to make sure the lanterns were there as well. There were four lanterns in the garage, but no one remembered where they were. The final task had to do with the white cloths draped over the tables in the big tents. Every table had some decoration on it, but the otters were skeptical that this would hold the white cloths adequately if the wind blew at all. So they were planning to attach the tablecloths to the table with something more sensible.

The littlest otter agreed that was a lot of work to be done! The littlest otter suggested that maybe they should start working on some of the other tasks, and maybe one of them would think of another way to cut all the stems, and it was generally agreed that this was a sensible idea. So Small Otter led them over the wall of the house where there was a plug hidden behind a metal trap door. On the ground was a giant coil of thick green cable, with a plug at either end. The littlest otter could see immediately the path underneath the bushes that had been described. They would have to take the cord down the side of the house until they ran into the fence, and then make a sharp left turn to go under the bushes.

Medium Otter plugged one end of the cable into the wall, and then all four otters began moving the enormous roll of cable along the wall and toward the bushes. It was slow work, and all the otters became tired very quickly by trying to lift that much weight. Medium Otter suggested leaving the spool in one place and dragging the free end along the path. It was generally acknowledged that this was a good idea. Medium otter began dragging the cord, and the others followed behind.

The littlest otter looked around as they walked. The entire area of ground next to the house was covered in bricks arranged in beautiful patterns. At the edge of the bricks, over by the bushes, there was a small pond with a waterfall. The waterfall was built with with small flat rocks about the size of the littlest otter's head, all of them square or rectangle shaped. Around the edge of the pond were scattered small round river rocks of various shapes and colors. Beyond the pond and waterfall were the bushes, and a tall wooden fence with boards so close together you couldn't see through. As they approached the entrance to the bath beneath the bushes, the littlest otter could see that the cord was becoming harder for Medium Otter to drag. Soon after they took the turn along the fence, the difficulty became too much. Even when Small Otter helped pull, the cord was just too difficult. Starfish Otter went to where the cord rounded the corner to the hidden path, and saw that the cord was getting caught at the base of a bush. She tugged on it to try and bring more of the cord around the corner, but the cord didn't move. So the otters all went back to the giant spool to investigate. After tracing the path of the cable it was clear that the cord had been tied in a tangle as it uncoiled. It took all of them working together to untangle the mess so the cord could move freely again.

They were about to go back to pulling the cord through the bushes, when the littlest otter had a though, so he chattered to the others to wait. What if the cable got tangled again? They had only gone a fraction of the distance, and if the cord got tangled again, they would all have to come all the way back to the coil to untangle it. Maybe someone could stay here to untangle the cord as it was unwinding. The others agreed that this was sensible, and so it was decided that Small Otter and the Littlest Otter would stay to unwind the cable, Starfish Otter would pull it around the corner so it didn't foul on the root of the bush, and Medium Otter would keep tugging the end along the path to the large tents.

The rest of the cable task took a little time, but their plan worked. The littlest otter and Small Otter had to deal with three different tangles, but each time they were able to untwist the difficult bit and keep the flow moving. Once the one end was plugged into the wall and the other into the dangling end of the tent lights, all the little lights in the ceiling of the tent lit up the shadows in the rafters. 

After this the otters all congratulated themselves, and made their way to the garage. Since no one knew where any of the lanterns had been left, they decided the most practical approach was to split up and each search different parts of the garage. The others explained to the littlest otter that the lanterns were all about the same size as him. The humans moved them around whenever they needed more light to see something because their eyes don't work as well in the dark as otter eyes do. Each lantern had a red button that, when pressed, made the lantern shine a bright light all around it. When the button was pressed again, the light turned off. Anywhere in the garage that was dim or had shadows would be a good place to look for lanterns. 

They decided it was best for the littlest otter to take the corner of the garage by the door for his searching spot, since that was the easiest place to not get lost. He started by just making a patrol of his area to get an idea of what was there and how to navigate. There was a human sized table with some things on it, but the littlest otter couldn't tell what was up there, and there was no obvious way to get on top. Next to the table was a set of metal shelves that went all the way to the ceiling. The shelves were not solid, but made of small metal bars closely spaced, and they were piled high with boxes and tools and pieces of wood cut to various sizes and shapes. Walking past the shelves put him in the corner, where there was a floor lamp that went almost all the way to the ceiling. The lamp cast light onto the ceiling that spread over much of the room, but the area around the base of the lamp was surprisingly dark. On the other wall of the corner he saw that the humans had stored all kinds of boxes all stacked together in a haphazard and inefficient way. 

First the littlest otter searched quite thoroughly under the table, reasoning that it was the dimmest and darkest place in his corner of the room. He found six cans of paint, a ruler, a strange contraption with a tank and dials on it, lots of sawdust, and a half eaten peanut butter sandwich. But he could not see anything that looked like the lantern described to him. So next he checked the bottom metal shelf. There he found a stack of books next to a box of gray plastic figures, some of which had been painted in realistic colors. The figures looked like tiny humans in armor, some of them wearing scary looking helmets, some of them carrying chainsaws, and some holding elaborate books while pointing dramatically. The littlest otter thought they looked very adventurous, and it made him start thinking up stories about what brave things the characters must get up to. He almost got distracted, but a noise in the far side of the garage brought him back to the present. He looked to the noise and saw Medium Otter pushing a box out of his way.  This gave the littlest otter an idea! He started pulling the stack of books off the shelf and dragging it over to the stack of boxes next to the lamp.

Now otters are not typically known for ability in climbing, but rivers are lined with so many cliffs, boulders and steep rocky slopes that river otters have developed dexterous paws and a keen instinct for how to place their feet when on a steep slope. Most young otters are already proficient at scrambling up and down steep river slopes before they first venture into the water itself.

And so the littlest otter had little trouble scrambling up on top of the pile of books, and from there on top of another box, and so on until he was at the very top. This put him catty-corner from the edge of the table. While otters might be quite capable climbers, they are most certainly not very good at jumping. Fortunately the distance from the edge of the boxes to the edge of the table was small, so a short hop and he felt the wood of the table surface beneath his feet. Looking around he saw a tool with a sharp sawtoothed metal disk, attached to a complicated device. And there, right next to the contraption was a cylindrical object with a red button. He pushed the button and was blinded by the resulting illumination. He quickly pushed the button again to turn it off. This was a very practical place to put an extra light, since the area directly under the floor lamp did not get much light from that lamp. Pleased with his discovery, he peered off the edge of the table to check the progress of the other otters. Starfish Otter was sitting patiently by the door with another of the lanterns, but Small Otter and Medium Otter were still rummaging through their parts of the garage. The littlest otter thought about going to help look in the other parts of the garage, but there were still so many interesting things on the table that he hadn't explored yet.

 He maneuvered around the large bladed contraption and found a clamp device. Experimenting, he found that there was a lever that, when turned, made the clamp close and open. He thought about how useful it would be for cracking particularly tough clams. Next to the clamp was a thing which appeared to be a long metal finger. Moving a knob on the side caused an extremely sharp artificial claw to slide out one end. The artificial claw was bigger than his entire paw.

This struck the littlest otter as an extremely sensible thing for humans to keep around, since humans don't have claws on their paws to help them scratch and cut things. He felt that this must be the result of some very sensible advice given to the humans by their otters. Right next to the artificial claw he found a container with a dozen more artificial claws just like the one that slid out of the metal finger. This struck him as another very sensible choice. Since artificial claws couldn't keep growing the way natural claws do, they would eventually grow dull and need to be replaced. These otters were really being quite helpful to their humans! They must be a wonderful pod. 

Having explored the rest of the table, the littlest otter made his way back down the box pile, carefully only letting the lantern drop a short distance at a time. By the time he made it back to the door Small Otter was already there with a lantern, and Medium Otter was not far behind.

The Pod celebrated the second of their tasks to be completed, and dragged all the lanterns down to the tents. Once the lanterns were deposited underneath the main table, they proceeded to the storage room.

The storage room was separate from the garage, but also on the ground floor. It contained two large machines that humans use to wash and groom their artificial fur, and a pile of random things that the humans needed from time to time, but didn't know how to store properly. One of these things was a gray cylindrical object that the littlest otter had never seen before. The other otters showed him how it was actually a long sticky tape wrapped around and around in a spool. This was what they planned to use to attach the tablecloths. This task turned out to be the easiest of the three. The tape was easily acquired, and easily moved down to the tents. The four otters quickly set up a process where Starfish Otter held the spool and tore off pieces about as long as her forearm, Medium Otter stood on his back legs and passed them up to Small otter and the littlest otter, who scrambled up the tables. The Small Otter would pull back the corner of the tablecloth so that the littlest otter could shape the tape into a loop such that the sticky side faced out in all directions. The littlest otter could then attach the loop to the table, and the littlest otter could let the tablecloth down so it was caught and held by the tape.

It took less than an hour to secure all the tablecloths to the tables in at least three places, and while the otters were working through the routine, the littlest otter became very familiar with the tape substance. As he worked it with his paws, a plan formed in his mind. He became excited, but held all his excitement inside until the very last table was completed, whereon he leapt to the ground and turned himself excitedly in a circle, and declared to everyone who could hear that he had A Plan!

The one task that they had all put off was the task of cutting the hard woody flower stems. And the littlest otter had a plan for quickly cutting all of them that might just work! He outlined his plan for the other otters, twice turning himself in a circle to emphasize his point, and the other otters all considered the plan. The littlest otter waited silently while the Pod discussed his plan, and finally it was generally agreed that it was a good plan that was worth trying.

After this Small Otter was dispatched to retrieve several small round rocks from the pool, and the littlest otter was sent to acquire the pack of spare artificial claws from where he had discovered them on the tall wooden table in the garage. After all the materials were acquired, the four otters constructed their first prototype. Small Otter held one of the stones by the top and the bottom while the littlest otter held one of the artificial claws to the stone. The entire claw was twice as long as Small Otters front arm, and without a metal finger to hold it, it was very scary. Medium Otter tore strips of the sticky gray tape and wrapped them around the stone and the steel claw until they were firmly attached with the sharp part of the blade sticking out just below the bottom curve of the rock. 

 Once the first implement was constructed, the littlest otter demonstrated how the contraptions might be used. He claimed the smallest of the stones (since he was the smallest of the otters) and placed three flower stems against a flat square slate rock borrowed from the waterfall. Using the rock with an artificial claw attached, he smashed the rock down upon the flower stems using the exact same motion he would use for smashing open a clam. It took only three strikes, less than two seconds, and the flower stems were cleanly and efficiently cut. The other otters were very curious, and wanted to see how this solution worked for even more stems. So he repeated it for six flowers, and then for nine. The nine flower stems were more than he could handle at once, and he barely managed them after eight or nine blows of the stone. Nevertheless, the otters decided to try twelve stems all at once, and the littlest otter had to let several of the stems get shoved to the side just so he could sever the few that would fit beneath the blade.

After this the three otters of the Pod consulted, and decided that the littlest otter's solution was very robust to even difficult and challenging conditions, and therefore was the most practical and sensible solution to cutting flowers! They finished crafting stones with artificial claws, each crafted to be the ideal size for that otter. Small Otter continuously fetched new stems for the other otters, while Medium Otter and the littlest otter chopped flower stems against flat gray stones from the waterfall. Starfish Otter floated on her back in the pool, smashing her rock against a flat stone placed on her belly. All of the otters were extremely cautious, and took far more time than they would for the same amount of clams. Artificial claws were very dangerous, and the extra caution was clearly the most sensible approach to the task.

It was well after dark by the time all the extensive collection of flowers was trimmed and placed back into the vases intended for them. Medium Otter was exhausted to the point of falling asleep, while Small Otter and Starfish Otter were left with sore paws, but were extremely satisfied. The littlest otter was exhausted over his whole body from swinging a stone that was noticeably larger than he would usually choose. But all the other otters were happy with how well he had helped. Even though he had a really good idea, he still pitched in and did a lot of the hard work as well, and the Pod valued otters that worked as part of the team. He was also, it was generally agreed, very good at accepting other otters' ideas and working as part of a team. 

Small Otter helped Medium Otter up the stairs to curl up. But Starfish Otter remained at the bottom of the stairs, holding her pink starfish and chattering with the littlest otter about various bits of exciting anecdote from the day. Once they were alone and there was a convenient break in the conversation, Starfish Otter mentioned how much the Pod appreciated having the littlest otter around, and would he be at all interested in hanging around the Pod more often. The littlest otter mentioned that he really enjoyed the company of the other otters and that he didn't really have any place to go, but that he also didn't have anywhere to stay other than the river down the hill. Starfish otter acknowledged that this was reasonable, and invited him to stay with them in the house for a while and decide if he liked being there or not.

Of course the littlest otter accepted this offer, and Starfish Otter took him upstairs to where the Pod slept. Medium Otter then went to spend the night with the woman to keep her company, and hold her hand so she would not float away. But the littlest otter curled up in the Pod's sleeping spot, and for the first time in almost a year, another otter held his paw and he didn't sleep alone.

Chapter One

If there is one thing that is universally known about otters, it is that they are the most practical and sensible of all creatures. But in addition to practicality and sensibility, otters also count long suffering and generosity among their many virtues. And so it is that otters sometimes decide to live among very unsensible creatures in order to more conveniently lend their sensibility to the world. This is how a whole pod of perfectly sensible otters came to live with two very impractical humans. Our story is how one of them in particular came to find a home with the pod, make new friends, save the lives of the humans, and eventually earn the name The Adventure Otter. But before we talk about him, we must first talk about how the three original otters met the humans and became a pod.

The first otter met the humans when they were in New Orleans. Our Humans had met only a year before and become quite fond of each other, and so as humans who are fond of each other do, they traveled to a strange city together. While they were in New Orleans they spent a day at the aquarium, where they met a sea otter. The sea otter was from California, and had left a large and crowded family pod to explore far away coasts and sample shellfish along the way. Being a practical creature, this otter had packed lightly. The only possession that she carried on her journey was a dried starfish.

You see, sea otters sleep in groups, holding hands so they don't float away. This is a very sensible way to sleep in the ocean, but holding hands is not strictly necessary for sea otters that travel inland. Still, they get so used to sleeping with something in their paws that sojourning sea otters will often take a memento of home with them just so they have something to hold on to. It leads to much better sleep when traveling, and is much more practical than bringing an entire pod with you.

This otter with a starfish quickly became fond of the humans. She had enjoyed her tour of the East Coast, but was tired of traveling, and it was time for a place to settle down. The female human wanted to take her home, so the man made arrangements to bring her.

She enjoyed the new home, and quickly made friends with the snow leopard that lived on the top of the book shelf and the two cats that roamed the woman's house. At night she kept the woman company, and they held hands so they would both sleep better, and neither of them would float away. During the day the sea otter would talk to the cats, lounge on the bed, write letters home to her family, and occupy herself with other such otterly pursuits. It was a peaceful and welcome relief after spending most of her life with a large, boisterous and noisy family pod.

Life went on like this for several years, with the sea otter dispensing sensible advice to the cats, and telling sensible stories to Snow Leopard, and providing sensible comfort to her woman whenever she was sad or frustrated. Eventually, though, she started to miss having the company of other sensible and practical creatures. So she mentioned this to the man and the woman, and they agreed that it was reasonable to want another otter around, because after all otters are very useful creatures.

So one day, when the man and the woman were traveling to Pensacola, as humans who are fond of each other do, they thought about how they found the sea otter in New Orleans, and decided to try and find another sea otter. But no matter how hard they looked, no sojourning sea otters were to be found. But the next day, while visiting the zoo, a river otter approached them to ask for directions. The river otter was making its way north, and so the humans offered it a ride. During the trip back north, the river otter and the sea otter became fast friends, and so the river otter came to live with the sea otter, and any time the river otter felt nostalgic for Pensacola, the sea otter would share her starfish.

Now as the humans spent more and more time together, they also became quite fond of having otters around, and came to rely quite heavily on their sensible and practical company. So one day in Chattanooga, when they were traveling together as humans who are fond of each other do, the man took the woman to the Aquarium. They stopped at one place because there were benches and because there were otters, making it a very sensible place to sit. You see, the man wanted to give the woman a ring, as humans who are extremely, inordinately fond of each other do, and ask her to be a pod with him. He had consulted the river otter and the sea otter for advice, and they had told him that the most sensible place would be somewhere with a bench that they could sit, and a place with otters since that would make the woman happy.

The woman liked the spot very much, and so she accepted the ring, and told the man that she would like to be a pod with him, and cried a lot (which is not very sensible, but is a thing that humans sometimes do when they are very happy or very sad). This drew the attention of the otters, who had been running and playing, but one of them in particular kept watching the humans, since they were being quite silly and entertaining to watch. Eventually the humans talked to the brown river otter, and the otter made friends with them. The otter decided that if the humans were going to be that ridiculous in public, then clearly they were in need of some good sensible otterly advice to help them start their new pod. He determined to go home with them, and was pleased to discover two imminently practical otters already there.

Now, otters have a saying, "three is a pod." This is from an archaic expression about the best number of otters to have for highest efficiency at  being sensible: "one otter is effective, two is redundant, and three is a pod." However it was discovered that two otters are not in fact redundant, as long as they are sufficiently different from each other, so now most otters only remember the part about three being a pod. Since they were now three in number, the otters decided that they were now a pod.

One of the ways that otter practicality shines through, is their clever and sensible approach to names. When there is just one otter, having a name is not very useful. When there are two otters, they get by without names, because each one knows who they are, and each one knows who the other is, and each knows that if they are not talking to themself, then they must be talking to the other. But once there are three otters, suddenly names become important. In the case of the newly formed pod, they held an Ottenmoot, which is a formal gathering of otters where important decisions can be made. It was decided that the newest otter, who met the humans in Chattanooga, should go by the name Small Otter, since it was the smallest of the three. Similarly, it was decided that the river otter from Pensacola should be called Medium Otter, since it was bigger than Small Otter, but not as big as the sea otter. Finally, it was decided that the best name for the sea otter would be Starfish Otter, since she always carried her keepsake starfish with her.

And so, that is the story of how The Pod was formed. Or at least the Otter Pod. The humans had to wait two more years to become a pod because there was a great plague, and so no humans could do anything. But that plague, and the big human event is how the fourth otter came to join the pod.