[MustangKnight]

 Owner       >>> Rondell
 Name                >>> Lady Wriggles
 Gender         >>> Cow
 Adult Height     >>> 151 cm
 Adoption Price         >>> Unavailable
 Training         >>> x
  =====
  . Piggy
  . Playful
  . Quick

 Offspring;
 None

 [Discipline >>>>> ]
 [Shows Entered > R: W: E:]
 [Shows Won >>>> R: W: E:]

[Rondell]

I never posted with this gal's name! She's called Lady Wriggles. ^.^
Registered name will be Oddjob's Scything Wit. Because her ID is 007 and a James Bond reference needs to be made somewhere.

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First Touch

When I first caught hold of the rumor that another species of animal had been imported from Vashta, I have to admit - I wasn't terribly excited. In fact, I ignored the whole thing and went on with business as usual. I already had so much to do that I couldn't possibly take on any more responsibilities! Besides, I imagined the new import to be something much smaller and less grand then the Neravontii themselves; something boring like a hamster, or an alien version of our earthly dog. I imagined a creature easier to deal with and cheaper to maintain. A Neravontii 'lite' that I'd have no interest in anyway. Thus, while my friends and neighbors were busy clamoring about this or that, swapping speculations and drawing up plans, I was off in my own little corner of reality, shaking my head at their shenanigans.

...Then the first pictures came out.

The Tephlans (as they were dubbed by the Agency people) turned out to be FAR more equine in appearance than their Neravontti cousins, having actual hooves and manes in place of odd humanesque appendages and bare necks. They even had a tuft of fur at the end of that long tail of theirs! Furthermore, thanks to their smaller stature and more laid-back attitudes, they were easier to work with. So I was proved right. Up to a point, they were indeed the Nera 'lites' that I had envisioned them to be. Yet there was one thing I hadn't anticipated. One thing that, as I stood there with the Agency newsletter in hand, I couldn't quite manage to take my eyes off of... They had trunks. Their long eyeless faces ended in TRUNKS. Cute, adorable, wobbly, nubby, short, tapir-like, trunkady-trunk-trunkies! And when faced with the trunky mug of a Tephlan, I was reduced to jelly. Farm full of Nera or no, I had to have one. Had to! I'd just re-arrange my books and come up with the cash to hire a farmhand or something, that way I wouldn't be so overburdened.

It was several more months before the Agency had learned enough about the Tephlans to feel confidant in placing them up for adoption, but I made sure that I'd be available the instant the word went out and applications opened. There were only seven of the creatures on the whole earth, after all, and of those seven only six were going to be rehomed. The seventh, a handsome bull named Tonka, already belonged to the Agency's head honcho. There was no WAY I was going to be caught flat-footed! Thus, as spring reached its height, I found myself being led around the Tephlan barn by an Agency representative whose job it was to make sure that I knew what I was getting myself into. After the speech was over and the waivers signed, I (and the half-dozen others who'd gotten their preliminary application vetted successfully) was turned loose to examine the Tephlan and decide which one to actually apply for. I could barely contain myself! I wandered from stall to stall as if in a daze, unable to focus on a single animal. I loved the facial markings on this one, I loved the colours of that one, I loved the shine of this one's fur... and I loved the wriggly little trunk on each and every one! I hadn't a clue as to how I'd make up my mind! Of course I knew that I had to consider the other people here - If I chose the same Tephlan as someone else, the Agency would evaluate us and grant ownership to the person best suited to care for the Tephlan's individual needs. Thus I wasn't guaranteed to get the first animal I set my heart on. But I couldn't help it!

As I stood there, completely engrossed by a golden cow with red and white facial markings who was snuffling around in her stall and oblivious to my existance, another cow, this one housed in the stall directly behind me, couldn't resist the opportunity to be cheeky. She stuck her head out over the door without my noticing, stretched out her glorious little trunk, and promptly suctioned it onto the back of my head as well as she could.

Needless to say: I jumped sky-high at the contact, all thoughts utterly derailed. My motions were purely reflex. The cow's trunk detached itself from my skull with a muffled pop as I whirled around to face my attacker, hands and arms coming up defensively in the same motion. For several moments afterword I just stood there facing the pale cow, arms still crossed in front of my face. I was frozen. Unsure of what to do. Vaguely aware that several of the people who had come here with me were staring.... Thankfully, the cow broke the tension herself by letting out a short little trumpet that echoed throughout the barn. Anyone who hadn't been watching already sure was now! She then brought her trunk upward, raising it as high as she could while curling it into an S shape - with the upper curve of the S touching her skull - and tossed her head back as if laughing, much in the way a happy elephant would. She was clearly pleased with herself! Around me, my fellow non-Tephlans were laughing, too. Even the Agency rep was chuckling! The joke was clearly on me.

Sheepishly, I lowered my arms and straightened my spine. The pale cow had lowered her trunk again and was reaching for my face, her upper lip quivering curiously. Just to be safe, I took a step backward.

As everyone else broke away from the show and returned to their explorations, the Agency rep approached me, still smiling. "Well, how about it? Lady Wriggles here seems to like you."

"Lady... Lady Wriggles...?" I wasn't sure I'd heard correctly.

"Yup! Lady Wriggles. That's what the hands've taken to calling good old #007! See, because we've been studying them, these guys've been around for quite a while now - longer than most 'a tha Nera that come through - and nobody wanted to just keep calling them number this and number that."

I nodded slowly, watching as the aforementioned 'Lady Wriggles' turned her attention to the Agency Rep.

"That one over there's Goldie, that one's Jumbo, the one at the end is Frank, and Tippy's down at the OTHER end." The guy paused, then jabbed himself in the chest a couple of times with his thumb. "I named Jumbo."

Confused as to why he'd be proud of this, I nonetheless smiled back and pretended to be in on the joke. I must've done a good job, too, because the guy appeared to buy it. He winked cheerfully at me. Then he gave Lady Wriggles a quick pat on the forehead, told me to call if I needed anything else, and wandered off to check on the others.

I was left alone with Lady Wriggles.

The cow reached for my face yet again. This time, I extended a hand and let her probe my palm with her questing trunk instead. The Rep was right. She seemed to like me! And better yet, I was beginning to like her. I'd still pay a visit to each of the other Tephlans before I made up my mind, but I had a sneaking suspicion that none of them would manage to make quite the same impression.