UUFFI GETS THE SMARTS by Florence W. Deems Copyright 2005, All Rights Reserved "Uuffi go to school--to school--school--get smart-get smart!" The colorful a-a bobbed up and down on his mistress' arm as Jozlyn, Pollyn and Traci descended the winding stone staircase from Jozlyn's tower room in Draygon's Keep. Impatient at the humans' slow progress, Uuffi suddenly took off and soared the rest of the way down. He heard five-year-old Traci's dismayed voice calling after him, but he sailed out of earshot anyway. Swooping down the hall, he landed on the back of a chair beside the classroom door. He'd been past here many times before, but had never been inside. As he waited for the humans, he preened his feathers. An a-a's gotta look pretty for his first day at school. "Uuffi--there you are!" scolded the human chick. "Now, Uuffi, you gotta promise to stay right with me. Here, get on my arm." As he did so, Pollyn opened the door for them. Uuffi looked around the room filled with all the human chicks who live in the Keep. They were all together at the same time! He'd never really seen them all together before in a room like this. Sure, he'd seen them outside at picnics and running around playing. He knew they all ate together in the dining hall, but Uuffi rarely went in there. He did his eating up in Jozlyn's room or foraged for himself in the garden and forest. The human chicks squealed and called out and jumped up and down in their excitement. This almost unnerved Uuffi, who remembered at the last second not to poop in his fright. He flew from Traci's arm to the top of a tall chest. Feeling much safer up there, he leaned his neck out and looked down at them. He was very glad when Ethan sternly ordered the chicks back into their chairs. All did so, except for Traci, who marched over to the chest and waggled her finger at him, "Uuffi, you come down here right now!" The a-a simply stared down at her and refused to move. Ethan walked over to her and gently asked her to take her seat, too. Mouth puckered into a pout, the chick sat down. "Uuffi's bad!" she complained to the teacher. "He was s'posed to stay on my arm." Smiling, Ethan suggested it would be better if they asked Uuffi if he wanted to join them in their circle. "I think we made so much noise that we startled him and that's why he flew off, Traci. It's not because he's bad." Uuffi picked up on that cue, and bobbed up and down, "Uuffi not bad--not bad--Jozlyn say Uuffi not bad--too much noise--too much noise--squawk!" As some of the human chicks covered their ears, Ethan smiled, "Uuffi, first it was the children's noise. That hurt your ears, right? Now your loud squawk hurt our ears. Shall we all try to keep our voices quieter? Then we'll all be happy." Podo, Piedre's nine-year-old son, said he'd be quieter if Uuffi promised not to squawk. "That loud squawk of his always hurts my ears, even when he's up in a tree." The a-a bobbed up and down even faster, "Uuffi be quiet--be quiet--squawk!" Ethan sighed. "Uuffi, just say things, but don't say the squawk at the end, okay?" The colorful bird sat quietly and considered. Finally he bobbed again. "Uuffi not squawk--not squawk." "Thank you, Uuffi," Ethan grinned. "But Ethan, s'pose he forgets?" asked seven-year-old Melanie, Ponzer's daughter. "We can paddle him!" offered four-year-old Jason, Melanie's brother. "No, no, Jason," Ethan shook his head. "We don't hit any animals or birds, remember? If Uuffi forgets, we'll just remind him." Turning to Uuffi, the teacher said, "Uuffi, you can stay up there for a while, if you want to. Or you can join us in the circle." He added another chair to the circle, placing it next to Traci's. "How come she gets to sit beside him?" wailed Kaffryn, Piedre's six-year-old daughter. Uuffi knew she loved all sorts of animals. He also knew she was the chick of the Keep's human, Piedre, who took care of the pack animals. "Yeah," Podo supported his little sister's complaint. "I want him to sit by me!" "We can take turns sitting by him," twelve-year-old Leeannlyn reminded them. Uuffi knew she was the chick of one of the human females in the Keep and noted that she was almost as big as her mother. "Okay," Traci agreed. "But he's my guest, so I get to sit by him today." Uuffi chose that moment to fly down to the chair. "Uuffi sit by Traci," he announced. He shook himself, then examined the chair first with one eye, then the other. Carolie on Uuffi's other side announced in her six-year-old voice, "I'm sitting by him, too, see?" Uuffi looked at her. He knew she was the chick of one of Draygon's fighting humans. Ethan said, "Children, tomorrow we'll ask Uuffi where he wants to sit. After all, he is our guest and he may feel more comfortable sitting by Traci for a few days while he gets used to being around the rest of you. He knows a few of you, but not all of you, remember?" The boy chick called Rojor announced, "Uuffi, I don't really care where you sit. I'm glad you can be with us today." Uuffi had seen Rojor working in the gardens with his father, Gruen, who seemed to spend the most time in the gardens of all the humans who lived in this big stone nest. Ethan opened a window. "Something else we all need to remember about Uuffi, since he's an a-a and not a human. He may want to fly around the room sometimes or even leave us for a while. So we'll leave this window open so he can go out and come back when he wishes." ~ 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ Uuffi's Tails Critters Tracks