Tales of Tiptoe and More - Volume III

Episode 12

Lerin Lamb's grandmother, Sheryl Sheep Björkskog, who lived in Iceland, was the co-owner of a forest with her grandmother's old college roommate, Linda Llama Birch. The forest was known as the Björkskog/Birch Forest, and Lerin had always dreamed of going to Iceland and exploring the forest for herself.

One day, Lerin was surprised to receive a letter informing her that her grandmother and grandmother's college roommate had gone off into the forest, leaving a note saying that they would never return, and that the Björkskog/Birch Forest now belonged on Lerin. She was to travel to Iceland immediately, and manage the forest.

A few days later, Lerin arrived in Iceland, and asked how to get to the Björkskog/Birch Forest. Everyone she asked looked at her strangely, then informed her that there were no forests in Iceland. Lerin became quite confused and upset upon hearing this. She went to her hotel and lay down on her bed. She soon fell asleep, and awakened a few hours later, discovering that she was clutching something in her hand. She looked at it, and was surprised to see that it was a brochure for the Björkskog/Birch Forest, with directions on how to get there. It also mentioned that the Björkskog/Birch Forest was hidden beneath a huge glacier, and that Icelanders were unaware of it.

Lerin went outside and started following the directions. Some of them were quite strange, such as hold her breath while tiptoeing around hot springs, or repeating the names "Nancy and Sluggo" while running with her eyes closed. When she did the latter, and then opened her eyes, she was surprised to find herself in front of a sign that said "Lerin's Björkskog/Birch Forest" with an arrow pointing towards a glacier.

Lerin went towards the glacier, she saw a huge crack in the ice, big enough for her to easily walk into. After she'd walked a few feet inside, she noticed a nice, fluffy kitty. She was about to stoop and pet it, when it began speaking in a tour-guide type voice:

"Lerin's Björkskog/Birch Forest, which spans several five-foot-wide cracks full of pasta sauce, is a wonderful place. It is the result of a magical piece of music written in the future, when tiptoeing has become so perfected, that it was discovered to be the secret to time travel. Nancy and Sluggo's great great great granddaughter, Sheryl Sheep Björkskog, wrote the piece after traveling back to the 21st Century, discovering that she'd previously visited the century and written poetry. She now set the poetry to music that was perfect for tiptoe time traveling. The piece was inspired in part by a 2015 poem she wrote, titled "Could we please give the police departments to the grandmothers?" It had resulted in a completely new approach to running police departments in the 22nd Century, as everyone well knows."

This was all a bit much for Lerin Lamb to take in, so the nice fluffy kitty had her sit down in a comfy chair, and served her tea and cookies. They became good friends, and as the days went by, the kitty showed Lerin how managing the Björkskog/Birch Forest was actually a lot of fun.