Madame Lo and Do-Ni versus the Raucous Slugcat

Mrs. Lo had always loved the cool foggy mornings. The gentle dew on her petunias and the pink light of dawn were to her what the great open sea was to the fisherman. She always made sure to catch a glimpse before she started the day.

This morning, as always, she yawned, stretched and stumbled out of bed, then made her way in her slippers to the kitchen to get some tea. When she finally sat down she was greeted by an unexpected sight - her little slugpup Do-Ni was already awake and looking at her with his big old eyes.

"You're up early today, young man." She smiled at him and scratched behind his ears. He purred like a little motorboat and shivered with delight. "You're not bored are you? You know what I just realized? It's been such a long time since we've gone fishing! What do you say we go this weekend?" As she spoke she poured herself a cuppa and took it over to the table where she sat down and began to drink.

Do-Ni slithered over to her chair and peered up at her with interest. Mrs Lo loved how he always listened so intently when she spoke, even though he didn't understand most of what she said.

"Maybe next week." She continued, "I have to see if your Daddy is free or not, but I'm sure neither of us would mind an extra day off." Do-Ni's eyes lit up at the mention of his father and he let out a happy little grunt. "Ah yes," Mrs Lo said sipping the hot liquid from her cup, "I wonder if he learned anything about catching those nasty little fish that keep jumping out of our nets when we try to catch them..."

There was only one thing that could ruin this beautiful moment in Mrs Lo's life - her daughter Mei had been acting strangely lately and it made everything feel a little less right somehow. Mrs Lo tried very hard not to think about it too much but last night had been difficult even for someone like her who made it a point not to pay attention to things she couldn't fix...

After breakfast Do-Ni ran around while Mrs Lo tidied up their house. She washed the dishes and cleaned up after him as he played with all his toys (including a rubber band ball which kept rolling all over the place). Then she got dressed and went outside where Do-Ni was waiting for her on the front steps with all his little bags packed for their trip. They left together for town with Do-Ni excitedly running ahead of Mrs Lo as always, who followed slowly along behind with a smile on her face because she couldn't help but love every moment of this simple pleasure they shared together...

She reached town just in time for lunch at Sunsan's Diner where they met up with Mr Lee (who owned their favorite boat) and his son Jack who doted on Do-Ni like he was his own son (which he sort of was anyway). It wasn't long before they were all laughing and joking around like they always did while eating delicious diner food (Do-Ni especially liked eating all sorts of things that were better left outside). This was one of those moments that every once in awhile reminded Mrs Lo why she lived here - these wonderful people were all family in one way or another and no matter how bad things got they were always there for each other...