You know something? My brothers and I had quite an odd day the week before we got stranded on the island. It started when we saw a strange brown contraption in the park. My older brother, Toulouse, identified it as a Borfin. "What does it do?" my younger brother, Berlioz, asked. "It shlumps," Toulouse replied. "Anything else?" I asked. "Well, Marie," Toulouse replied, "I don't know." "My guess is there's a remote control to it," Berlioz said, "but we won't know for sure until we find one." It was then that I noticed a strange logo on the back of the Borfin. It looked like a rabbit with antlers. "Hey, Toulouse," I said, "Do you know what this is the logo of?" Toulouse looked at the logo and said, "I don't know, but it seems like a rather odd logo, don't you think?" "Odd?" Berlioz asked. "That word reminds me of something..." "What is it?" I asked. "I don't know what," Berlioz replied. "I know what it might remind you of!" a voice said from behind us. "Us!" said another voice. We turned around. Two human kids were standing there! In case you were wondering, my brothers and I are cats.
Toulouse must have been reading "Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?" before the events of this story. That's how he knew about the Borfin and the fact that it shlumps. Also, when Berlioz saw the logo on the Borfin and heard Toulouse say the word "odd", he said it reminded him of something. He must have been listening in to an episode of Odd Squad, too!
In case you're wondering, this story (as well as The Aristocats' Island) does not take place in Paris in 1910 (where The Aristocats originally took place). This story actually takes place in a town of anthropomorphic cats sometime in the present year. In this story, Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse look the same as they do in The Aristocats' Island. In a later story, I'll explain how the Aristocats were brought to this time period.
Since my first encounter with Odd Squad, I've been watching episodes of the show (especially "Skip Day", since it was that episode that introduced me to the series, as well as the inspiration for this story).
I've been thinking of the Borfin from "Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?" a lot recently. I have an idea of what it does other than shlump. This is what it does (according to me, anyway): Toulouse guessed correctly regarding the remote control. The remote control to the Borfin has six buttons. If the blue button is pressed, it sucks up the nearest two people or animals into it like a vacuum cleaner. If the purple button is pressed, it does something similar to a volcano erupting and sends everything inside it out of it. If the green button is pressed, a door in the back opens, allowing someone to get in or out. If two people or animals are in the Borfin when the red button is pressed, they will become conjoined. If they're already conjoined or only one person or animal is in the Borfin, nothing happens when the red button is pressed. But if two people or animals are in the Borfin and they're conjoined, pressing the orange button will separate them. If two people or animals are in the Borfin when the yellow button is pressed, they will switch bodies. This will not work if they're conjoined or if only one person or animal is in the Borfin.
So that's what I think the Borfin does. Your ideas may be different. Stay tuned for the next chapter!