He slides the bolt on his cage back and pauses to listen.
She doesn't like it when he gets out. He doesn't know why it upsets her, it's fun to explore.
He tries to listen to her, he really does, but it gets so boring lying in the cage all day. She has the sparkly cookie lady take him out when she's going to be gone for a long time but it's still more fun to explore and play on his own.
She's home now, he knows.
She was sad. She came into the room earlier and woke him up to cuddle. She never wakes him up when he's sleeping, he gets cranky. The last time she woke him he peed in her shoes as revenge.
He waddles to the door and stares at the doorknob. The knob moves slowly, the bolt slides back, and the door clicks open.
Freedom!
He scrabbles at the door until he can squeeze through the opening.
He cautiously pokes his head out the door and looks both ways.
The coast is clear.
He bounds into the hallway and sits back on his hind legs sniffing the air hoping to catch the scent of cookies. He is sadly disappointed but he can hear the voices downstairs and this intrigues him.
He does his round of the upper level and is satisfied that nothing has moved and that there is nothing new that is of interest. He scurries quickly by the excitable man's door. He had explored in that room before. It was messy and smelly, he had enjoyed that sort of environment but she changed that, though she couldn't alter his need to hoard objects, especially slippers.
He slinkies down the stairs and into the hall gravitating towards the voices. He quickens his slow lope, reaches the doorway, and peeps around the corner into the kitchen. She's sitting at the table with excitable man. He hears the crinkle of plastic and a bag falls to the floor. He darts toward the bag excitedly.
Crinkles! Waha!
He dives into the bag happily and she shouts in surprise.
"Pete!"
"What?!" the excitable man jumps.
"You'r- That's" she sputters "Don't be such a pig! Dumping your trash on the ground" she glares.
"The ferret likes it" excitable man remarks spotting him.
"That's because he's an animal like you!" comes her snarky reply.
He pauses in his play with the bag and cocks his head at her. He doesn't like that tone, she had that tone the last time he hoarded her fuzzy pink slippers. He can't tell if she's mad at him, the stupid man, or if she's even really mad.
Stupid man chuckles "What does that make you? We are partners after all."
"A zookeeper" she mutters but smiles
"You know you love animals" excitable man says cheekily.
She sighs, turns away from excitable man and bends down to pick him up but he runs up her arm instead and twines himself around her neck. He snuffles her ear and she laughs. It's better when she's happy.
"Stop playing with your toy and pick up your packing material, Pete" she says.
Excitable man huffs and picks up the crinkly bag.
He chitters, stupid man shouldn't touch the toy.
He turns to her in protest and she rubs his chin affectionately. He doesn't mind so much anymore. Stupid man can have the crinkly bag because he has her and no one else can, she better than any dumb toy.
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I kno slinkies is not a descriptive word but that's how I imagined him moving, like a slinky so I made it up…DEAL WITH IT!
And yes he opened the door with his mind or his eyes or whatever b/c I think a ferret that came out of a previously empty kettle would have powers especially one from the warehouse! Perhaps it was a wish for the door to open he is after all a wishing ferret or at least that's how he came into existence.