Magpie was sitting on a streetlamp just outside her favorite cafe in town, watching for dropped (or left behind) treats and listening to what the people were talking about. Everyone kept mentioning one thing in particular, and after hearing it for a while Magpie flew off to the forest. She had a new idea to tell her friends about.
Hare and Fox were sitting under Hare’s tree when Magpie landed just above them.
“Hello Magpie,” said Hare, “what’s new with you?”
“As a matter of fact I have a great idea,” said Magpie. “I just found out about it in town. It’s something they’re doing, like a holiday party, sort of, and I think we should have one here in the forest too.”
“Let’s hear it,” said Fox, who liked parties.
“Okay,” said Magpie, “I overheard everybody in the cafe in town talking about this. It’s a party that happens in October — and that’s what it is right now, you know — and I think they all get together and have a good time complaining.”
Hare stared at Magpie. “Complaining?” he asked. “What kind of a party is that?”
“Everybody likes to complain,” said Magpie. “You know, we could all get together in your meadow, right here, and fuss about this and fuss about that.”
“Hmmm,” said Hare. “Are you sure about this? This is what the people in town do?”
“Um, I’m pretty sure,” said Magpie. “I mean, I haven’t actually been to this party — it doesn’t happen until sometime next week. But they’re all excited about going, and it’s called the ‘October Fuss’, so that’s what it must be.”
Hare was just about to tell Magpie that it didn’t sound like very much fun when the Deer family trotted out of the woods and into the meadow. They were all there; Donald and Doris Deer, along with their family Dennis, Daisy, Desmond, Denise, David, and Debbie. And Felix. As soon as they saw Hare and Fox under the tree, they came over to say hello.
“Hello Hare, Hi Fox,” said Doris. “Oh, and hi there, Magpie. I didn’t see you at first. How are you all?”
“Fine, thanks” said Hare. “How about you and your family?”
“Oh, you know,” said Doris, “it’s always something. Donald stepped on a rock and hurt his foot, Dennis is going through one of those stages, Denise and Debbie can’t stop arguing about everything…”
“That’s not true,” said Debbie — or possibly Denise; they were twins and Hare found it very difficult to tell them apart.
“Is so,” said Denise — who might have been Debbie.
Doris shushed the twins and continued. “Desmond has been studying for his ODDM exam forever, but he just can’t seem to pass,” she said.
“ODDM?” said Hare, “what’s that?”
“It stands for Oh Dear Deer Me,” said Doris. It’s when you graduate to the next level of fretting.”
Hare pricked up his ears. “Deer have a whole exam about fretting?” he asked.
“Of course we do, more than one,” said Doris. “It’s a terrible strain always studying for them and worrying about failing. But of course every time you don’t make it, at least that’s one more thing to fuss about.”
“Aha!” said Magpie, “Doris, you’ll never guess what we were just talking about before you arrived!”
“I’m sure I won’t,” said Doris, “I’ve never been able to guess properly. It all goes back to when I was just a fawn, and…”
“October Fuss!” announced Magpie, who couldn’t help herself. “The people in town are having one next week, and I was just telling Hare and Fox, here, that we ought to have our own in the forest, right here in the meadow. The way it works is, we all get together and fuss about everything we can think of. And have snacks.” she added.
Hare exchanged a glance with Fox. All of a sudden, Magpie seemed to have gotten awfully certain about how October Fuss worked. But the whole Deer family loved the idea. Except for Felix, of course, who thought it ought to just have the snacks and if you didn’t feel like fussing about anything then you didn’t have to. Magpie assured him that the fussing wasn’t really required.
The Deer family stayed around in the meadow for the afternoon, chatting with Hare and Fox (and Porcupine and Squirrel, who stopped by later). Magpie took off to fly around the forest and tell everyone about the October Fuss, which she had decided would be in three days, in Hare’s meadow, and could Hare please provide some snacks.
A couple of days later, Hare was heading to the town to get groceries. Dog, who hadn’t heard about the October Fuss yet, was coming along to help.
“So what exactly is going on?” asked Dog.
“It’s all Magpie’s idea,” said Hare, “and almost everybody seems to like it. I’m not so sure, but it seems to be a pretty popular idea.”
“What’s the idea?”
“It’s something Magpie heard in the town,” said Hare, “in fact, maybe you’ve heard of it, Dog. It’s called ‘October Fuss,’ and Magpie says it’s a big party were everybody gets together and complains about things.”
“Magpie said ‘October Fuss’? And where did the complaining part come from?”
“Magpie said with a name like ‘Fuss,’ that’s what it must be all about.”
“Um…” said Dog. “I’m not sure…” she started again. “How far along is the planning for this?” she finally asked.
“Oh the planning is practically done; it’s happening tomorrow in the meadow. I just need to get the rest of the supplies for all the snacks.”
Dog sighed. “Oh well,” she said, “I’m not really interested in complaining, myself. But I guess we’ll see how it goes! Just one question though,” she added. “When you’re talking to Magpie, does she ever seem like she doesn’t quite hear you quite clearly?”
“All the time,” said Hare. “Why?”
“Oh, just wondering,” Dog sighed.
