Disclaimer
This story is rated PG and contains no material out of character of Animaniacs.
This is an independent work of fiction with
no connection whatsoever to WB. The artists and creators disavow any knowledge
of and do no officially sanction the events in this story. This work is meant
to be the owners own personal look into what may have become of Minerva Mink.
Minerva is trademark WB. Meggie is (C) Shelly P. All other characters are
(C) the owner of this page. This story is Copyright © 2002 by Ross Snyder.
This story may not be sold or used for commercial profit in any form or fashion.
This story may not be modified in any way. This story may not be posted on
a mirror site or any other Internet site without the written permission of
the author. This story may not be distributed on print, magnetic, electrical
or optical mediums.
THE MINERVA MINK STORY
"Home Sweet Home"
Chapter 2
The little red convertible slowly pulled it's way up the
paved drive, it's headlights illuminating Minerva's cozy home in the woods.
From the driver’s seat, Minerva extended a painted
nail to press the 'open' button on her garage door remote that hung neatly
from sun visor.
The garage door lifted gracefully into the ceiling, allowing
the mink’s car to settle itself in the port. Making several 'ping' noises,
the engine hummed for a few minutes more, as the garage door returned to
place. With a twist of the key, it fell silent
.
Minerva sighed heavily as she flipped the switch that
placed the leather hood back over the car’s interior, and waited patently
for it to close and clamp shut. Checking to make sure the stereo was turned
down, the keys were out of the ignition, and the trunk was open to retrieve
her purchases, she pushed open the car door and swung out her beautiful legs.
The garage was partially empty, and save for her car.
Only a few boxes, her recycling bin, and garbage cans were stored there.
'A woman's garage' she thought. 'What did you expect to find... tools?! Ya
right.' The only such items in her possession were a few screwdrivers, a
crowbar, a wrench, and some other thing that a past boyfriend left, which
she had no clue what it was used for. 'Oh well. It made a good wind-chime.'
Her heals clicked loudly in the large room as she made
her way to the back of the car. Stiletto hit the gray concrete, making echoes,
and striking home another sad point on her guilt trip list. 'No one to welcome
you home 'Miss' Mink?'
One lonely light hung over the car and dangled precariously
from the ceiling. It had switched on when the garage door was opened,
and to Minerva's distress, cast little to almost no light. She made a mental
note to have Terry put in the new light fixture she had bought the previous
week. It still sat, unopened, in her car trunk.
Grabbing up her bags, and pushing down the trunk lid with
her tail, Minerva groped around the far wall looking for the door that would
take her inside her small home. There were only two ways in our out of the
garage. Through the car door, or the house door, which had been stupidly
cut to fit in to the wall so that only the knob was visible.
Her slender hand brushed something cold and metal. Fumbling
for the knob in the dim light, there was a sudden snap. "Oh poo!!! My nail!"
A small clicking sound followed, as the nail bounced of the floor and disappeared
from view.
"Perfect." She mumbled, kicking the door open. "Chalk
up another point for Minerva's worse day ever."
She tossed the packages on her plush white couch in the
den and retraced her steps looking for the severed nail. Spotting the bright
red color against the cold gray of the garage floor, she stooped to pick
it up. 'Not too badly broken I guess. I can glue it on for now, till Sally
can put a new one on.'
Sally was Minerva's favorite beautician. Although she
preferred to do most of her own 'fancying up' by herself, it never hurt for
a girl to hit the spa too.
During her working years, Sally had been hired by WB to
do all of Minerva's make up and cosmetic touches. Many hours were spent fussing
over her nails, hair, fur, and eyes. These times, had made them close friends,
so that even after she retired, Sally had kept in touch, and would take care
of the minks make-up emergencies.
The thought of the small mouse woman, with her mall hair,
denim outfits, dangly earrings, and incessantly chewing gum, made her smile,
if only just a little.
The garage door connected the den where Minerva spent
most of her time. It was more or less the basement to her home, completely
furnished in her favorite mid 80's style. A couch, two chairs, a coffee table,
fireplace, the entertainment center, computer, stereo, half bath, and a mini
bar. Last year she had quartered off a section of the den, turning what had
once been the furnace area, into a small studio for her drawing.
Again she scooped up her packages, and making sure
that nothing had been left on in the den, made her way carefully up stairs.
The plush carping and high heals, made her ascension rather difficult. 'Last
thing I need to trip and fall. Ex-TV star killed in fatal stair accident.
News at eleven. But hey, at least I would be on TV again...'
She stopped quickly in the kitchen to put away her groceries.
The big metal doors of the refrigerator, reflected the dim light that shone
in from passing cars on the road. Shadows fell across the cooking island
in the middle of the room, over her stove microwave combo, and eventually
disappeared into the pantry door.
She put away the cans of soup and vegetables in the pantry,
making sure they were put in the correct places. Then, in a flood of light,
the refrigerator door was opened. She squinted, placing the produce, meat,
and milk on the shelves. 'Well Miss Mink, this is your life! Isn't it everything
you expected?' She thought sarcastically, bumping the door shut with her
shapely hip.
***************
After hanging up her new dress and checking to see
if there had been any calls, Minerva stepped into her bathroom to get undressed.
Removing her suit coat, she was about to put it back in her closet, when
on second thought put the shoulder to her nose instead. "Pew! Vanessa stink."
Obviously, the panther's incense had left an impression on her.
She put the coat, her blouse, and skirt all in a bag,
and marked it to be dry cleaned on Saturday. Setting the bag outside her
door, she switched on stereo and let soft music float about the bedroom and
bath.
"When I get to the city, my tears will all be dried. My
eyes will look so pretty, know ones gonna know I cried."
"Sing it girl." Minerva muttered.
She slipped out of her underwear, and tossing them into
her hamper, dipped slowly below the clam water of her pool/bath. Minks being
sub aquatic, it had been a must for her bathroom. Not to mention, the new
road by her house making it impossible to bathe in the pond anymore. Pulling
her head under, she kicked her feet, propelling her slender form about.
Terry had caught a peeping tom watching her and
Dee Dee from the road one afternoon. He had chased him away, but none of
them felt safe going out there again..... 'Isn't life grand? Not even safe
on your own land.' They could have enclosed the pond, placing up a rather
expensive privacy fence, but they had all agreed that it wasn't exactly fair
to the other forest creatures who used it when they did not.
She surfaced, pushing the now dangling strands of blond
hair away from her eyes. Reaching into her bath rack, she squirted herself
a handful of fur soap and lifted her behind up to sit on the rim. Lathering
her fur, she made extra sure that scrubbed out the incense smell from Vanessa's
office.
Washing her face and hair last, Minerva pushed off and
again dipped into the warm pool. Thrashing around under the surface, the
lather quickly dissolved, leaving her fur as pure and clean as it was white.
Before leaving the water, she punched the filter button
on the pools control deck. One of the tiles on the pools floor slid away
revealing a grate, and the hum of a small motor could be heard. For the next
three hours, the pool would suck in a few gallons of water, run it thorough
a filter, then spit it back into the huge tub. Thusly, she didn't have to
drain and refill it every time she took a bath.
Minerva's hair hung heavily on her back as she climbed
the pools stairs and walked toward the fur dryer. As her tail slipped up
on the floor, she found it laden with water to the point she couldn't lift
it under it's own power.
A slanted pathway of smooth tile lead from one side of
the bath to the dryer, each side sporting a trough. This way, any water that
dripped off the tubs occupant on his or her way the dryer, would inevitably
run down the slant, collect in the troughs, and run back down into the pool.
The fur dryer quickly hummed to life as she stepped inside
its circular hull, sending warm waves of air coursing across her body. It's
air jets, held ten in a row upon four metal bands that oscillated up, down,
left, and right, separated each strand of fur and dried it before gently
pushing it back into place. She bent down to lift her tail more directly
into the path of the dryer's fans. She clutched it to her breast, and with
the warm air and the constant humming of the fan, she felt the first waves
of fatigue.
Deciding that she didn't want her robe, Minerva shut down
the dryer and finished her other 'before bed' actions. She brushed her teeth
and spritzed herself down with her favorite body mist. Entering her bedroom,
she stopped at her vanity to retrieve her body brush. A few strokes with
the brush and all the kinks and knots in her fur were gone.
Minerva hopped up on her bed, sliding across the bedspread
and over to the window. She flicked the light switch for her room off with
her painted toe and lifted the window enough to get a warm breeze.
From her bed, she could see the pond, and reflected on
its surface, the outside light's from Dee Dee and Trudy's houses on the other
side. Since Terry was away till the weekend, Dee Dee left a light on in her
window, that seemed to make her feel safer in his absence. Both of her friends
had probably retired long before she had gotten home, and a sobby phone call
at this hour wouldn't make them very happy.
Rolling onto her side and pulling her knees up to her
chest, Minerva wrapped her tail around her legs. Alone, naked, and tired,
she softly began to cry. And she wept, almost silently, until sleep finally
whisked her away.
******************
The key rattled as it was forced into the old lock. Protesting
its use, it desperately kinked and twisted, making it harder to turn in its
proper motion. Finally, realizing it couldn't win, it opened the semi-rusted
lock for the frazzled feline that held it.
Meggie hissed under her breath, as she pulled the key
out, no easily as she had put it in. Purse in one hand, tote around her wrist,
she turned the brass knob and pushed open the old white washed door.
Her house, a two story old Victorian, snuggled into Hollywood's
private sector, was in rather desperate need of modernizing. The paint was
original, touched here and there to keep it from gaining eye sore status,
along with all original windows and trim.
However, that was the way she liked it, and it gave off,
in her eyes, a warm, secure feeling. It was hardly the Gothic cavern that
she had been told it resembled. Who cared if the local kids think it's haunted?
Such a status does keep the vandals away.
The evil pumps that had been torturing her feet all day,
were put back in their proper place, along with her tote and coat. Lighting
her fireplace, giving her mail a quick look, she slumped into the old red
satin covered easy chair her father had made, and let her poor feet occupy
the similar ottoman.
She slid down the soft material, until her eyes were almost
even with the arm rests. She removed her tie, resisting the urge to toss
it into the fire, and undid her top three blouse buttons. Again she tried
to push away her hair from her eyes, but it would do no such thing.
"What a day...." A poorly made understatement.
What on earth had made her take that temp job was now
far out of mind. No matter how attractive the pay had been, no amount of
money could make up for this day. "Go ahead Trump, get out your checkbook
and try it." She mumbled to herself.
Vanessa Agestine was a monster to work for, that was for
sure. 'Do this, do that, get this done ten minutes ago!' Meggie thought she
would hear that commanding voice in her sleep for years to come.
The former secretary had left the office a total confusing
mess, and she wasn't totally convinced that it wasn't on purpose. After today,
she had felt like tipping the file cabinets over herself before she left.
But that would just have left a mess for the next poor soul to have to do
that job, and she couldn't bear to think of doing that.
"And that poor mink....." Meggie had accidentally hit
the wrong button on her phone and caught Vanessa talking to someone about
the female mink that was sitting in the waiting room. She ran the conversation
over again in her mind.
"....she going to do about it? It's my job, within my
company."
An unknown male voice had interjected. "She could get a lawyer Vanessa, you
and I both know that."
"Not after I show her my little red file. She will either
take the lesser job, or leave a whipped dog. Simple as that, and no lawyer
in the world will touch her. Count on it."
Meggie had snapped the phone down and felt a little perplexed.
However, Vanessa didn't keep the secret from her for long. Her flesh crawled
thinking about it. "Bennit! My room ASAP! Hustle hustle! And bring that girl
out there with you. Are you still there?!"
She had done as 'commanded', and lead, Minerva was
it?, to her impending doom. However, while announcing the next execution
to her majesty, Vanessa had urged her to approach the throne.
"You were talking to that girl before, weren't you?" This
was true, Meggie had made polite conversation with the Mink when she had
come in. Actually, it was more than polite. She had asked Meggie how she
was, and actually noticed how bushed she had look. If that wasn't surprising
enough, she had actually asked if she could help her, and from the look on
her face, was totally sincere. Not too many people take the time to notice
anymore, let alone care.
"Yes ma'am."
Venessa had smiled at her, just like a snake. "Tisk tisk
Meggie. You should be associating with her kind. She would just love to corrupt
an innocent little thing like you."
Meggie's face must have been very easy to read, because
Vanessa had taken her next cue without her having to speak. "See for yourself."
She so wished she hadn't. Some how, she could just close
her eyes and see those pictures again. "Mental trauma does that I guess."
To say the least, they were sick, and totally vile.
Meggie had jumped away as if they were going to bit her.
"Ma'am please!"
Vanessa, still smiling like a python, closed it back up.
"You can show her in now."
Meggie had done just that, and slunk away, before the
mink had a chance to even look at her. She had felt bad about it all day,
especially after she watched her stomp out of the office.
She wasn't totally sure why, but the whole thing sat very
badly with her. A kind of sixth sense was telling her, that all was not what
Vanessa had made it seem. "She was so nice, not like the pictures at all."
The whole incident had been boiling in her mind since
it happened, and for whatever reasons, she couldn't let it go. "Some of those
pictures, didn't look right. Wrong height, bust, and even general body type....."
She knew it was all very possibly faked. Another reason Meggie disliked computers,
it made it so much easier for people to lie.
However, with the clock tone, she knew it was time for
bed, and time to let her current demon rest as well. "In the morning... *YAWN*
I will straighten it all out then. When I have a clear head."
Getting up from her seat, she nabbed up her purse and
tie, and shuffled off for the stairwell that would lead her to her soft bed.
Along the way, she stopped at her phone nook and jotted down a small note
on the pad there.
{Call Sawyer today. She will know about 'Minerva'.}
End Of Chapter 2