Editor’s note: Amos is a church mouse, unable to use the keyboard shift keys and unschooled in the art of punctuation. the great father s day quest boss i bumped into ollie the orphan sea otter the other day and he said he was on a spiritual quest — to find a father by father s day you remember ollie boss when he was a baby otter his parents were killed by seal poachers and poor ollie was left in the church s baptistry the other little creatures in the church pew underworld would tease him and call him little orphan ollie which didn t do much for his outlook on life — or his self-esteem for that matter boss as he grew up it took ollie a little while to develop his frolicking sea otter nature i must find a father figure little ollie says to me life has no meaning no purpose unless an otter be linked to the generations washing upon the shores of life methinks you re putting too much emphasis on your seaweed roots says me to him maybe so but i need to know that i have a father figure someone who cares for me someone i can look up to and pattern my sea soul after but you can do that with any old figure — pick you a sports hero an author or even a musician — after all they say elvis is still roaming around these days no i want someone who will be there for me someone who will give me wise counsel — and the keys to the family fishing boat so have you found a father figure in time for father s day says me i first asked old man octopus but that relationship became too entangling if you know what i mean then i chose stanley the starfish but he just laid around and pointed in five different directions it was very confusing after that i tried a couple of landlubber dads but they turned out to be duds for a little frisky otter like me says he i latched onto louie the songdog he was a happy dad amos but his fleas and me didn t really get along at all then i saw sammy salamander and thought he and i would make a great team we did but it was kinda tough to call him dad when i was three sizes bigger than he was so says me what are you going to do now - give up your quest for a dad and say too bad so sad no not i — i ll never say die — i ll keep looking for a dad both low and high in the sea or up in the sky just then boss wally walrus came floating by — we have a large baptistry here in the church pew underworld — and ollie exclaimed it s him he s the one he s got to be my dad wally turned on his side and smiled a toothy smile and off the pair swam into the joys of a happy father s day amos