Dashing Is Out of the Question!

Considering that I have AT LEAST three feet of snow in my back yard, I thought this story would be very appropriate for this week!

Corky was born in the late fall when the weather was still warm. As soon as he was able, he was allowed to go outside and play in the yard with his brothers and sisters. Leaves were falling off the trees. It was so much fun to jump into a pile of leaves that the family had raked because they made so much noise! Not only that, but the kittens could hide from each other. Corky looked forward to going out into the yard every day.

Then things changed. He was ready to go out, but everything looked different. What was that white stuff all over the lawn? Had something bad happened? His mom explained that this was snow. He could play in it too. It would be cold and make him wet, however. Corky wasn’t sure that he wanted to do that. He finally decided that he would try it. First, one paw; then another. Before you know it, he was out running around and having a good time.

Corky remembered when the humans were enjoying something called Christmas a few months ago. Kids watched things on TV about Santa Claus and his reindeer. Corky had liked the song about the reindeer dashing through the snow. He liked to do that too! One night a big storm blew in while everyone was sleeping. The next day when Corky went out to play, he made a decision:

Tank Goodness For Friday!!

I apologize, dear readers, for not being here the last two weeks. Back surgery was on 2/11 and much more invasive than I thought it was going to be. My younger son was here to help me, but he had to unplug my computer to plug his in so he could work from here. Didn’t have a chance to let you know what was happening before he unplugged me! Hope you enjoy the story.

Pudge was a very busy cat! He was an inside/outdoor cat and loved to explore. He slept almost sixteen hours a day, so he had to make good use of the six hours that he was awake. This didn’t always happen to be pleasant for the humans he lived with, but he WAS a cat, after all! Cats do what they want and humans have to get used to it. There were a variety of things that he could explore outside in his own yard as well as the neighboring yards. There were flowers, grass, and bugs to play with most of the time; when the weather was good, he also liked to go to the local coffee shop and hang out with the customers. In the winter he liked to go out and dig through the snow.

There were a lot more things to do inside which always seemed to get him into trouble. He wasn’t trying to be a bad cat; it just seemed to turn out that way. He loved laundry day because the clothes smelled so good when they came out of the dryer. Why did the humans get so mad when he would lay on them? So what if they were clean. Another warm place was on the computer keyboard. Humans didn’t like that either. Geez! His racing around the house at midnight also caused problems. When’s a cat suppose to get their exercise?

One week it seemed like everything went wrong. One of the neighbors yelled at him and chased him out of their yard for stalking their pet Chihuahua. The mailman didn’t appreciate a playful nip on the ankle. Pudge knocked over some spices on the kitchen counter when he was chasing a moth. He barfed up a hairball in a good pair of shoes. He missed the end table when he jumped from the couch and ended up hanging from the curtain. He decided that he better leave home for a while and let things calm down. So he headed for the coffee shop.

Marion Lovato is the author of Sam, the Superkitty. Her book describes an ordinary cat changing into a superhero to protect his family from things that go bump in the night. Available on Amazon as a paperback or Kindle edition. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1604588667

Good Human Imitation

Oliver was his name; imitation was his game. Or, at least, he thought so! His human family thought he was pretty funny, but they didn’t realize what he was trying to do. He thought about all the animals he had ever seen in books or on the TV and thought he could imitate them. He tried being a tiger, an alligator, a horse. Nothing worked. Of course, he loved birds, but he couldn’t do that either.

He tried being like a tiger since they were his ancestors. But, instead of a big ROAR, the only thing that came out of his mouth was a little squeak. He couldn’t scare anything with that, so he tried to be an alligator. Nope, his nose wasn’t long enough. He could hop around on all fours and pretend to be a bird, but he couldn’t fly. He would have loved to have been a horse, but he was too little for someone to ride. Me, oh my! What was poor Oliver to do. He didn’t want to just lie around and be a typical cat.

Then, he had a brilliant idea! He had the thing he could imitate in front of him everyday! This was perfect. Why hadn’t he thought of this before? Now this he could do very well.

Are You Happy Now?

Max was a long-haired cat who lived in a very warm climate. Fortunately for him, his humans had air conditioning to keep the house cool. He was very comfortable if he didn’t go outside. He drank plenty of water; his humans kept him brushed every day so the loose fur wouldn’t make him hot. Sleeping about 16 hours a day, sometimes in front of a fan, helped too. Ah, yes, life was good. However, his humans were always complaining about the heat and how miserable they were! He get tired of listening to it and would roll over to go back to sleep.

Finally, the heat started to go away. Now Max would go out into the yard, lie on his back, and let the sun shine on his belly. That felt so good! Sometimes, there were leaves in the yard that he could play with or use to hide. Yes, indeed! Life was still good for Max. His humans were still complaining though! What did it take to make them happy he wondered. He thought working and playing with the leaves was fun; not his humans! They still would be unhappy about the heat sometimes.

Winter started with a blast of cold air and many inches of snow. Max would walk on the sidewalks after they were shoveled, but he couldn’t go into the yard itself. That was okay with him. Now the humans were complaining about the amount of snow and how cold it was! Max had heard enough and had this to say to them:

It Was a Very Good Night!

Enjoy the story.

Tiger was the only cat in the family. There were also two dogs, and they got along with each other very well. Tiger had seen what happened with the dogs around the time of Halloween and he would hide. He didn’t want humans putting all kind of costumes on him. Yuck! The dogs looked so silly, but they’d just wag their tails and act like they were all happy about it. That wasn’t for Tiger. No, sir, cats didn’t do that!

It was time for Halloween again. “Oh, no”, thought Tiger. “Time for me to find a place to hide!” However, things were going to be different this year. The children had decided that the pets should go with them to carry their treat buckets. No costumes for the animals this year. Now, this sounded pretty good to Tiger! He liked being outside and decided he wouldn’t hide. Being a cat, he was curious about what would happen,.

When it was time to go outside to trick or treat, Tiger was so excited that he could hardly stand it. He bounced from floor to couch, from chair to floor, etc. like he had springs in his feet. The children gathered him up along with the dogs and off they went. It was so much fun! Other children would pet him and love on him until he purring so loud he sounded like a freight train. “Yes!”, thought Tiger. “I want to do this every year.” He was so tired when they came home that he fell asleep in the chair. It had been a very good night indeed!

Do You Think They’ll Notice?

Merle was a very curious cat; even more curious than most. He had to be included in everything that the family did. He wasn’t of the Siamese breed, but he sure acted like one. If someone was trying to read, he’d lay on the book. When someone would try to work at a computer; Merle would lay on the keyboard. Open up the refrigerator door and he’d be right there! Every time they turned around, Merle was right in their face! The thing that Merle liked the most, however, was the camera. If someone was taking pictures, he wanted to be in it. The family would scoot him out which didn’t make him happy at all!

He tried all kind of ways to be in a picture. None of them worked. At Halloween, he found some clothes to slide into and then he tried to creep in the middle of where the family was posing. Christmas found him lying right in the way trying to wrap garland around himself. Out he went! “What do I have to do?”, he wondered. He felt like he was part of the family and should be included in family pictures. He kept trying and wouldn’t give up. Then he had the chance he was looking for.

The family was in the back yard for a picnic. They lived out in the country, so many creatures who lived in the woods would wander by. Among them was a pair of raccoons. They were so cute that someone decided to take a picture of them. While they ran in the house to get the camera, Merle quickly grabbed something too. Just before the camera clicked, Merle jumped into place!

Do You Come Here Often?

Sammy usually went for a walk in the afternoon when the weather was nice. He would check out the neighbor’s yard to see if the dog had time to play. Then he would stop at the park to smell the flowers, flop around in the grass, and chase the bugs. If it was sunny and warm, he liked to lie on his back and let the sun warm up his belly. The last stop before going back home was the waterfront where some of the dock hands would feed him fresh fish. Yum!!! That was worth the walk!

On a particularly hot day, the dog didn’t feel like playing. Sammy didn’t have much energy either because of the heat. He was slowly making his way to the park when he noticed that a rabbit was walking with him. He’d never seen this rabbit before and thought the rabbit would just go on its way. No, the rabbit kept up with him until they got to the park. Sammy found a nice, shady place to lie down. However, the rabbit disappeared. Sammy went on to the waterfront and back home by himself.

The next day the rabbit was back walking with him again. This time, Sammy asked him who he was and where he came from. The rabbit told Sammy that he actually lived in the same yard with the dog. He would always hide when Sammy came around. He was curious about where Sammy would go and finally decided to find out. From that day on, they walked together. The dock workers enjoyed the rabbit too and would always have fresh lettuce to feed him.

I Don’t Always Play With Toys

(True story of my older cat. Glad he finally let me in on his secret!)

Kirby was rescued when he was just 5 months old. He was found wandering on a school playground and taken into the building. He was hungry, cold, and very scared. He was so cute that a human took him home to her house. He was loved, fed, and, best of all, there were two cats already there. He was so glad to see his own kind again. Both of the cats were girls and accepted him. They played with him and showed him a little pink tub that had toys in it. At first, he played with the little balls that would roll on the floor, but he soon grew tired of them.

No matter how many toys were put into the pink tub, the only one that Kirby would always play with was a catnip mouse. In fact, he played with it so much that he wore all the fur off of it. It was looking really bad! His human tried to find another one like it, but she couldn’t. As Kirby grew older, he played with the mouse less and less. Now all he wanted to play with were empty boxes. That was so much fun! He could slip inside a box and wait until another cat walked by. Then he would jump out and the chase would be on!!

His human kept trying to find new toys for him. There were things with feathers dangling in the air, but that was too much work according to Kirby. He’d rather take a nap than chase a stupid feather. One day a red dot appeared on the carpet. That held his interest for a while, but it became too much effort to chase that dot. He never could catch it anyway! Other new toys came and went. They either broke or were ignored by Kirby. He decided to let his human in on his secret.

I Let Him Go First

Pete, a guinea pig, had a nice, warm cage with plenty of food and water. The four children in the family took turns cleaning his cage and playing with him. He liked to be out of his cage and run around with the children. It was so much fun! They were very gentle with him and gave him lots of love.

Things were fine until the family brought home another pet. Pete was out of his cage at the time. This was a creature that he had never seen before! He jumped back into the cage and wouldn’t come out. The children tried calming him down and telling him it would be okay. Nope! Pete was NOT coming out of his cage. This new pet was called a cat. It made a horrible hissing sound and had very sharp claws. Pete stayed in his cage for many days and felt sad that he couldn’t get on the floor and play anymore.

Several months went by. The cat seemed to change and wanted to play with Pete. He didn’t hiss anymore or show his claws. He would stay by the cage and just look at Pete. “Well”, thought Pete. “Maybe he’s not so bad, after all!” The children forgot to close the cage door one day when they were done cleaning. Pete stuck his nose out very slowly. He sniffed noses with the cat. Nothing bad happened! After that, Pete and the cat were down on the floor everyday playing with the children. One day, Mom found Pete in the teapot. She wondered why he had done that, so the cat explained:

Smokey and George

What a crazy, busy week!! Time for another story. Enjoy.

Smokey loved to play outside! Any time he had the chance, that’s where he would be. If it was a sunny day, he would lie down on his back with his tummy up in the air to catch the heat of the sun. Oh, it felt so good. He could really take a good nap that way. If he was feeling playful, there were all kind of bugs, lizards, and other animals to chase. Sometimes, he just enjoyed smelling all of the pretty flowers growing in the yard. The yard was a comfortable, happy place.

One day, he had just dozed off when something hit him in the head! Thump! “OUCH!”, cried Smokey. He looked around to see what in the world had hit him. He was NOT happy to be disturbed. At first, he didn’t notice anything, but then he finally saw a brown lump lying on the grass. What was it? He was trying to figure it out when he heard a voice say, “Give me back my nut!!” A squirrel went racing past him, grabbed the nut, and ran back up the tree.

Since he was a cat, he was very curious. “Who are you, and what is a nut?” Smokey called up to the squirrel. “My name is George,” replied the squirrel. “Nuts are something I eat” Smokey couldn’t imagine eating something as hard and lumpy as a nut, so he asked George to bring it down from the tree and let him look it over. George did, and over time, he and Smokey became great friends. Later, Smokey wanted his humans to meet George and invited him into the house. The whole family loved him!

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Marion's Superkitty Tales and Children's Books

Author of Children's Books and Lover of Cats

short story