True Tale of a Tail

                                                                                               

This tale is not about just any tail.  It is about the tail that belongs to Samantha.  She is one of three cats that live in Goose Creek, SC with their human parents, the Stohlers.  Samantha can never stay out of trouble for very long even when she tries to be good.  Dreamer is her big brother cat and Miss Velvet is her older cat sister.  When Samantha is bad, both Dreamer and Miss Velvet are very understanding. After all, she is the youngest in the family and she still has a lot to learn. When you are young and having fun, it is hard to be good at the same time.  Samantha sometimes feels like she just can’t be good for even one minute more.

 

This story is about one of those times and what happened when Samantha tried very hard to be good. One day, Samantha was feeling bored and wanted something fun to do. She thought that it would be a lot of fun to scratch on the sofa or on that new gold colored chair, but, then, she would really be in trouble. She thought about tipping over the kitchen trash.  It smelled yummy like chicken bones and tuna fish cans. Then she thought about how that would make an awful mess for her daddy to pick up.  He might be mad and not pat her again for a long time.  What if he didn’t pat her for the whole day? No one knows how to pat like him. There is a patting place right above her tail that makes Samantha purr and purr. What if he stopped patting her forever and ever?  What could Samantha do? Sometimes, when she felt bored and got that itchy feeling all over, she just took a nap. Samantha was really very good when she slept.  Samantha thought that if you were good when you were really asleep, maybe you were also good when you pretended to sleep.  So, Samantha crawled under the flap of material at the bottom of the new gold chair and pretended to sleep but her tail stuck out from the bottom of the chair.  Now, Miss Velvet was feeling thirsty and wanted to get a drink of water. She would have to walk right past that chair and that tail to get to the water bowl.  Miss Velvet may be getting old but she is not fooled easily. She knew right away that the tail was not just any old tail. That tail, which had often flicked itself at her, was Samantha’s tail!  Miss Velvet did not want to play a game with Samantha but she was afraid that, if Samantha were awake, she would run out from under the chair as Miss Velvet walked past.  Chasing Miss Velvet until she stopped was Samantha’s favorite game.  Miss Velvet thought that Samantha might be asleep under that chair but she needed to be sure.  So, Miss Velvet neared the chair and the tail very carefully and quietly. When she could just barely reach the tail, she touched it with her paw and it moved just a little. Miss Velvet jumped straight back. The tail did not move anymore, so she went even closer to the tail and sniffed it before she smacked at it. This time, the tail jumped up and down before it stopped and lay still.  Did you know that cats can talk to each other?  Well, Dreamer told Miss Velvet that Samantha was really asleep.  Of course that wasn’t true. Samantha was just pretending to be asleep. Miss Velvet decided to be extra safe and make sure that Samantha was really and truly sleeping before she walked past the chair. She went right up to that tail sticking out from the bottom of the chair and she nipped the end of it. Samantha then ran out from under the chair and chased Miss Velvet all around the living room and down the hall. Both Samantha and Miss Velvet had run so fast that their paws had hardly touched the floor. Now, they were very tired!  They both agreed to never play the chase game again and Samantha crawled back under the gold colored chair to really sleep.

 

So, Samantha and Miss Velvet now live peacefully together with each other and with Dreamer, too. Samantha will always remember two important things. First, she must always be good and, second, you must always protect your tail.

 

The End

September 6, 2011