A Children's Story
Once upon a time, there was a very beautiful, silky, black cat named Sheba. Sheba lived in a nice big brick house with her people, an older couple, Joe and Jan. Her people had a grandchild, Lauren, who often came to visit and stay with them. Sheba's people were very good to her; they gave her toys (a catnip mouse, and a plastic ball with bells in it), and plenty of food and water, and kept her litter box clean and smelling fresh. She had her own little house, a kitty condo, with holes leading through two carpeted floors. But Sheba's favorite place of all in the whole house was a sunny window sill in the living room that looked out over the neighbor's backyard.
It was because of this window sill that all the trouble began. Sheba loved to stretch out lazily on the sill and look out the window . Oh, how she wanted to go out there where there were big trees and a bird feeder. She watched as lots of different birds and squirrels played everyday. It looked like so much fun: the birds flying and chirping, the fat squirrels running up tree trunks. Sheba tried a number of times to get out the back door to go over and visit but every time, one of her people, or Lauren would catch her before she was through the door, and bring her back inside, scolding, "NO, NO, NO!"
One day while Lauren was visiting, Sheba's people packed up their suitcases to go on an overnight trip. Before they left, they filled her bowl with plenty of Friskies, her water bowl with cool clean water with a few ice cubes floating on top, just the way Sheba liked it. Sheba watched as Lauren waved goodbye and the car backed out of the driveway and drove away. The cat spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on her sunny windowsill and watching the yard next door. At dinner time, a strange car pulled in the driveway, and a lady walked up to the backdoor with a key in her hand. She came in, calling, "Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty."
Sheba didn't know who this lady was. She jumped down from the windowsill and hid behind the couch. She could hear noises coming from the kitchen: water running, a can being opened, and the strange lady continued talking, "Come on out, Kitty. Sheba, isn't it? Come on now, I've got to feed you."
Sheba peeked around the back of the couch and could see the strange lady's legs moving towards her. She sprung silently out the other end, flew through the hall and dining room, and in through the other door into the kitchen. The whole time the cat was running, she heard the strange lady babbling from somewhere behind her, "Here Kitty, Kitty. Here Sheba."
Sheba saw her bowls had been refilled and next to them lay a small plate containing her favorite food, Ocean Whitefish and Tuna. Then she noticed something else. The backdoor wasn't closed all the way. Sheba ran across the linoleum floor and slid out through the half opened door without a sound.
She was free! She ran across the porch, jumped over a small flower bed and cut down under the hedge that separated her yard from the neighbor's.
Sheba had the most wonderful time that evening... running and chasing after the birds, and playing tag with the squirrels who threw nuts at her. The sun was setting and the fireflies were coming out. The squirrels waved to her as they climbed into a hollow tree where they made their home. The birds sang "Goodbye, come back in the morning" as they settled into their nests for the night.
Sheba was all alone.
She found her way back across to her yard but the strange lady and car were gone, the doors to her house were all shut up tight, and she couldn't find a way back in. All the running and playing had left her hungry. She jumped up onto the outside window sill, and inside, through a doorway, she could see the kitchen, where her bowls and plate were full, looking so delicious and inviting. She pawed at the window and meowed but no one was home to let her in.
Suddenly she heard a terrible crash. She spun around to see a big rat running from where her people's garbage cans were kept. Sheba jumped down to investigate and the rat almost ran into her.
"Oh my, oh my" the rat squealed, his beady little eyes wide as saucers. "Wherever did you come from?"
Sheba meowed, "From up there." She motioned with her paw in the direction of the window sill. " I live inside but I can't get back in and now I'm cold and hungry."
"Hungry!?" the rats beady eyes opened even wider.
Sheba started crying, 'Yes, I want my Ocean Whitefish and Tuna. There is a whole plate full in there and a bowl full of Friskies, and my ice water."
The rat shook his head in amazement. This dumb cat didn't even know cats eat rats. He had to bite his little ratty lips to keep from laughing. Just then a terrible growl sounded from behind them. A huge, ugly gray cat appeared at the edge of the yard.
Ratty's heart was beating so fast it felt like it would rip right through his fur. He stood motionless, too afraid to even whisper a prayer. Just then Sheba, arched up her back, laid her ears down flat against her head, and spit at the ugly cat. "Get out of here, you filthy thing."
Ugly gray cat, who was a male, realized this was one hot looking pussy cat, Momentarily forgetting the rat, he began to purr, "Hey Kitty, want to come with me and have a little fun?"
Sheba jumped at the male cat's face, all her claws out. Ratty watched, astonished, as Sheba beat the living daylights out of the mangy gray feline.
Ugly cat disentangled himself, and skulked off, tail dragging, left ear torn. He wasn't hurt that bad, mostly just embarrassed. (Imagine letting a rat watch him get beat up like that.)
"Gee, what a wimp." Ratty laughed, patting Sheba on the back. "You showed him a thing or two."
Sheba took a moment to compose herself. She began licking her shoulder, cleaning off the filthy bits of the alley cat's fur that were sticking to her. Slowly her own fur started to relax and lay back down.
By this time, she was really hungry. Her stomach was starting to make horrible popping, empty noises. She shuddered, "I'm starving."
Ratty thought a minute. "You say you like fish? I know a place that has fish." He ran, beckoning her to follow.
Sheba followed the rodent back into an alley where a neighbor's garbage can stood, overflowing, the lid only half covering the black plastic garbage bags held inside. Ratty climbed up the can and began gnawing a hole in the top bag. Before long, used coffee grounds, banana peels, wilted lettuce leaves, stale crusts of bread and old fish heads came raining down like manna from the heavens onto the ground beside Sheba.
The rat munched on the stale bread while Sheba ate fish heads. (They weren't too bad but not nearly as tasty as Ocean Whitefish and Tuna. She had to keep spitting out bones! But at least the meal calmed the hunger storm that had been threatening her tummy.) A tremendously loud boom caused both Sheba and Ratty to run-two teenage boys stood in the alley, laughing "Did you see that mangy rat run?!" An exploded M-80 lay near their feet.
Safe in the next yard over, Sheba meowed, "Now I'm thirsty." The fish heads had been very salty.
The rat shook his head, "Gee whiz, don't I even rate a 'thank you'?"
"For almost getting us killed?" Sheba hissed.
"Man, oh man. Cats!" The rat shook his head with disgust. "Come on then." He led the cat over to a cement birdbath . Sheba balanced on the rim while she drank. The water wasn't nice and fresh with little ice cubes floating in it like home. In face, it was rather slimy with bird droppings, but at least it was wet.
She bent her head down for another drink.
Just then the door in the neighbor house opened and bounding out, came a massive black German Shepherd. Barking and snarling, across the yard, the dog ran full speed ahead toward the cat.
Sheba leaped from the edge of the birdbath over and up into a thorny hedge. The dog moved closer, growling low now.
Ratty, hidden and unnoticed in the tall grass behind the dog, watched, wondering why Sheba didn't scratch the dog's eyes. At least that might distract the dog long enough for her to get away. But the cat looked too scared to move, hanging in the thorny bush like a limp rag with big frightened yellow eyes.
Ratty had to think fast. He darted up close to the back side of the German Shepherd's. Scurrying beneath the dogs curled up tail, Ratty found the mutt's back left leg. He bit it as hard as he could.
The dog howled and spun around looking for the offender.
Ratty yelled to Sheba, "RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" Then he himself took off in the other direction, running for the sake of his own life. Through the high grass, the rat darted with the big awkward dog following, snarling, his nose to the ground.
The rat ran into a drainpipe. Squirming, he forced his fat body back in as far inside as he could. The dog's snout followed but it couldn't reach.
Meanwhile Sheba had scrambled out of the hedge and somehow managed to find her way back to her own people's yard. She sat, panting and shuddering, in the flower bed beside the dark back porch. Oh, how she wished she had never left her safe house.
In the morning, the sun came up and the cat lay curled into a ball shape among the petunias and the snap dragons. The sound of a car's tires crunching on gravel woke her with a start.
The car stopped and doors opened, and out came her people.
Sheba ran towards them, "MEOW!"
The little girl, Lauren, pointed, "Look, it's Sheba." She picked the cat up in her arms, stroked the cat's back and held her close, cuddling, ."Sheba, what are you doing out here? You know you're not allowed out. NO, NO, NO!"
Sheba didn't even mind the scolding. She purred on Lauren's shoulder . The girl rubbed her behind the ears, and under the chin.
As she was being carried through the door, Sheba glanced back . Out through the screen door, back by the garbage cans, half hidden in the shadows, she spied Ratty watching. She meowed, "Goodbye! Thank you!"
Ratty waved his little rat hand and winked as the inside door closed
After that, Sheba's never tried to go back outside again. Her favorite spot to relax was still the sunny windowsill on which she would stretch out lazily for hours at a time. Sometimes, she would meow quietly as the squirrels and birds played next door or when a fat rat appeared back by the garbage cans at the end of the yard. But most of the time, Sheba just purred.
The End.
