Cat’s stroke of luck
NIMI KURIAN
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Cat was so hungry that he had run out of ideas on how to fend for himself. He thought a walk in the park would help him find a solution.
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K.G. RANGARAJAN
Things were not going too well for Cat. He was still very hungry. And he seemed to have no more ideas of how to feed himself. But he decided that whatever happened he would never beg for food outside restaurants. Such being the circumstances he had not had a good meal in ages and he felt rather tired and weak.
‘Oh what will happen to me? Will I just lie here and waste away? What a bitter end for such a clever Cat!’ he moaned and sighed.
But being a hard and diligent worker, he was not one to let the troubles of the world overtake him. So common sense got the better of him and he decided that he would have to try one last time to fend for himself.
Some fresh air
‘Perhaps if I go for a walk and allow the fresh air to work its magic, I might come up with some ideas.’
So saying, he quickly tidied himself. He noticed he had lost a lot of weight since he had left school.
‘Well,’ he shrugged, ‘everyone has their good times and their bad times.’
He walked out jauntily, not wanting anyone to see him sad or defeated. He got only as far as the park. The days of starvation had left him rather weak. So he sat on a park bench. The warm sun and the birdsong made him drowsy and he felt his eyelids closing. His last thought before he fell asleep was to catch a couple of birds for his dinner. ‘After my snooze,’ he thought.
But his sleep was rudely cut short by a rather loud noise. Sleepily he opened his heavy eyelids and looked. He found Ginger, Black, Rancid and Merrily sitting a distance away and passing rude remarks about him. But he was very weary and he did not have the strength to answer them. They continued taunting him, while he tried to sleep.
Just then, a smart little lady walked by the park bench and seeing bony Cat all stretched out, she was moved to tears. “Oh dear, but what a pretty cat. Oh…”she cried out sympathetically. “Dear, dear, sweet cat, why are you so thin? And you so pretty at that!”
“Handsome, actually,” muttered Cat sleepily. But the lady did not seem to hear.
“Come pretty cat, do you have an owner?” She searched to see if Cat wore a collar. Not finding one, she was overcome with joy.
“Oh pretty, pretty cat…”
“Handsome, handsome…” muttered Cat, now wide awake and wondering what on earth the lady was talking about.
“I will take you home with me. You do need looking after.”
She called out and a man in a funny white suit came running across the grass. He wore a cap too. “Driver, take poor kitty to my car. We are taking him home. The poor dear needs looking after.”
“But madam, a stray…”
“But he is not a stray. Can’t you see? It’s such a pretty cat!”
Cat had given up trying to defend himself and he let the man in white carry him away.
His classmates had become quiet and they followed at a safe distance. The man placed him at the back of a large black car.
“No, no. Not on the seat. Let him lie on the cushion.”
So Cat lay on a lovely, soft, silk cushion. As the car began to move, Cat raised his head and looking out of the window, smiled at his classmates as they sat on the curb watching him drive away.
‘Well, it does pay to be Top Cat!’ he thought.
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