Picture 6
by Connor & Annie

It was a long time ago. Back in the day, so they say. My meowmie cat, Bonny Bluebelle, was sweet and young! Ohhhhhh she was a purrrrty thing! All gray like me, and sleek and slim. She always watched her figure and kept herself spotlessly clean. Any tom in the world would have wanted her for his bride! But Bonny Blue was a house cat and she didn't roam outside. She stayed in the house, nice and warm, and well fed. She would lay by the fire on cold winter nights and she would snuggle an old rolled up sock she'd had since she was a kitten. She would pretend it was her baby and she would lick it and pat it. Bonny Bluebelle really wanted to be a meowmie cat.

One of her favorite places in the old farm house, was up in the attic. She would go up there and carefully paw through the dust to get to the window ledge and lay in the sun and watch the barn cats out in the yard. Bonny Blue loved living in the house with her family, but sometimes... oh sometimes she just wanted to get out and play with those barn cats! And there she would sit, in the window, in the sun, and she would mew.

One day a rascally ol' tom they called Biscuit Head was up on the tall long branch of the maple tree. That one that reaches over the roof of the house. He heard Bonny Blue mew from her window and went to investigate. Biscuit was a furry good investigator! As a matter of fact, due to his superior investigative nature, he was the head mouser over in the barn! So when ol' Biscuit heard that mew, he had to go find who made it! He looked in the chimney, and he looked in the gutters and he even looked in the downspout. But when he rounded the corner of the roof, and saw in the window that beauty of a kitty, Bonny Bluebelle, well it was love at first sight! He winked his eye and mewed to Bonny Blue, wondering how in the world he was going to find his way into the house so he could nuzzle her sweet whiskers.

Bonny Blue couldn't believe it when ol' Biscuit Head showed up at her window! He was soooo pawsome up close! And his mew... oh his mew was ever so deep and raspy... she could just imagine herself curled up with him in her basket! How could she get out to him?

They stared at each other for a long time through the glass... touching noses through the window, but longing to sniff each others scent. Finally Biscuit Head broke away. He told Bonny Blue to stay right where she was! He searched and he searched out side of the house for a way, any way he could get IN to her! He tried sitting down by the kitchen door, thinking that when the kids opened it, he could just sneak in! But when he tried, the farmer's wife shoo'd him back out with the broom! She called him a flea ridden thing and told him to stay in the barn!

He tried to climb in through the chimney, but he didn't get far before he ran into a bird screen! Well, if the birds couldn't get in through it, that big old tom cat surely wasn't going to be able to. He checked all the windows, but even though some were open all of the screens were tightly fastened. But oh! Finally! He found a hole that lead into the house! He climbed into the hole, but when he got to the end he wasn't in the house. He was in a warm, dry can with soft material all around him. He could hear people talking though, so he knew he must be in some part of the house... he just needed to find the the hole that lead out in that direction. He tried to stand up and push, looking for a door, but when he did that the walls started to tumble and the material fell on top of him! What in the world did he get himself into? He tried it again - the other way - but walls moved back when he did that! And tumbled the material back over on him too! Ol' Biscuit Head was surely confuzed and confounded by this place! But soon he heard the voices coming near him! He heard a child say "I just have to get my baseball jersey out of the dryer! I'm almost ready to go!" Biscuit snuggled down and hid in the material, afraid of what might happen. The boy opened a door into Biscuits place, and took out a piece of the material. He was in such a hurry he didn't even see Biscuit ... AND he left the door open! He ran up the stairs saying "Okay! Will we get there on time? I'm ready!" and ran out of the house, slamming the front door behind him!

The house fell silent. The dryer door was open. Biscuit Head only wasted a few minutes making sure that all was safe! Then he hopped out of the dryer and began his search for the kitty of his dreams, Bonny Bluebelle. He rembered that she was up high in the house, so he went straight for the steps! At the top he came into the kitchen. He remembered it from when he got shoo'd out, and knew he still had to go higher than that. He nosed around and found another staircase. At the top of this one was bedrooms and a bathroom. But nothing that looked like that room Bonny Blue had been in. He began to mew.

Bonny Bluebelle's ears perked up. What was that? Probably just her imagination, but she thought she heard her pawsome kitty's deep mew. She ran to the top of the attic steps and listened. Yes! It was her pawsome kitty! Oh, she wondered how he had ever found his way in! She bounced down the steps and listened again. He was in her girl, Melissa's room. She ran to the room, stopping short at the door. She quickly primped her whiskers and made sure her nose was clean. A quick paw to get the dust off her ears. She quietly and demurely strolled into the room and there was Biscuit Head, covered in lint from the dryer, staring straight at her, his tongue hanging out like a puppy!!! Bonny Blue waltzed over and nuzzled his nose, licked his ear, and rolled over on her back so he could rub her tummy! Shameless she was, really! But it was love.

She took Biscuit back up to her attic, and they romped and they played and they spent the entire day getting to know each other. She didn't even notice the dust, so blind was she in her love for her Biscuit! Before they day was over they had decided to have a wedwink.

Oh, but when the family came home, they went searching for beautiful Bonny Bluebelle, and when they found her in the attic with that flea ridden Biscuit Head, they put him right out and shut the door tight! The farmer looked around for how he could have gotten in, and when he found the bird screen had somehow come out of the dryer vent he repaired it, figuring that must have been how it happend. Poor Bonny Blue. Poor Biscuit Head.

From that day on, Bonny Blue spent all of her days in the attic, looking out the window and watching her dear Biscuit play in the field and catch mice. He would come and sit up by her window for hours and they would mew and purr to one another. Bonny started putting on some weight, and she was uncomfortable laying on the window ledge, so she took to laying in the comfy rocking chair that sat right beside the window. It had big puffy cushions on it and a pretty blue pillow, and she had brought over a nice little cotton blanket she had found in one of the boxes too. It was a great little place to lay and rest. And it was a great little place to give birth to a litter of kittens.

Yep... I was born in that chair, in that dusty old attic, with the sun shining through and my paw, Biscuit Head, watching through the window. Oh how he wished he could be in there to see me, but he had to make do with watching me and my brofurs and sisfurs through the window. Bonny Bluebelle told us all about him, and all about how they met, and how we came to be. That was our favorite bedtime story when we were growing up.

Bonny Blue was the best meowmie cat that effur was, and she gave up her old sock when we came along. She would gather us up each day and take us up to the attic and we would play and play, but when we got tired, she would bring us up onto the rocking chair, and she would curl up with us and purr us to sleep, rocking just ever so gently. Sometimes Biscuit Head would visit us through the window, and we all knew who he was and loved him.

When we got a little bigger, the farmer's wife said we couldn't all stay in the house anymore. We were too many! She would let Bonny Bluebelle keep one of us because Bonny was so maternal and would miss all of her kitties, but the rest would have to go. The farmer's wife decided Bonny should keep the little teeny guy. She didn't think he would make it out in the world, so she named him Dusty, cuz we were all always covered with dust, and he got to stay in the nice warm house with Bonny Bluebelle. I had to go live out in the barn.

I like it out in the barn though. For one thing, I got to know my paw a lot better when I moved outside! He taught me all about micin' and now I'm even better at it than he effur was! Paw's still around too ... he's doesn't do much mousin' anymore. He leaves that to us youngsters. And while they still don't let him in the house, he does sleep on the front porch most of the day - it's nice and sunny there, and the farmer's wife gives him some wet food from time to time. Not me... I like mice and crunchies! That wet food? It's for old folks!

Bonny Bluebelle went over the bridge about a year ago. They say she got sick and it was for the best. I hope she's happy there. I miss her and I purr for her. Dusty is the only house cat now.

I wonder why they brought that old rocker down to the porch? Well, who really cares why? I think I feel a nap coming on, and that looks like just the right place to take it!

Purrrrrrrr...