The Catty

Cat

By Lydia Mack

    There once was a cat who had a lot of friends.  The cat always treated his friends with kindness and respect.  There were, however, several animals that the cat did not know, for he had yet to make their acquaintance.  As nice as the cat was to his friends, he was doubly mean to the animals he didn't know.  The cat was continually regaling his friends with jokes about the strange animals whose names he only knew.

    "Have you guys seen the gecko lately?" He would say.  "That little lizard looks as though he's misplaced something...,"  The cat always paused before his punch line.  "His tail!"  The cat was thoroughly horrified at the very thought of losing his tail but he did not feel bad for the lacking lizard because he didn't know him.

    Several weeks later when the cat saw the gecko, he had re-grown his tale.  The cat was in awe of the garnish the gecko had grown so he slinked over to him. 

    "Hello Gecko."  The cat said.

    "Hello Cat."  The gecko replied. 

    "I see that you've re-grown you tail."  The cat spat out.

    "Yes," said the Gecko.  "It was most unfortunate that it fell off in the first place but the dog was chasing me and landed solidly on my tail.  It cam off so that I could flee to safety!  My tail died a hero because it sacrificed itself to save my life. "

    Being chased by the dog was something with which the cat could certainly identify.  The two continued to talk after that day and the gecko grew to be one of the cat's closest friends.

    Several weeks later the cat spotted someone new in the neighborhood.  He had seen the came, a strange looking creature complete with humps, calluses, big feet, long eyelashes, and thick lips swaying down the road on his afternoon walk.  These odd features gave the cat a lot of ammunition; he entertained his friends for days with jokes about the camel. 

    "He looks very familiar..." the cat paused, "Oh I know!"  He began, "He looks just like the humpback in the humpback of Notre Dame... where's his bell?"  The cat cackled.

    Soon enough, the camel, like the gecko ran into the cat.  Out of curiosity, because we all know how cats can be, the cat asked the camel about his strange attributes. 

    "I am from the desert."  The camel began, "My hump is full of fat so that I won't dehydrate from lack of water.  My knees are calloused so that I may kneel in the searing sand.  My feet are broad so that I won't sink into the sane.  My eyelashes are luscious so the sand can't blow blindingly into my eyes.  My lips are thick so that I can withstand the jagged desert plants." 

    The cat was very impressed with the camel's abilities to live in such an exotic place.  He knew immediately that the camel would make a fascinating friend. 

    This led the cat to begin to think about how judgmental he had been toward his two new friends prior to meeting them.  He realized that the very things he had mocked them for were now the very qualities that he envied.  The cat came to realize that being catty wasn't as cool as he had thought.  He realized that not everyone was like him and that their differences were what made his friends special.  The cat decided that from that day forward he would get to know the animals that he saw before he judged them. 

    "I could never hate anyone I knew."

        Attributed to Charles Lamb

    "Don't judge a book by it's cover."