http://www.catteries.org.uk/images/Althalus%20kitten.jpg
Lily and the Three Pooches
By: Nicole Stack
Lily the brown-spotted tabby kitten stepped out of the big red barn where she lived with her family on a bright Saturday morning in August. She was ready for an adventure. Lily was the most daring and mischievous of all her brothers and sisters, and she was always getting into trouble. Mama would scold her as she tucked them all into their beds of straw at night.
“Lily, don’t climb on the rafters.”
“Lily, don’t chase the birds.”
“Lily, don’t scratch your brother!”
Lily was sick and tired of always being scolded, and today, she was going to do the most daring thing of all: go into the woods all by herself. Mama had told her kittens time and time again never to go into the woods without their mother.
“There are scary things in the woods babies. Big bears and wolves roam through the trees, and they’ll eat you right up.”
All the others kittens were scared, but not Lily. She was determined to find some bears for herself. She made sure none of her siblings were around before dashing into the forest. She looked all around, scanning her surroundings.
“This isn’t scary at all,” she thought, and she began to make her way deeper and deeper into the woods.
After a while, Lily came to a little house. Smoke was rising from the chimney and she could smell something good coming from inside. She crept up to the front door and noticed that it was cracked open.
“That’s funny,” she thought. “Maybe I’ll just have a look around.” And she did. In the kitchen she found the yummy smell. There were three heaping plates of chicken!
“Mmmmm,” she licked her lips, “maybe I’ll have just a little.”
She tasted some from the first plate.
“WOW! This chicken is too hot!”
Then she tried the second.
“WOW! This chicken is too cold!”
Finally she took a bite of the third. It was perfect, so she ate it all up.
Lily wondered into the living room. She saw three comfy chairs. She tried the first one.
“This chair is WAY too big!”
Then she tried the second.
“This chair is also too big!”
Finally she settled into the last chair, and it was just right. She was just getting comfortable when suddenly the chair crashed into pieces.
“Uh oh,” she thought. She continued searching through the empty house, and finally she came to the bedroom. There were three beds in a row, and suddenly she felt very sleepy. She yawned and climbed into the first.
“Aw man, this bed is too hard!”
Then she jumped into the second.
“This bed is too soft!”
At last, she slipped into the third bed, and it was exactly right. So she fell asleep.
Meanwhile, a very hungry and tired family of Bloodhounds returned home from fishing at the lake. They entered the kitchen.
“Hey,” grumbled Papa Pooch, “Someone’s been eating my chicken!”
“Hey,” grumbled Mama Pooch, “Someone’s been eating MY chicken too!”
“OH NO,” cried Baby Pooch, “Someone’s been eating MY chicken, and they ate it all up!”
The family continued into the living room, where things only got worse.
“Hey,” yelled Papa Pooch, “Someone’s been sitting in my chair!”
“Hey,” yelled Mama Pooch, “Someone’s been sitting in MY chair too!”
“OH NO,” cried Baby Pooch, “Someone’s been sitting in MY chair too, and they broke it all to pieces.”
Angry, the family found their way into the bedroom.
“Hey,” fumed Papa Pooch, “Someone’s been sleeping in my bed.”
“Hey,” fumed Mama Pooch, “Someone’s been sleeping in MY bed too!”
“OH NO,” cried Baby Pooch, “Someone’s been sleeping in MY bed too, and she’s still there!”
Just at that moment, Lily opened her eyes and saw the three very mad dogs staring down at her.
“MEOW!” She ran as fast as she could down the stairs, out the door, and all the way home. Mama was waiting.
“I’m sorry Mama, I’ll never go into the woods by myself ever again,” she cried. Mama wiped her tears away and hugged her close.
“Some kittens just have to learn the hard way,” she smiled, and began to wash her baby.