Adventures of Meows: Rescue
By Apolonia Plum
Copyright 2013 Apolonia Plum
Meows is a little cat. His fur is black and shiny. His nose is rosy pink with long black whiskers. His eyes are green and curious. Meows lives in a cat house with his cat parents. The house is small and looks like a large, overturned pot. It is round like an igloo. It has one door and five small windows.
The house stands at the edge of a big forest. It is a pretty place with tall trees, lush green meadows, many wild animals and even a swamp. There are plenty of fun things to do for a little cat like Meows.
One night, Meows was really tired. He was so tired that he just wanted to go to sleep. But of course, his mom wanted him to wash his paws and whiskers before bed.
“Little kittens that don't like to wash end up in trouble,” she said.
“What kind of trouble, mom?” Meows asked. Sometimes he really liked trouble. Some trouble was fun.
“Do you remember the old big toad that lives in the middle of the swamp?” his mom asked.
“Yes,” replied Meows.
“Good... If you won't wash, your skin will become just like toad's. It will be covered with warts and your fur will fall out.” She stretched, extending her front paws and softly walked away.
“Oh, no!” Meows did not want that kind of trouble. He remembered all too well the fat ugly toad. He had very many warts, indeed.
Meows quickly washed his paws and whiskers, and even his tail. Then he practically fell into his small bed of soft hay and fell asleep in seconds.
Meows woke up the next morning, and the sun was smiling at him through the window.
“Good morning, sun!” Meows said happily, he really liked sunny days.
“The time for adventures is now!” he reminded himself cheerfully.
Meows quickly finished his breakfast of fish heads and dashed out.
First, he ran five circles around the house chasing butterflies. Then he drank some water from a little stream.
Lastly, he rolled in the high grass, clawing playfully at overhanging weeds and flowers. Then he sat down and looked at the trees of the forest.
“Today, I will go and see the ugly fat toad,” he decided.
Meows liked to pretend that he was a black panther.
He ran and jumped long jumps along the way thinking that all panthers looked exactly like that.
Meows liked to be in the forest. He liked the tall old trees with their long wide branches.
He liked to climb up and lay on the branches.
“I am just like a lynx resting after a hunt,” he thought with pride.
Meows loved to chase insects, mice, and chipmunks. Today, however, Meows was on a mission to see the ugly fat toad. He headed straight for the swamp which was in the very middle of the forest.
Hopping and prancing, Meows occasionally stopped to sharpen his claws on the tree trunks, imagining himself as a tiger.
He was busy doing just that when he heard a tiny voice crying for help. Meows stopped, listening intently.
“Help!” another cry came from behind an old fallen tree. Meows slowly and quietly walked around.
He used his soft-pawed walk just like his parents had taught him.
“I am as silent as a falling feather,” he thought proudly.
The tree was big. When it had fallen, it raised a mountain of soil on its long roots. Behind the roots, there was a large pit in the ground. A pool of water had gathered at the bottom of it. The pit was deep and dark. At first, Meows did not see anything, but his sharp eyes adjusted to the dim light quickly. There was no one in there except for a tiny green frog with shiny eyes.
It was floating in the pool of water at the very bottom of the pit.
“Hey, froggy! Do you know who was calling for help here?”
“I was,” replied the little frog sadly. “Can you help me get out of the water, please?”
“Hmm. But, I thought frogs liked water!”
“Yes, we do like it. But we can't stay in water forever. We need to be outside to breathe well,” the little frog sighed.
“You see, I am stuck here. Every time I try to climb out, I keep on slipping back into the water. The ground is too crumbly.” The little frog tried to climb out again. The ground crumbled under his tiny legs and he slid back into the water.
Splash!
“Oh, I see,” Meows nodded with understanding. “Sure, I can help you. Where are your parents? I will call them over,” he offered.
“I don't have any parents. Can YOU help me?” the frog asked looking up at Meows.
“Humph,” Meows hesitated for a moment. He looked around and noticed a long stick.
“Not a problem, hang on a second.” Meows used his teeth and paws to drag the stick over, and then he dropped it into the pit.
“There! Just grab on and climb out using your claws!” Meows proposed triumphantly.
“But I don't have any claws,” replied the frog.
To demonstrate the point, he placed his skinny legs with long fingers on the stick and tried to pull himself out only to slip right back into water.
Splash!
“Alright, we need something else, then.” Meows was not giving up.
Deep in thought, he scratched his left ear.
“Frogs are good jumpers,” he thought. “If only there was a surface for the frog to push himself off of...”
Meows looked around trying to find something that would be hard and float well. He tried dropping a piece of bark in, but the frog could not climb on. The bark kept on flipping over.
“That did not work too well, either.” The little frog sighed, looking even sadder.
Meows scratched his right ear.
“I will think of something. Don't worry! Every problem is just a puzzle. If we think long enough about it, we can solve it,” said Meows.
He loved challenges.
Meows looked around him. The floor of the forest was covered in thick and fluffy green moss. It was spongy and light.
“I have an idea! If I throw enough moss down, it will make a floating pillow. Then, you can climb up on top and jump out of the pit.”
Meows got to work. It was not difficult to pull pieces of moss. They ripped easily in large, soft strips. At first, the moss was just sinking under the frog, but gradually it started to fill up the pit. The moss was absorbing the water!
Meows kept on throwing down the moss. The frog kept on pushing it into the water. The moss pile grew until it covered all the water. The frog climbed on top of the pile. The moss was squishy and wet, but it no longer sunk under. The little frog sat very still for a couple of seconds, catching a breath. He was very tired.
“We did it!” he gathered his long legs under him and jumped out.
Swoosh!
The little frog landed right next to Meows.
“Thank you for saving me!” he looked up gratefully at Meows. His shiny eyes were even shinier.
“You are welcome,” replied Meows and added: “Wow! You are a great jumper!”
“Well, thank you. But, that is what we frogs do all day. I wouldn't catch a fly or run away very well if I didn't know how to jump,” the frog replied modestly.
“I see. What is your name?” asked Meows, impressed nevertheless.
“R-ribbit the frog. And what is yours?”
“I am Meows the cat. Would you like to be my friend and play with me?”
“I would! Do you like to jump and catch flies?” R-ribbit was excited to have a new friend.
“Yes, this is one of my favorite things to do, apart from adventures and eating fish heads!” replied Meows with equal enthusiasm.
He jumped up and landed softl
y on his paws.
“I was headed for the swamp to see the ugly fat toad. But, it is getting late and mom will be worried. Would you like to join me tomorrow? We can catch all kinds of insects on the way!”
“Definitely! The swamp is where I live. You can meet my family there.”
“But didn't you say that you had no parents?” Meows asked.
“That’s right. I don't have parents. Well, I do not know exactly who they are. But I have lots of brothers and sisters! We grew as tadpoles together in the same swamp puddle!”
“Oh, I see,” said Meows, even though he still did not understand how someone could have brothers and sisters and not know who their parents are.
“I will ask my mom about it,” he decided. “Then let’s meet here tomorrow when the sun reaches the top of the sky.”
“I will be waiting for you, Meows!” replied R-ribbit happily. “Say, Meows, why do you have all these hairs on your body? Is this because you don't like to wash? The Great Toad says this happens to all lazy little frogs who don't keep clean – they grow hair.”
Meows was very surprised by the question.
“Actually, I do wash. I thought the fur falls out when you don't wash and then you grow those ugly warts like Great Toad's!”
“Oh, this is funny!” R-ribbit giggled. “Every little frog in the swamp wants to have those lovely warts and everyone keeps really clean hoping to grow them one day. We are all afraid of growing hairs!”
The frog and the cat looked at each other and began laughing.
That evening, when Meows finally made it home, he said to his mom with a smug know-it-all look: “You know mom, warts are pretty popular in the swamp!”
“Oh, yeah? Sure, Meows. They are popular, indeed,” his mom replied, “... but, only if you are a frog.”
Mom smiled a little smile, stretched her front paws and softly walked away.
Meows thought about her reply for a moment and murmured:
“I guess I better wash up, just in case.”
Hello!
My name is Apolonia Plum.
Actually, it is not my real name. Many authors use pen names for various reasons. I chose mine because it reminds me of a very special person who, like me, loved adventures very much.
I hope you enjoyed the story and will join Meows on his future adventures. There will be many more stories with beautiful illustrations by my favorite artist of all times - Dimitry Epstein. You can enjoy examples of his amazing art at
www.dimitryepstein.com
Let us know what you think about Meows and his adventures in your reviews. We love to hear from you!
The time for adventures is now!
A. Plum
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