MY name is Timothy and I’m a tabby cat. I know that because I’ve heard my owner Jessica telling people all about me. I’m not sure what a tabby cat is supposed to be quite honestly, and I don’t really care. My owner tickles me under my chin when she’s telling people, and I purr to show my appreciation.
When I was a kitten, all I cared about really was having fun . . . and food of course. I still enjoy food, especially when my owner passes me tasty bits she doesn’t like under the table. I don’t think she is supposed to do that because her mum found out once and she got told off and I was chased out of the room. She was told she shouldn’t encourage me.
But she still does it when nobody notices me sneaking in the room under the table.
I still like having fun. I can spend hours playing with a ball of wool or a little toy mouse Jessica gave me. I would much prefer chasing a real one but there aren’t any in our house. Anyway, I have lots of fun chasing the toy one around the room. She even gave me a little house to live in. It is still in the corner of the kitchen, and I can look out of its window and Jessica looks back at me laughing.
What I really like though on cold winter nights is curling up in front of the fire and having a good sleep.
Now that I’m a grown-up cat they let me out every day and I really enjoy that. There are so many interesting smells in our garden including one I recognise but don’t like much. It’s the fox that wanders around, usually of a night, but sometimes in the day.
I met him one day in the back garden. He stared at me and for a while I thought he was going to attack me; his face was curled up in a snarl, but I fluffed up my fur, bared my sharp little teeth and hissed at him. He turned and ran off the coward!
I think he has avoided me ever since. Typical of a coward.
I do have a little friend in the garden though. It’s Mr tortoise who slowly makes his way around the garden. I tease him sometimes by putting my paws on his shell, stopping him walking. He usually turns his head and gives me a look as if to say: ‘Give over, will you. I’m hungry.’ He likes hay which Jessica puts out for him every few days.
I really shouldn’t tease him though and Jessica tells me off when she catches me. She scolds me saying: ‘You don’t treat friends like that.’ She is probably right.
I wake up this morning to the sound of laughing and screams of happiness. I walked out of my house and into the sitting room to see Jessica’s dad dragging the most enormous Christmas tree into the room with Jessica and her sister Emily dancing with delight while her mum looked on smiling. I remember the tree they had last year but this one is much bigger. I learned not to go too near it because of things falling off it.
Jessica spots me and picks me up cradling me in her arms. She strokes me under my chin, knowing I really like that. I give her hand a little lick.
‘Look at our huge tree Timmy,’ she says to me, giving me a little squeeze. We are all going to decorate it later. That will be fun, won’t it?’
‘It’s going to be Christmas soon,’ she says and then there will be presents and fun and lots of lovely things to eat. We will have special treats for you too, won’t we Emily? She joins her sister and gives my back a nice stroke. I wonder if that means I will get lots of turkey bits under the table. Hmmm, I will look forward to that.
‘We are all going to sing Christmas carols tonight,’ announces her dad. It’s Carols by Candlelight in church.’ I suppose that means I will be on my own, but I don’t mind. I may go out though the cat flap in the back door if I feel like doing a bit of exploring.
I wake up. I must have dozed off. I remember curling up on a cushion on my favourite armchair after my meal. It’s actually Jessica’s dad’s and I sneak onto it when he isn’t here. I know he complains about my fur, but I think he likes me really.
Anyway, I am all warm in front of the fire and there is the usual hubbub at dinner time which was a bit more so today because they all have to be ready to go out to sing carols, whatever they are. I just leave them to it.
It is later and the house is completely dark and silent. I am in my house in the kitchen and the moon is gleaming brightly through the windows and lighting up the walls as I walk into the sitting room which is lit by lots of twinkling lights on the tree and reflected off the walls. They look really nice, and I notice a gleaming silver orb on the carpet. It must have fallen off. I push it with my paw, and it scuttles off across the room. I chase after it and bat it to the far corner. This is fun.
After I while I get tired of that and decide to go out through the flap on the back door. I quite enjoy the nights even if the street lights only dimly light up the roads. That doesn’t matter because I can see in the dark much better than humans or dogs or even Mr Fox. He had better stay out of my way tonight though.
I am not really afraid of dogs, well not most of them. There are some really vicious ones, and I steer clear of them. In fact, I have a friend a few doors away. His name is Mr Jones, and I go and see him most days. Sometimes he shares his biscuits with me. There is no sign of him tonight though.
I feel adventurous tonight even if it is cold. I just feel like exploring gardens and hedges I haven’t visited before. There will be exciting new smells, new trees to climb and I might even find a mouse or two. I must be careful though not encroach on somebody’s territory. Other cats can be quite nasty if you wander into their garden accidentally and I really don’t want to get into a fight.
I set off down the road outside our house.
The road lights aren’t working so it is very dark which, of course, does not worry me because as I have said I can see extremely well in the dark. There is a very tempting tree across the road which I have not climbed before so I decide it would be fun to do it in the dark and it would also be a good exercise for my claws which need something to scratch from time-to-time and there is nothing better than a tree trunk.
I begin to cross the road and suddenly I am blinded by the headlights of a car which is roaring towards me. I freeze, not knowing which way to go and then, realising I am in great danger, I hurl myself forward. There is a screech of brakes and the car slides to s stop. I run and hide in a hedge just under the tree.
Two car doors open: ‘Have you run him over?’ shouts a woman’s voice anxiously. ‘Don’t think so,’ says a man walking around the car and searching for my dead body. ‘No, I think I must have just missed him.’ They both climb back in the car, and it drives off.
I must be more careful in future. These cars are too fast for me. He just missed me this time. I climb the tree and find a nice thick branch to rest on. My heart is thumping away after all that.
As I lie there it starts snowing, just great big juicy flakes at first that just float down gently. I catch a few of them and let them melt in my mouth but then the flakes get smaller, and the snow gets thicker and starts falling faster. It’s getting colder too.
I shelter under the branches for a while but then when it shows no sign of stopping I climb down and run up the road not looking where I’m going really. I scamper down side roads and stop once or twice when I sense a mouse under a hedge, but he must have heard me coming because when I get there, he has vanished.
I am walking down a road I don’t recognise and coming towards me are three boys. One spots me and shouts to the others: ‘Look, there’s a pussycat, let’s grab him and have some fun.’
They run towards me. I don’t like this. I am afraid their idea of fun is to hurt me. I back up against a wall and put up my hackles, hissing at them. One tries to grab me, and I scratch him. He yelps and shows his hand to them. There is a trickle of blood. Another one aims a kick at me, and I easily sidestep that.
‘Let’s all grab him,’ says one. ‘He can’t scratch us all at the same time.’ They run towards me with their arms outstretched. I dodge between their legs and run as fast as I can. They run after me, but they are no match for me, especially since I can squeeze though fences and under hedges as well as climb trees.
I am on a lawn in a garden. There is a light from the window. The boys spot me and walk through the gate. ‘There he is, let’s grab him.’ They open the gate and walk on to the lawn and as they do so the front door opens, and a man stands there and glowers at them.
‘What do you think you are doing?’ he roars at them. ‘Get off my lawn or I’ll call the police.’
‘We just came to get our cat,’ one says.
‘What cat?’ says the man. They all look around the lawn, but I have sneaked away.
‘You’re all up to no good,’ yells the man. Get lost or else . . .’ He brandishes his phone and the boys leave pulling faces at him as they go.
I have run far away and finally I stop. I want to go home to my nice warm cushion in front of the fire or to my house, but I don’t know where I am. I am lost, cold and wet. The snow has melted into my fur and even though I shake it off, it makes no difference. The snow is coming down even harder than before. I don’t know what to do or where to go.
I keep walking slowly forward hoping that I will recognise something that will help me find my way back and then I turn a corner and see a large building just down the road. A large door is open and a warm, orange, light is shining through. I decide to head for it hoping I can go in. Maybe I can hide before anyone notices me.
I creep in and in front of me are two more doors, this time made of glass which is where the light is streaming from. I am so cold I am trembling. It would be nice to go inside where it will be warmer. Just as I am wondering how I can get in a man emerges from a side door and opens one of the glass doors wide. I slink inside before it closes.
It is very much warmer in here and full of people all sitting in rows. Suddenly, they all start singing ‘Once in Royal David’s City.’ They are so busy singing nobody notices me as I walk down a passageway and stop at the end of the back row where a lady is singing really nicely. She looks like a nice lady, so I walk into the row and rub myself on her ankle and meow pitifully.
She looks down at me and stops singing. ‘Hello puss,’ she says reaching down and cradling me in her arms. ‘You’re cold and soaking you poor thing,’ she says wrapping her scarf around me. I lick her hand and purr as a way of saying thanks.
‘Looks like you have a new friend,’ says the man sitting next to her. ‘The poor thing is freezing and soaking. He would have frozen to death outside,’ she replies. ‘I’ll put him in my bag with scarf wrapped around him. He’ll warm up in no time.’
She has a large shopping bag on the floor which she carefully puts me in. I don’t mind at all. It’s warm and smells nice and then they all start singing again. ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing.’ It must have something to do with Christmas I think.
I am finally beginning to feel warmer, and the scarf has absorbed a lot of the damp from my fur. I can feel myself feeling sleepy . . .
I have no idea how long I slept. I can suddenly feel myself moving. I peep over the top of the bag the lady is carrying me in and see we are heading for a car. What should I do? I want to go home; I don’t really want to go somewhere else but it’s still snowing hard, and I still have no idea where I am. Maybe the lady will try to find out where I live. Even better, maybe she will give me something nice to eat as well. I settle back down in the shopping bag and hope for the best.
We arrive at a large house, and I am carried in, my head above the shopping bag and my paws resting on the top. They carry me into a room where there is also a nice fire. The lady carefully places me down in front of it, stroking me as she does so. I give her hand a good lick as a thank you.
‘There puss, I’ll see what I can find for you to eat.’ She goes away and I curl up in front of the fire.
She returns with a bowl, and I can smell fish, sardines I think. She puts it down with a saucer of milk and I gobble it them both up gratefully.
When I finish she sees the tag around my neck and reads it. ‘So, your name is Timothy I see. Hello Timothy, what are doing out in weather like this? Your owner must be really worried about you.’ She reads the tag again. ‘Ah, I see there’s a phone number. I’ll ring it in the morning. It’s a bit too late tonight.’
She goes away and returns with a soft cushion. She gently places me on top of it. ‘There Timothy, that will be your bed.’ She wags a finger at me: ‘There will be no more adventures outside for you tonight. You are going to stay here in the warmth and tomorrow we will try and find your owner.’ She strokes me and I purr. ‘I would love to have a puss like you. I bet your owner is missing you terribly.’
She gives me a final stroke and walks away, switching the light off before closing the door. I settle down on my cushion. I am safe, I am warm, I have had a good feed. I curl up on my cushion and sink into a deep sleep.
I am awake quite early the next morning and although the curtains are still drawn that doesn’t stop me exploring the room I am in. There is a very tempting armchair in the corner with three dolls on it. I am curious. What are they doing here? I jump up on to it and have a little play with them. They appear to be made of rags, and they all have smiley faces. One is wearing a Father Christmas hat. I pull it off and toss it about. The dolls don’t seem to mind.
Not long after the door opens and the lady walks in and draws the curtains. She spots me on the armchair and rushes over to rescue her dolls. ‘You naughty cat Timothy. These are my dolls. I make them for people, especially at Christmas.’ She seizes the hat. ‘Look at that, you have torn it. I have to make another one now.’
She carries me back to the cushion and reaches for a bottle of milk she had brought with her. She pours some into the saucer. ‘That should keep you busy, and I have another tin of sardines you can have soon. I am going to ring your owner now and tell them that I have found you.’
I am pleased to hear that. It’s nice here but I would still rather be at home.
It isn’t long before Jessica and her mum arrive. I am overjoyed to see her. She picks me up and gives me a big hug. I lick her face. She wags a finger and scolds me: ‘You’re a very naughty puss wandering off like that,’ and then strokes me.
‘Where did you find him?’ Jessica’s mum asks the lady.
‘Well, he found me really,’ she answers, laughing. We were at All Hallows Church for Carols by Candlelight, and I felt something wet rubbing itself against my leg. I looked down and there he was, poor thing. He was soaking and looked really sorry for himself, so I wrapped my scarf around him and put him in my shopping bag. He fell asleep until we got home.’
Jessica and her mum exchange looks. ‘We were at Carols by Candlelight too. How strange is that?’ says Jessica’s mum.
‘He must have been looking for us,’ declares Jessica. The two women exchange knowing smiles.
‘Thank you for looking after him,’ say Jessica to the lady.
‘We must be going,’ says Jessica’s mum. ‘We have a lot to do with it being Christmas Eve.’ They wish each other a Happy Christmas and we set off home.
I am back in my house after another meal. Jessica isn’t to know that I have already been fed. Naturally, I am not about to complain. I tucked of course!
Everyone is busy. Jessica and Emily are in their rooms wrapping presents and her mum and dad have gone off shopping. When I wondered into the kitchen earlier I noticed a large turkey on the table. I eyed it up and was tempted to jump up onto the table just to have a look, nothing more. Honest!
I didn’t anyway, mostly because I could hear Jessica and Emily coming downstairs. They came into the kitchen wearing Father Christmas hats. Jessica looked at me and then at the turkey. ‘I think we had better put this in the fridge just in case Timothy gets any ideas,’ she says grinning.
As if I would!
When their mum and dad get back the house descends into chaos. There is shopping everywhere and then the cleaning and tidying up begins. I don’t like the vacuum cleaner, and I stay clear of it because it makes my fur stand up. I decide to go out into the garden to get out of the way.
It has stopped snowing, and it lies quite think over the lawn and on the tree branches. I leave paw prints as I investigate what has been going on in the hedges that surround the garden.
There is a bird table at one end with food for the birds. I know it is visited by a chaffinch as well as a lovely robin and a blackbird and goldcrest. There is also a heap of leaves at the very end of the garden. I know Mr Hedgehog is in there hibernating. I don’t disturb it because he will be sleeping. I can’t see my friend Mr Tortoise. I think Jessica will have taken care of him and put him the shed out of the way and where it will be warm.
I decide to go back in because it is cold out here and I think the vacuuming has finished. I shall go to my house and have a little sleep I think.
***
I wake to the sound of laughter and chatter everywhere. What is going on? I creep out of my house a little cautiously. The sound is coming from the sitting room, so I go there. Everyone is sitting or standing around the Christmas tree opening parcels. Jessica is squealing with delight as she opens a large parcel.
‘Thank you mum and dad,’ she says giving them both hugs. Not be outdone, Emily has opened a big parcel too and she also joins in the hugging. Both girls reach under the tree and give presents to mum and dad.
‘Slippers,’ says dad, grinning hugely. ‘Just what I needed. There is a second parcel as well. He opens that to reveal a multitool pen set. He looks impressed. ‘Happy Christmas girls and thank you,’ he says.
‘OO, says mum, opening her parcel. Perfumed bath foam. Lovely, I shall try that later. She has another parcel too from the girls. Luxury scented candles. You are both spoiling me.’
It is then that Jessica spots me. ‘Timmy,’ she shouts rushing over to where I am standing in the corner and scooping me up. ‘Happy Christmas,’ both girls giggle stroking me.
‘We have pressies for you too,’ says Jessica, reaching under the tree and handing me a scratching post. ‘Its for your claws,’ she explains. ‘And there is something else too which I know you will love,’ she says. It’s an electric mouse which hurtles off towards the door. I hurtle off after it and catch it. I will have a lot of fun with that.
Not long after that visitors begin arriving. I carry the mouse to my house. It will be safe there and I decide to go for a walk in the garden.
There must have been another snowfall during the night because the garden has a pristine covering of snow which sparkles in the sunlight. I leave little paw prints as I walk to the hedges to see if we have had any visitors.
The hedge is full of creatures and there are insects as well as Voles and a family of Dormice in there somewhere. I can’t see them, but I know they are there. There is no sign of Mr Fox. Maybe I have frightened him off. Hope so.
After a little while I can smell something delicious floating out of the kitchen door. I wander in and Jessica’s mum smiles when she sees me. I suppose you’re looking forward to dinner too,’ she says laughing and bending down to stroke me. I purr happily and rub my fur against her leg.
‘Scoot Timmy,’ she says shooing me out of the kitchen. Dinner will be ready soon.’
The sitting room is full of people, so I go to the dining room and curl up on a chair. I must have had a little sleep because the next I know I am being lifted off and placed on the floor. Now all the people are in this room all sitting around the table. There are little bangs as crackers are pulled and everyone seems to be talking at the same time.
Jessica strokes me and places a bowl on the floor. I can smell turkey and gravy and other nice things.
‘Happy Christmas Timmy,’ she says stroking me.
Happy Christmas everyone.
Fiction for tomorrow 