Little Tabby Has His Way

By Chinku and Dolcy

Two cats, Ginger and Goldie, lived in a big city, in a locality where there were many houses and shops and lots of traffic. They did not have their own house. Instead, they lived on top a shed, and enjoyed lots of good cat food, fish and creamy milk that a kind old lady called Dame Got-a-lot, who lived close by, would give them. If it rained, they would happily jump inside her house and rest.

Ginger and Goldie were in great demand in the neighbourhood as there were many mice in the houses there. Every now and then, the house folks would request Ginger and Goldie to come over and help them do something about the mice. The two cats would chase the mice out of the houses and into the outlying mice-burrows, for which they got some food as a payment for their services.

Ginger and Goldie had a little son called Tabby. Like his parents, he was all striped in brown and had sparkling brown eyes. A gorgeous little kitten he was!

Ginger was a really strict father. Perched atop the shed, he would growl at every dog that passed by and at every crow that flew over his head: maybe that was his way of showing his love and concern for Tabby. Goldie was a very disciplined mother. She liked things to be prim and proper and wanted Tabby to grow up that way too. She would hiss at Sammy, a wise old Persian cat who lived in a house nearby, for not brushing his whiskers properly and would nudge Tabby to do the same.

Tabby was a very soft-hearted child. He really did not like his parents chasing mice and squirrels. How he wished they would change their ways! He loved milk and bread, which the old lady who lived nearby, would lovingly feed him, and did not eat fish or chicken like his parents did. He loved jumping around the trees, talking to the butterflies and moths, gazing at the caterpillars creeping around, sunning himself on the wall and even playing chase-my-tail with Timothy the puppy and Minty the mouse (whose home was in a secret hole under a bush near the shed).

When Tabby turned two years old, his parents decided to send him to the ‘Mouse Hunt Boarding School’ where kittens were sent to learn to catch mice and squirrels. Ginger wanted Tabby to become a big bold Tom cat who could show the world how pawfull…oops, sorry! powerful, he was. But Tabby just did not want to go to the school. He loved being by himself and sometimes playing with his friends, who included mice and squirrels. However, his parents refused to listen to his protests. They told him very sternly that only if he went to the school for growing kitties and learnt how to hunt mice and squirrels would he would be able to earn his bread and milk when he grew big.

One summer day, Tabby dragged himself sadly behind his parents to the ‘Mouse Hunt Boarding School’. Ginger and Goldie left him there and returned to the shed.

Poor Tabby was miserable in the school. After three days, the little kitten made his way back home to the shed. He told his parents how horrible the school was.

“What rubbish!” roared Ginger, sounding something like a lion. “What will you do if you don’t go to school? How will you get your food if you don’t learn how to work as a mouse-hunter as I have done almost all my life?”

“Oh Daddy,” mewed Tabby sadly as he walked up to Ginger and placed his head on his paw. “I love being friends with mice and squirrels, and I just can’t get myself to hunt them.”

“But if you don’t hunt them, how will you eat?’ asked Ginger, not able to conceal his exasperation.

“Oh Daddy, the same God who gives Mummy and you food will give me food too,” Tabby replied.

Meanwhile Sammy, the wise old cat, was eavesdropping on the conversation happening up on the shed. He decided to intervene and pawed over. Placing his paw on Tabby’s head in blessing, he said, “Hey Ginger and Goldie, listen to me please! Tabby is really a blessed kitten. Please let him do as he thinks best. God will arrange everything he needs. He doesn’t have to become a mouse-catcher like us. Who knows, he might set a new trend for a new generation of kitties!”

Ginger and Goldie blinked their eyes and nodded their furry heads together. “Okay, Tabby dear, do as you think is best. God bless you,” they said, giving Tabby a warm cuddle.