The Cat Did That? by David Michaelson

Author:David Michaelson [Michaelson, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction
Publisher: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing
Published: 2015-04-14T00:00:00+00:00

CURIOSITY SCARED

THE CAT

The first cat the Tuttle family had was a black male named Chuck.

Chuck did not like sudden noises of any kind. He did not like the noise from motors, fireworks or even a dropped spoon. A distant backfiring truck sent poor little chuck into hiding.

Every week Mister Tuttle mowed the lawn and every week Chuck hid under the back porch steps.

After Chuck died from eating a poisoned mouse, the Tuttles got a new cat, this time a little female kitten named Flora.

It is amazing how different two cats are from each other, and it’s not much different between the two Tuttle children. Maybe that’s the way it is with all animals: there are no two exactly alike.

Now, Flora ran freely around the yard when the mower was running, but she did not seem afraid of it, just respectful and curious.

Mister Tuttle always allowed the engine to cool off before putting it away in the garden shed. He claimed it was not good to put a hot motor into a closed space until it had a chance to cool off.

Well, Flora seemed interested in the motor as if cooled down because it crackled, snapped and popped as the metal parts lost their heat.

Flora would bat at the machine with her paws, as if to tell it to be quiet. Or, maybe she was hunting it, as cats are prone to do.

But one day, while the machine was cooling down, Flora touched the muffler, which was still very hot.

No one knows how a cat can jump five or six feet straight up when frightened, but they can all do it. Flora launched herself at the first contact with the hot part.

When Flora came back down, she ran off at full speed and hid in the dark space under the back steps, just like Chuck had done when he was alive.

Timmy was worried that Flora might have been hurt, but Mister Tuttle said that is the only way she will learn to stay away from hot things.

Timmy had to agree: he no longer had any desire to put one of his fingers in the blue flames on the gas stove.

After a while, the mower was put away. When everything seemed back to normal, Flora came out from her hiding place and snuggled up to Timmy.

Timmy was allowed to pick up Flora’s paw and check to see if she was burned like his finger was. But her little pads all looked the same, so Timmy figured the kitty wasn’t hurt too badly.

The two of them sat on the back steps talking about the dangers of hot things. Well, to be truthful, Timmy did all the talking. Flora didn’t say anything—but she did start purring. Timmy figured that was her way of telling the story about the time she touched something hot she shouldn’t.

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