This work is featured fiction.
This story is about a Burmilla called Peter, who gets lost.
Lost!: Peter finds himself lost after being a stowaway in a fish van[]
Fish. I could smell it. The scent was coming from a randomly placed van with the back doors open. I looked around me. It was still early in the morning, so most of the human beings were still in bed. And they say we’re lazy!
I watched as a human came and out some more fish in the back of the van. Surely no one would mind if I had some. There was certainly more than enough for a family of humans! So I went up to the doors and hopped in. As I looked around, I could see fish galore. Cod, Haddock, little thin ones and big fat ones. Heaven! As I went up to a box to decide which one I should eat first, I heard footsteps. The person was coming back! If I was seen in here, I would be thrown out the van and that meant… no fish! This was a disaster. I dived into a box of fish, hoping that my bluish Burmilla coat would hide me. The man reached into the van and put in another box. This one had the largest fish I had ever seen in it! Then the man closed the van door and locked it. Uh oh.
I thought this was a real fish... turns out it was a cake!
I hopped out of the box of fish, scattering them everywhere. I would have cleaned them up (with my mouth) if the large fish hadn’t caught my eye. I padded up to it, and then with a big leap I jumped onto it, ready to gobble it all up. But you know what? When I landed on it, my paws just sunk into it. This wasn’t a fish… it was a cake! Then the man drove off, and I fell over and sunk back down into the cake again.
I sat up, spitting crumbs of cake out of my mouth. Yuck! I don't see why humans like that sort of disgusting stuff. I hopped back to the floor again, and lay down surrounded by fish that skidded across the floor whenever the van went round a corner. And then I realised how bad this was. I was in a truck which I wasn't supposed to be in. I had no idea where it would take me. I didn't know whether I would ever see home again. I might never see the nap tree again! No more Sunday cat-naps in the shade of that short stubby tree with extra-thick leaves, blocking out the sunlight.
I started to run up and down the van. I was worried. I needed a way out! I kept running up and down and up and down, until I slipped on one of the discarded fish. I slid across the floor at an alarming speed and crashed into the van doors. As I stepped back, feeling slightly dizzy, I saw the large cat-shaped dent I'd made. Oops. I needed to calm down, or the whole van would end up dented and I'd end up with brain damage. What better way to calm down than a cat nap? I climbed back into the crate of fish, which was nearly empty now since the fish were all over the floor. I closed my eyes and managed to fall asleep.
I was awoken some time later. I wondered what had woken me up. Then I realised. The sound of a lock. The man was unlocking the van door. I could hear him muttering to himself. I don't understand what humans say. The only word I can translate is 'Peter'. Apparently, that's my name. I jumped into a different box of fish, so maybe I could hide myself. The man opened the door and looked all around the van. I knew he would have spotted that strange dent in the back of his van, and he was looking for me. He frowned at the half-empty box, and the fish scattered all across the floor. His frown deepened when he saw the box I was in... because the fish were moving up and down! Well, I had to breathe. I sensed that he was reaching in towards the box. This was my only chance of escape. As he was leaning over, I pounced out from the box. Hopping over his back, I jumped down to the side of the road outside and up onto the pavement. Then I raced away round the corner, leaving the fish man staring after me, scratching his head.
The Nasty Dog: A large fierce dog seems to have his eye on the main cat-racter[]
I ran down the roads. None of the road names were familiar. Well, none of the lengths of the road names were familiar. I haven't actually learnt to read yet. But from where I come from, the sign at the end of my road has five strange symbols on it. And then there's a gap and another four symbols. But none of the road signs I saw had that amount of strange symboly things, and some even had ones I'd never seen before. Like one that looked like a tree with no leaves on, and another that looked like a funny shaped cresent moon. I had to face it... I was lost.
I was getting tired. So I stopped running and crawled under a nearby car. I was also hungry. I may have been in that van full of tasty fish just now, but I had been so worried about the whole lost thing that I hadn't had time to eat any. But then, with my brilliant cat eyesight, I caught a flicker of movement in one of the nearby gardens. I stalked across the road towards the barred gate. There was a sign on it. There were six wierd symbols, then a gap, then two of them, another gap, and three at the end. I was sure it wasn't that important if the humans had to write in such nonsense. Another flicker of movement drew my attention away from the sign, and I spotted my prey. A little fat doormouse.
I silently squeezed through the bars of the cage, and crouched down into the grass. The doormouse had it's back towards me and it was cleaning it's whiskers. Isn't it handy when your lunch comes already washed? I crept towards it, and with a big pounce I grabbed it round the neck.
"Tell me the way home and I won't eat you!" I told him. He gave me a look that clearly told me he couldn't understand what I was saying.
"Squeak!" he replied, pointing towards a house-shaped wooden thing at the end of th garden. That was not my house. So, as a punishment, the mouse was my meal. But then I heard growling. And the sound of large paws walking towards me. They stopped right behind me, and I cautiously looked round. I found my self face to nose with a large, fierce looking dog.
I didn't move for a few seconds. I was in trouble. And I had a mouse tail sticking out of my mouth. The dog growled again. I had one chance of escape. In an eyeblink, I flicked out my claws and scraped them across the big dog's nose. He howled in pain, and I ran for it. Soon, he was after me. I had to buy myself some time, because there was no way I'd get through the bars on the gate before the dog had got through me. At full speed, I raced towards the fence. I managed to pull a sharp turn just before I reached it. Big dogs, however, are not as agile as cats are. So while I was free to speed towards the gate, he hit the fence at full speed. I was able to get through the bars of the gate, but I hadn't realised that we had been going to fast that the dog had knocked the fence down! He was temporarily stunned, but then he shook his head, and looked straight at me with those piercing eyes of his. Before I realised what was happening, he launched himself at me.
There was no time to lose. I spun round and sped down the road at full blast. At that point, I noticed that there was an open drain cover in the middle of the road. There were some builders standing around it, but as they looked up from the hole and saw the dog, they all ran away. The dog lunged at me again. I made it to the hole with the dog snapping at my tail. I stuck my claws into the ground as best I could, crouched down and screeched to a halt. Meanwhile the dog went flying over me and fell down the hole. There was a howl of anger that got quieter and quieter, until there was a faint splash which came from far down below. Phew. I was safe. As I stood up again, I thought that I might as well see if I could find a town... and some more food.
The Skateboarding Cat: A skating Burmilla is seen speeding down a hill on a skateboard[]
After ten minutes of walking, I had come to the top of a hill. Along the road far down below, I could see a town. There were tiny cars driving about everywhere, and nearby I could see a skateboard park. I saw a pile of skateboards piled up near the kiosk, where people use little round shiny things and pieces of paper to borrow them. I wonder why people like that paper so much, when there's this other paper that they just put at the bottom of my litter tray. As I watched the people standing on those moving things, I came up with a plan to get to the town more easily.
When no one was looking, I climbed up the chain-link fence. It was harder that I thought! I slipped back down again and spotted a gap at the bottom of it a few metres away. I decided to go through there instead. Then, creeping along quietly on my padded paws, I made my way to the pile of planks which the humans were riding on. Of course, they weren't riding on these ones, but you know what I mean. I listened while the man inside took out a paper thingy, which apparently is called a newspaper, and sat down to read it. Then I crept to the pile of planks and pulled one out. I ran back over to the gap in the fence, pushing the plank along on it's tiny wheels. After pushing the plank out through the gap, I turned it to face the town. Well, it might have been facing the other way, since the back and front looked exactly the same so I couldn't tell which was which. Then I climbed on. As I did, I smelt a very putrid smell. I looked around, and behind me was a very angry-looking, very wet-looking dog.
I recognised it at once. It was that mean one that chased me before. It started barking madly and charged towards me. Pushing the plank along the ground, I started to pick up speed. But the dog was gaining on me. Fast. I peddaled my paws as fast as possible, until I started going downhill. I didn't know this plank would go so fast! I had all my claws stuck into it as it sped down the hill at super-speed. The dog was far behind now. But I had no idea how to control this out-of-control plank!
There was a bump as it went off the pavement and into the road. It wasn't a busy road, but I was heading straight for a car! The lady inside looked quite shocked at a cat speeding towards her on a moving plank, and she swerved left and right. As the car skidded and was about to tip over ontop of me, I ducked. I went traight underneath the car, and managed to miss it's spinning tires. I then realised that by leaning left and right, I could control where I went. I was coming close to the town now, and the plank was starting to slow down. I looked behind me to see where the dog was. It was still running towards me, but it was only halfway down the hill. I decided to hop off the board and find somewhere to hide.
I ran past tall buildings, cars, and loads of shops. But no hiding places! It was at that moment that I ran into a man. A man with a very strange suit on, and a badge with more of those wierd symbols on them.He was holding one opf those poles with a loop at the end. But I didn't care what he looked like, I got up again and continued down the road. After running round the corner, I heard a very strange noise. It sounded like a bark and a whine and a choking noise all piles into one. I took the chance and looked back round the corner again. The man had put the loop around the dog's neck, and now it was thrashing around and baring it's teeth at the man, trying to get free. But the man wasn't letting go, and he lead the dog to a van and put it in a cage. Before the dog could get out again, he closed the door.
I was relieved. This man was my hero! I would have gone to thank him, but I saw him coming towards the corner with his pole-loop. And then I realised what he was doing... he was coming back for me!
Taken Away: Peter arrives at an animal shelter... but will he ever arrive home?[]
I immediately retreated. I needed to skidaddle. I spun around and took off towards the main part of the town. Meanwhile, the man was following me. Fortunately, being a cat, I easily outran him. Looking back, I saw him speak into a little box thing. I personally thought he was mad. I mean, what's the point in talking to a box!? Suddernly a lady jumped out in front of me and threw down a net. It landed ontop of me and I was trapped!
I tried using my claws to escape. But the rope was so thick that nothing happened. I tried biting through it. Still nothing. The lady picked up the bundle of net and cat and took me back to the van. There, I was put in a cage, and the door was closed. The dog was barking madly through the bars that separated us. I pushed myself as close to the other end of my cage as possible. If I was sure about one thing, it was that wherever I was being taken, I sure wasn't going to like it.
The van drove for ages. It finally pulled up outside a large building, with a simular logo thing to what the man had on his shirt. Me and the dog were taken inside. The man went up to a block of wood where another man was standing. Then they started talking in some of their human gobbledy-gook. Then we were taken inside another room. A woman in a white suit was standing by a table, and I watched as the dog was put on it. Then they put a thing over his mouth. I now felt a bit safer since his teeth were hidden. Then they moved a metal thing around over the back of his neck. There was a beep and a green light flashed. The humans seemed pleased. I think green lights make people happy. For example, there are all boxes on some corners of the road, and whenever a green light comes on then the humans look happy and then they drive away. So, conclusion, green lights make humans happy.
The lady looked at the dog, parting it's fur and they even checked its rear end. Then they took it through a door where I heard lots of barking. I swallowed hard. Then the lady put me on the table and waved the thing over my neck. Would I make a green light flash? I had a suddern horrible thought. What if instead of a green light, a red light flashed? Maybe they have ranks or something and the machine decided who can go through to the next room, whereas the others get left behind? The lady finished waving the piece of metal above me. No green light. Luckily, no red light either. They checked me like the dog, and then I was taken to another room. Thankfully it wasn't the same one as the dog had been taken through.
I looked all around me, at all the millions of cats in the room. I noticed that most of them seemed to be black. There were a few tabby cats and even one very hairy cat which looked like it might not have been able to see, and there was even a few cats with three legs. I was put in a pen at the end of the room, near a window. A cooling breeze wafted through it. The humans closed the door and I was left all by myself.
The next morning, I woke to the smell of food. Not the kind of food I usually had, but never mind. It was good to get something to eat. A lady patted me and then went out of the pen, closing the door behind her. It was ok, but I wanted my human back. The young pup, with unusually long fur on her head. Brown fur, that flowed all the way down her back. She knew what my favourite food was. She knew where I liked to be stroked, just behind my right ear. And she knew where home was. But I didn't know where she was.
A Miracle in Humans: A familiar human comes to visit Percy and to take him home[]
Afternoon came. It was raining outside, and the lady came and closed the window. I lay in the cat bed, with my head on my paws. I was thinking about my human. Wishing that she was here. And wishing it could be nicer weather outside. But the rain continued drumming down on the window, and my human didn't come.
Three whole days went by. My human wasn't coming for me. Did she not know that I had been taken hostage by this mob of humans? Or had she forgotten all about me? I didn't like to think about it, but the second option was beginning to feel more true.
On my fourth day at the place, I woke up to see the sun shining. It had stopped raining at last. I had a stretch, licked myself, and heard the door open. I padded over to the door of the pen I was in. It wasn't my human. It was an elderly lady with grey hair. Although I had a funny feeling that I'd seen her before. Then it suddernly fell into place. Because following the lady was a young pup. One with long hair that flowed down her back...
The pup ran towards the pen I was in. It was my human! She had come back for me! She reached through the bars in the pen and stroked me behind my right ear, and then the door was opened and she scooped me up into her arms. I hadn't realised how loud I was purring until the lady with my human pointed it out. But I couldn't help myself. I was so happy that I was finally going to find my way home!