Month: January 2017

Golden Tickets

Mr. Gatto closed the book about the candy man with a sigh. He stretched and licked a paw and smoothed down his fur. It was nice that the candy man had found a family in the end.

Mr. Gatto understood the loneliness that comes from trying to stay in the shadows while running a multinational corporation.   It was hard to let anyone close. Especially if there was the added challenge of having to pull the strings so that none of the workers knew who they were really reporting to.

He sat at his laptop and started two-paw typing. He’d reviewed the camera footage and read the reports and interviews.   It was time to send out performance evaluations.

That evening, he thought over the story again. Sending out tickets to everyone certainly didn’t give the candy man much of a selection in the end. If he were to look for a family, he’d find a way to narrow down the pool.   Mr. Gatto started to make plans.

And so it was that the Good Choices Health Food Company, which made healthy packaged dinners for humans, announced a contest. People were asked to recommend someone they knew that did good deeds. A committee would go through the essays and pick four people to send on a nice vacation with their families.   The mysterious company president would pick a fifth himself.

Mr. Gatto stepped off the private plane and into the waiting car with the committee member in charge of greeting the contest winners. He was excited to meet Mrs. Simons, who had knit booties for preemies for decades. She sounded perfect.

He wandered through the reception. The other winners seemed nice enough, but just weren’t right.   They had cats or dogs already, or had a close family member allergic to cats. He approached Mrs. Simons and his heart felt like it dropped.

She was wonderful, perfect. But, she was very ill and didn’t know it yet. She wouldn’t last much longer. He sadly nuzzled her side. She patted his head and cooed over him. She offered him a taste of the lovely food he’d ordered for the reception. It tasted terrible. He left as soon as he could.

When she got her diagnosis, he anonymously paid her hospital bills. He sent flowers to her hospital room every week until she died.

The next year, he tried again. The committee picked another round of nice people. Mr. Gatto picked a college professor who taught free English classes in his spare time. Perhaps he understood loneliness too? Mr. Gatto was hopeful.

He entered the reception feeling even more nervous than last time. He saw the professor and headed straight for him.   As he approached, the professor backed up, sneezing. Mr. Gatto retreated to the far corner of the room. This had been a terrible idea.

Just then, little Maisie Pendwick who read to children in the hospital every other week for years, rounded the table filled with silverware and stopped.   “Mom, look it’s a cat,” she said.

She crouched down and Mr. Gatto cautiously sniffed her hand. She smelled healthy. She pet him. He suddenly felt warm all over from the tip of his nose to the ends of his toes.   This could be it.

“Mom, he’s wonderful. Can we keep him?” Maisie looked up at her parents.   They crouched down and let Mr. Gatto sniff them before petting him. Healthy, no other pets at home. Mr. Gatto looked up at them.

“I’d love to, but he looks well cared for. I think he belongs to someone,” Mr. Pendwick said.

“He is a very beautiful cat,” Mrs. Pendwick said. “And so friendly.”

They pet him for a while, and then left to sit down when the awards ceremony began. Mr. Gatto slipped out of the room. He had things to arrange.

When the Pendwicks came home from vacation, Mr. Gatto was waiting on their front porch, feeling terribly nervous. They welcomed him into their family at once, even though they weren’t ever sure how he found them. “I guess it was meant to be,” Maisie said.

He had a family. It was everything he’d hoped it would be. It was awkward at first to disappear into the underground office he’d built while the Pendwicks were away, but they got used to him being gone for hours everyday, so neither his business or family life suffered.

He continued the contest annually, but never went to the awards reception again.   He hoped the candy man was just as happy with the family he found.

Charlie’s Room: Toy Cat

Isaac picked up Charlie’s soft toy cat with a smile. When Great-Aunt Bethyl visited Charlie in the hospital after he was born, she brought the toy as a gift. She handed it to him and he’d snuggled into it and loved it from that moment on.

It was gray with little white paws, so Charlie named it Socks. He took Socks with him wherever he went. He ended up leaving him in odd places. At bedtime they had to hunt for Socks or Charlie couldn’t sleep. They would find him in a block tower or under the couch or in the refrigerator or some other strange place.

“Charlie, if you put Socks on your bed when you’re done playing, he’d be easier to find,” Isaac said once when Charlie was little.

“I do, but then you hide him, Daddy,” Charlie replied.

Isaac didn’t mind playing the find-Socks game, but he certainly wasn’t the one hiding the toy. Well, today he’d found him early. He picked up his pen that had also been eaten by the couch and replaced the couch cushion.

The doorbell rang. Isaac answered the door. It was his Aunt Doris. He managed to smile. “Aunt Doris, how lovely to see you. Please come in.”

She handed him a heavy suitcase and pushed past him. “I’ve come to stay for a week. I’ll stay in Charlie’s room.” She sat on the couch and looked around with a frown.

“Charlie just got a loft bed, Aunt Doris. I could pay for a hotel room for you,” Isaac said.

“Nonsense, I’ll just sleep in your room,” Aunt Doris said. “You can sleep in sleeping bags in Charlie’s room.”

“Well, um…”

Aunt Doris laughed. “I’m just kidding. Go buy me an air mattress.   It’s cheaper than a hotel room.”

“I don’t mind, Aunt Doris. That way Charlie won’t wake you up early like last visit,” Isaac said.

“I hope he’s old enough to know better. He wasn’t well behaved last time. Did you get the parenting books I sent you?” Aunt Doris folded her arms and leaned forward.

“Yes, thank you, Aunt Doris,” Isaac said. “It was kind of you.”

“Yes, well, I could see you needed lots of help,” Aunt Doris said. And then she jumped a little. “Ouch! What was that?” She pulled Socks out from under her. “This toy poked me.   It’s obviously unsafe. Go throw it away right now. Then you can go buy me an air mattress. Don’t worry about me; I brought a book.”

Aunt Doris handed Socks to Isaac and pulled a book out of her purse and started reading. Isaac looked at Socks and squeezed the toy a bit, but he didn’t feel anything sharp.   He hid the toy on top of the refrigerator and left to buy the air mattress.

While he was gone, he called to warn Marianne.   She wasn’t pleased. “She rearranged all the kitchen cupboards last time she came over.   And she kept correcting Charlie for everything he did. She even said he was breathing too loud.”

“I think she’s lonely and just wants to help,” Isaac said. “I tried to get her to stay at a hotel.”

“Maybe she won’t stay long,” Marianne said. “We’ll be back in an hour or so. I’ll tell Charlie he can have extra time on the swings. There’s no reason to hurry back.”

Isaac returned with the air mattress and managed to inflate it.   He’d bought sheets to fit and found an extra pillow and quilt in the closet. He went back into the living room. “What would you like for dinner, Aunt Doris?” He asked.

“Nothing with salt. Or sugar.   Or dairy. Or white flour,” Aunt Doris said.

“Fish and rice and broccoli?” Isaac asked.

“Brown rice,” Aunt Doris said.

“It’s a deal,” Isaac said. Aunt Doris went back to her book.

Fortunately, Charlie was happy to camp in their room on the floor. Isaac managed to sneak Socks from the kitchen and hand him off to Charlie without Aunt Doris noticing. Everyone settled in and fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, Isaac woke up to a pounding noise. Someone was knocking loudly on the bedroom door.   Somehow Marianne and Charlie slept through it. Isaac opened the door.   “Aunt Doris? Are you okay?”

Aunt Doris was glaring at him. “Of course I’m not. That terrible air mattress deflated. You must have done a bad job inflating it. I’ll watch this time and make sure you do it right.”

Isaac re-inflated the air mattress and Aunt Doris found his work acceptable. They went back to sleep.   In the morning, Isaac heard noises in the kitchen. He went out to find Aunt Doris’s suitcase in the hallway. Aunt Doris was in the kitchen cooking herself breakfast.

“I’m leaving after I eat, Isaac. I am so disappointed in you,” she said.

“What happened?” Isaac asked.

“The air mattress deflated again. I’m fairly certain this is a plot to give me a bad back and force me into a retirement home. I won’t stand for it. Take my suitcase out to my car now,” Aunt Doris said.

She was gone in less than an hour. Isaac went to Charlie’s room to check on the mattress. It was nearly flat.   He pulled off the sheets. The top looked fine. He flipped it over. Socks was on the floor under the far corner. How had Socks ended up there?

Isaac found two little clusters of five pinholes in the far corner of the mattress. He picked up socks and checked his paws. No hidden claws. “Socks, did you do that?”   Socks didn’t answer.

Marianne came in. “Where’s Aunt Doris?”

“She left. She was upset the mattress kept deflating,” Isaac said.

Marianne leaned over his shoulder and looked at the little holes in the plastic. “It must have been faulty, you should return it.”

Isaac looked at Socks again. “Hmmm. Maybe you’re right. I’ll need to write Aunt Doris an apology again.”

“Well, at least she probably won’t visit for another year,” Marianne said.

“I guess we could visit her?” Isaac said.

“We’ll discuss it,” Marianne said.

Grandfather and George: The Pebble

George rushed over to his grandfather’s house after school. “Grandfather, look at this,” he said as soon as he’d closed the door.

“Take your coat off and come in to the living room,” Grandfather said.

George hung up his coat and hurried in. He held out his hand. On his palm there was a tiny, glowing, silver pebble. “On my way to school, a crow landed in front of me and dropped this on the sidewalk. What is it?”

Grandfather held out his hand. George tipped his palm and watched the pebble roll down onto grandfather’s palm. Grandfather held it in the light from the window and the pebble dimmed. He blocked the sunlight with his other hand, and it glowed softly.

“What is it?” George asked again.

“I think it’s a star,” Grandfather said. “It’s come loose.”

“I thought stars were made of plasma or burning gasses or something,” George said. “We learned about it in science.”

“Of course not,” Grandfather said. “The moon isn’t made of cheese and the earth isn’t flat either.”

“I know that,” George said.

“Perhaps, but people always believe such crazy things and call it science. The science changes, but the new ideas are still crazy. Science is like that,” Grandfather said.

“I thought science was all about proving things,” George said.

“Yes, yes, but they don’t realize that they’re leaving things out, so they keep getting these weird ideas,” Grandfather said.

George frowned. “But, if that’s a star, why did the crow bring it to me?”

“He probably wanted you to put it back.” Grandfather smiled. “You should do that. The night sky just wouldn’t be the same without all its stars.”

“How?” George asked. “And why did the crow choose me?”

“Toss it in the air just after sunset. It will find its place,” Grandfather said. “Just make sure you toss it outside.” He handed the pebble back to George. “I think the crow picked you because it trusted you to help.   You’re a good boy, George.”

George held the pebble tightly in his fist. He opened his hand a little and peeked at the star. “I’ll take care of it,” he said.

“Of course you will,” Grandfather said. “Would you like a snack?”

That evening, George sat on his bed and watched the sun set. It was beautiful. The sky looked like it was painted with ribbons of color. The colors deepened and darkened.

George opened his window. A chilly breeze blew in. The air felt sharp on his warm face. He held out the pebble. It glowed brightly. He tossed it up and away into the air.

It went up in an arc and paused. Just when George thought it would fall, it started to rise, slowly at first and then faster and faster. It gleamed brightly for a moment, and then George could barely see it.   It had found its place in the sky.

The next day, George went to his Grandfather’s house after school again.   He hung up his coat and found his grandfather in the kitchen, putting together some strange device that looked like a lantern with arms and legs.

“What’s that?” George asked.

“A phoenix house. I think I saw one eyeing the tree out back. It’ll need a safe place to nest, poor thing. It’s certainly the wrong weather for rebirth. I’ll have to add a little heater,” Grandfather said.

“But phoenixes aren’t real,” George said. “I think.”

“Nonsense, of course they are,” Grandfather said. “So, what happened with your star?”

“I put it back, just like you said.” George reached into his pocket and opened his hand to reveal three more glowing silver pebbles. “This morning, on my way to school some crows swooped down and dropped these in front of me.”

“That’s great. You must have done a good job,” Grandfather said.

“Is this going to happen every morning?” George asked.

“Perhaps.” Grandfather said. “Stars fall more often at some times and less often at others. Some nights there are hundreds of falling stars.”

“Hundreds?”

“Don’t worry about that right now,” Grandfather said. “I’m sure it will be fine. Do you want a snack?”

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The New Family

After Lavi’s parents were captured, he was sent to live with his parents’ friends, the Hyder family. He was a little nervous, because he was a lion and they were rabbits. What if he accidentally ate somebody? He was relieved to learn that wasn’t possible, and soon felt at home with his new family.

He made new friends, but still got phone calls from his old friends, too.   Unfortunately, not all of his old friends were willing to accept his new friends and family. He was tired of the jokes and mean comments.

His latest phone call with Leander was pretty typical. “Hey Lavi,” Leander said. “Invite me over to eat…I mean meet…your new family.” Leander laughed as though he hadn’t said the exact same joke the last three times they’d talked.

“Fine,” Lavi said. “Invite Lelle to come too. Meet my new family. I think you’ll be surprised.”

“Your loss, Lavi,” Leander said. “Just kidding. We’ll come.   Just say when.”

Lavi arranged the visit with Mrs. Hyder. A week later, he met Leander and Lelle at the bus stop. “Wow, you’re really out in the middle of nowhere, aren’t you?” Lelle asked.

“Have you eaten anyone yet?” Leander asked.

“Of course not,” Lavi said. They started walking.

“Doesn’t your new family have a car?” Lelle asked.

“Of course they do,” Lavi said. “They just really, really believe in the importance of exercise.”
It took a while to finally reach the gate at the end of the driveway.   Lavi entered the code at the gate and it slowly slid open. He guided his friends through the maze of traps and obstacles. “Is it always like this?” Leander asked.

“Yeah,” Lavi said. “It’s fun.”
They had to rescue Lelle from a net that trapped her high in a tree.   Leander lost an inch of fur on his tail when he stepped on the wrong brick in the garden path. Both of them had a hard time swinging on the rope over the snake pit at the heart of the hedge maze.

“Isn’t there a shortcut?” Lelle asked.

“Yes,” Lavi said, “but I’ve never quite figured out fire walking, so I’d rather avoid it.”

At the front door, tiny bunnies dressed in black and bristling with weapons surrounded them. “Are you novices or intruders?” A bunny asked.

“Do you know the password?” Another asked.

“You’re taking too long,” a third said. He poked Leander in the calf with a needle, and Leander crumpled.

“Kevin! They’re guests,” Lavi said.

“Sorry,” the little bunny said. He lifted Leander with one arm as though he weighed nothing. “I’ll take him to the parlor.”

He walked off, but the other bunnies pressed in closer.   “Do your guests want to spar, Lavi?   We’re between missions,” one asked.

“I’ll let you know. Leander will probably have to recover first,” Lavi said.

“Fine, fine. Remind him not to eat pineapple for two weeks, okay?” The bunny said. Then all the little bunnies melted into the bushes.

“Where did they go?” Lelle asked.

“Oh, they’re still here somewhere,” Lavi said.   “Let’s go inside and find Leander.”

Leander was sitting on the sofa, clutching his head.   “What happened?” he asked.

“You were taken out by little ninja assassins,” Lelle said. “Honestly, Lavi, you could have warned us.”

“Warned you about what?” Lavi asked.

“The traps and killer bunnies for starters. I mean, that’s not normal, Lavi,” Lelle said.

Leander groaned. “Quieter please. I think my head may split open.”

“My family was just like this. I found out my parents worked with the Hyders. It was such a relief to know that I’d fit right in,” Lavi said.

“Your house was like this?” Leander said.

“Yeah, but my parents never let me have anyone over.   The Hyders are so friendly and welcoming. Sometimes I worry people will take advantage of them,” Lavi said.

Mrs. Hyder appeared at his elbow. “Oh, thank you Lavi. Don’t worry about us, though. We’ll be fine. Would your friends like some cookies?” A tray appeared out of nowhere. Leander and Lelle cautiously reached out for the treats. “Oh, don’t take the coconut ones dears, unless you’re immune to arsenic.   I put those out for Lavi.”

Leander and Lelle pulled their hands back. Lavi took a coconut cookie with a smile.   “Thank you, Mrs. Hyder. You’re very kind.” He bit into his cookie and munched happily.

Lelle smiled a weird sort of smile. “Hey, Lavi? I’m not feeling so good. Do you know when the next bus leaves?”

Leander stood up. “I’ll walk you there, Lelle,” he said. “We could leave now and wait at the station.”

“You just got here,” Lavi said.

“And we had a very lovely time,” Leander said.

“Thanks for inviting us, Lavi,” Lelle said. “Now show us the way out, please.”

“Fine,” Lavi said. “Thank you for coming. Now let’s go.”

His old friends didn’t have anything bad to say about his new friends and family after that. They also called a lot less often.

Green Puppy

The morning after the thunderstorm, Sam put on his rain boots and ran out into the muddy garden. After the early frost, mom had left the garden clean up until spring. So there were bits of vines and late vegetables strewn here and there, peeking from the slush left from the snowstorm earlier in the week.

In the back corner there had been a watermelon vine. The last watermelon hadn’t ripened in time to be picked.   Sam stomped through the mud to look at it again. But it wasn’t there.

Instead, there was a green puppy. It was light green with darker green stripes running down its sides and back.   It wagged its tail when it saw Sam and barked. It ran in a circle around him and then it put its muddy paws on his leg and barked again.

Wow! Sam had always wanted a puppy.   He bent over and started petting the puppy. He scratched behind its ears.   The puppy wagged its tail and twisted away.

It started chewing on the garden hose. “No, Puppy,” Sam said. He tried throwing a stick for it to chase. The puppy’s tail grew, vine-like, and caught the stick. It kept chewing on the hose.

“That was weird, Puppy,” Sam said. “Don’t do that.” The puppy dropped the stick and wagged its short-again tail. It raced off after a bird.

The bird flew up and perched on a bush. The puppy raced into the bush. Sam could hear branches breaking. “Stop, Puppy, stop,” he said.

The puppy didn’t listen. The bird flew off. Puppy spit little black seeds after it. Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa. So weird. Sam laughed. “Do that again Puppy,” he said. The puppy wagged its tail.

It pounced on him again. Sam looked down at the muddy paw prints. “Puppy, you need a bath,” he said.

He wrapped puppy in his coat and carried him into the house. “Mom, I found a puppy.”

Sam’s mom came down stairs. “Oh, poor thing. Is he covered in paint?   You should give him a bath,” she said.

“Okay,” Sam said. Puppy jumped in the bathtub as soon as the water was running. It wagged its tail and looked like it was smiling.

“Isn’t that cold, Puppy?” Sam asked. He turned up the hot tap. The water began to warm up. Puppy growled and tried to bite the faucet.

Sam turned off the hot tap. The water ran cold again. The puppy wagged its tail. “Cold it is, then,” Sam said.

Puppy didn’t like the soap either. He picked it up with his vine tail and tossed it at the wall. He started drinking the cold bath water, and he started getting bigger.

“I’m not sure that’s a good thing,” Sam said.

Mom came in. “Did the paint come off?” She asked. She looked at the green puppy. “You might want to use soap.”

“I think it’s not really a puppy,” Sam said. “I think it’s our watermelon.”

“That doesn’t really make sense, Sam.” Mom picked up the soap. “Why is the soap over here?” When she walked over to the bathtub, the puppy’s vine tail snatched up the soap and tossed it again.

“See, it’s a watermelon. Maybe lightning hit it last night or something,” Sam said.

“It still doesn’t make sense,” Mom said. She started scrubbing the puppy clean with a washcloth. The puppy drank more water and grew a little more.   “Bath’s done,” she said. Mom pulled the plug and put the puppy on the counter. She started toweling him dry as the bathtub drained.

“Can we keep him?” Sam asked.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Mom said. “But if he is our watermelon, I guess we are responsible for him.”

“It’ll be great, you’ll see,” Sam said. The puppy spit black seeds at the mirror. Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa. Mom looked at Sam. “See? Pretty funny,” Sam said.

Mom looked at the puppy. He wagged his tail. “I still think this is a bad idea,” she said.

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A Timely Vacation

Melanie was in her room reading. Unexpectedly, there was a thumping sound in her closet. She put the book down. Someone giggled, even though there wasn’t anyone else in the room. Melanie ran for the door.

“Wait, Melanie,” a young sounding voice said. Melanie paused, halfway out the door. A small child tumbled out of the closet, followed by two older children.   The oldest seemed to be around Melanie’s age.

“You can’t call her Melanie,” the oldest child said.

“Well I can’t call her Grandma,” the youngest child said. “She doesn’t look old enough. It would be weird.” Read More