HOW CATS CAME TO EARTH
By: Angela Li
Chapter 1
Introduction
Hi! I’m Lola Catmando, from Catafornia, planet Cat O, and I’m a hybrid cat. I’m half long haired calico, and half Australian Mist. That makes me and my brothers and sisters look kind of awkward.
My brothers and sisters are born from three litters. I’m born in the second litter, which means I’m six years old, along with Calvin, Kelvin, Melvin, and Mary Lou. I know the first three I mentioned have matching names, but that’s just the way our parents named them. The third litter of kittens was actually born two weeks ago, so Mom is still taking care of them specially. There are six kittens in that litter, consisting of four girls and two boys.
Chapter 2
The Letter
One early Sunday, we received a big whopping important-looking envelope in the mail. It looked like the kind of letter that told you important stuff, like if you were chosen to do something really special.
“Whoa! That’s one big envelope! Open it, Dad, open it!” Gregory urged. He’s one of my oldest brothers. Dad got out the letter opener and opened the brown envelope. He slid out one long page of official-looking words and started to read,
“Dear Catmando residence,
Your family has officially been chosen along with one thousand other big cat families to ride to a planet in another galaxy called the ‘Milky Way’. You will not be traveling to Mars, Venus, Jupiter, or Pluto. Neither will you be going to Saturn. Your family will be traveling out into space and landing on a planet which has been named ‘Earth’. Earth has politely asked us, the HHCC (Human Handling Cat Committee) to send a portion of our cats and kittens to their planet. They would be honored to keep some of us as their pets, and have vowed to keep us safe; not be cruel to us, and never leave as stranded in a strange place. The HHCC has thought over this and decided to let some of our cats go. If you agree with us and would be delighted to come among many of your cat friends to the big planet full of kind, loving people who would love to keep you in their cozy homes, please dial our phone number:
442-228-5083
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Kitty Katwaggle
Kitty Katwaggle,
President of the Human Handling Cat Committee
Aka HHCC,”
Dad read.
“Whoa! Dad! Do you realize what this is?! This is our big break! We’ll be known as the Brave Catmando Family! We’ll be famous! And in 2 planets!” Jeffrey, another of my brothers screamed.
“Not necessarily, Jeffrey. We will just be traveling to another planet and live there for the rest of our nine lives. We won’t be famous or anything special like that. We’ll just be one of the first to set foot on a whole different planet filled with hundreds of thousands of millions of different animals, like bears, tigers, frogs, and even sharks. And we’ll even be given new homes to live in and brand spanking new owners to take care of us,” Mom explained.
“But wouldn’t that mean we’d have to be separated for life?” wept Mary Lou. She’s always weeping about something.
“Not all of us,” Dad replied. ‘But that means we’ll still only get to be with one or two of us and some of us might have to go and live with none of us in a strange new place!’ I thought, while I nervously twitched my newly painted whiskers. I’m very proud of my whiskers. They’re the best twitchers in the county, and they are very pretty, because of my new whisker-manicure. I went to the local Pretty Whiskers Salon to get them done. I have my own whisker polish, but I prefer to have them done professionally.
Chapter 3
The Launch
We were sent a new letter the following Thursday. It told us to start packing right away and to be ready to go to the launch on Monday. We would be the third launch, since we needed more than one spaceship to get us to Earth. I packed most of my stuff into a duffel bag, but I was told that I had to leave my turtle, Tess, here in Catafornia. So I sent her over to my grandparents who weren’t coming along. We found out that my friend Emma Ellis, the tabby cat, and also Kelvin’s friend, Marcus, the hairless cat, with his family were coming too. Two Persian cat families we know came as well. One was my big sister, Misty’s friend, Polly’s family. The other was our next door neighbor, Hilary’s family. One Munchkin family; my other big sister’s friend Tiffany’s family, arrived at the big launch.
That launch was almost going to happen.
“I’m so excited!” I cried.
“So am I, Lola. Everyone is!” Emma’s brother, Edward, said.
“10! 9! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1!” an electronic voice shrieked. Suddenly, there was a low rumbling and the spaceship shot into the atmosphere, faster than the speed of light.
“Yeah! We’re going to Earth!” every single cat and kitten in the strange spacecraft cheered.
“Mew! Mew! Earth! No more Cat O!” my youngest sister, Amethyst purred.
“Shut up, Amethyst, I’m reading!” my nerdy brother Melvin hissed. My older sister Selena picked Amethyst up and tried to stop her fresh tears from flowing out of her big amethyst colored eyes. Suddenly, a loud announcement was made over the intercom. It said,“It will take way too long to actually get to Earth naturally, so our scientists and human scientists have worked together to create two portals. They will transfer objects to the other portal. We will be going into the portal nearest to us any second now. By the time we reach the other portal, it will be time for dinner. We’re having Roast Tuna! After we get through the portal, it will take half an hour to get to Earth. We’ll land on Earth in the evening. Please prepare.”
Chapter 4
The Portal
While we were preparing to get through the portal, a small kitten with nice caramel colored fur came and sat on my pink and purple boots. Then, she peed on me! She actually peed on me!
“Disgusting! Please get off me, kitten, please!” I cried.
“Oh, I’m so sorry! Bad kitty! Bad girl!” the kitten’s Mother apologized, lifting the kitten off my boots and furiously trying to clean them.
“Oh, no, it’s OK, Ma’am. I’ve got an extra pair and anyway, these are my sister’s old ones,” I told the lady. She breathed a sigh of relief and I could tell she was glad that she wouldn’t have to spend the rest of the trip cleaning her daughter’s pee off my boots. Suddenly, the intercom buzzed and started talking,
“You will now find out what homes you are going to be staying in and who you’ll be staying with.” We were so excited. We first found out that Mrs. Abby-Tabby was going to stay with her son, Aidan, at 15 Arch Road in England. When they got to the Cs, I was so nervous. Then, I found out that I’d be staying at 11 Sunday Drive with my two little sisters, Kerry and Blue, and my big brother, Aaron. But then Aaron begged to be switched so he wouldn’t have to be surrounded by three of his sisters. So he was switched to 9 Stover Street with Calvin.
Chapter 5
Through and Out the Portals
I helped Kerry and Blue put their stuff in their own duffel bags. Then, I helped them put on their new collars so that our owners will now who we are.
“We will be going through the portal in 3, 2, 1!” the voice in the intercom screeched. It didn’t really feel like much, so we kept doing what we were doing. Then, when the voice announced that we’d be going through the other portal in five minutes, we said our goodbyes. I said bye to my family first; especially Mom and Dad.
“We’ll miss you so much, Lola! Goodbye!” they both said, as they hugged and kissed me. Then, I wandered over to Emma Ellis. We’d found out that we were going to be moving in next door to each other, but we said goodbye anyway. Mary Lou was weeping again, but this time, I understood why. I went to her and tried to calm her down.
“I’ll miss you, Lola. You know I’m going to Brazil, and not to Canada like you and Kerry and Blue,” she wept.
“I’ll miss you too, Mary Lou,” I replied. We hugged and rubbed noses, which is what we used to do as a goodbye when we were little. We cried into each other’s shoulders. Then, Mary Lou went to say goodbye to our other siblings, like Liam and Jonathan and also Kyle and Flora.
Chapter 6
The Landing
We landed pretty soon on a strange new world. But it wasn’t at all like Catafornia, Cat O, where the birds were never singing, and the days were always gloomy with boredom. Here at the International Space Station, there were tons of space shuttles, rockets, and spaceships. Also, the birds were happily flying and the canaries were actually singing. The station was filled to the brim with people waiting to collect us cats to take home with them to give TLC (Tender Loving Care) to. I found Kerry and Blue in the corner, buried in duffel bags. I pulled them out, along with our three duffel bags. When the spaceship door opened, the people came running to take us. But the police stopped them and they had to show their identification to receive the kittens and cats they’d picked out. And then our owners came…
Chapter 7
Mr. and Mrs. Tendercare
Our new owners, Mr. and Mrs. Tendercare, were a young couple who had brown hair and blue eyes. After they showed their ID to the police, some other people gave them papers and pictures of Kerry, Blue, and me. Then, our new owners stepped into the spaceship and started looking for us. Then, Mrs. Tendercare called, “Look, Sam! It’s them! Our new cats!” Mr. Tendercare came rushing over. He picked me up and scanned me.
“This one’s got interesting fur! What’s your name, kitty cat?” he asked me.
“Lola Catmando,” I answered.
“Hey, Georgia! It tried to tell me its name! But all I hear is meowing and purring! Although we already know her name! It’s Lola. I know because she’s ours. Look! Those ones are ours too! Come here little fellas!” he called. He watched as Kerry and Blue strode over to him. But Blue went straight past him and over to Mrs. Tendercare. She picked her up.
“Oh, Sam, isn’t she the most adorable thing? This is Blue; I can tell. You’re holding Kerry! She looks just like Blue! Come on, Sam, we must take this adorable bunch home! Wait until you see the surprise waiting at home!” Mrs. Tendercare laughed. They took Kerry and Blue in their arms. Then, they gestured me to come walk with them to the waiting taxi.
Chapter 8
The Dog
When we reached the taxi, Mr. and Mrs. Tendercare lifted us into the backseat. Then, they climbed in themselves. They sang a merry song about how much they loved cats all the way home. Then, Mr. Tendercare paid the driver and the taxi was gone. Mrs. Tendercare pulled a key ring out of her purse and unlocked the big red front door. We went inside. But as soon as Mrs. Tendercare closed the door, a terrible barking was heard and a black dog came running straight at us. Alarmed, Mr. and Mrs. Tendercare scooped us up and out of the dog’s reach.
“This is our dog. His name is Danny.” Mrs. Tendercare said. I looked down. Danny was gnashing his teeth and snarling ferociously. “You don’t belong here! This is my territory!” he barked. But to humans, dog words sound like ordinary barks and howls, so the owners didn’t seem to notice. Just then, a six year old girl and a dirty looking one year old baby boy came walking calmly down the hall. Danny started jumping at them.
“No, Danny! Down boy! Down!” the girl commanded, laughing. Danny sat down and sat at the girl’s feet.
“Bella and Freddie, this is Lola, Kerry, and Blue, our new kittens,” Mr. Tendercare said.
“They’re so cute!” Bella, the six year old girl cooed, as she took me from her mother and stroked me tenderly.
Chapter 9
The Threat
Mrs. Tendercare told Bella to show us to our kitty beds.
“They must get their sleep! They’ve been on a spaceship already! No doubt that they’re tired. Go show them their kitty beds. Remember to move them away from Danny’s dog bed. I forgot to move it when we bought the beds, two days ago,” she said, wringing her hands guiltily.
“OK, Mommy. Can Freddie come too?” Bella asked.
“Of course, Bella,” her mother answered. Bella took Freddie’s hand and picked Kerry up in the other. Freddy clumsily picked Blue up and Bella giggled as I wound my body around her legs, meowing about who would hold me.
“Just follow us, Lola,” Bella said. I followed Bella and Freddie to the living room. But there was a big black animal in there. It was Danny, the dog we’d seen earlier, who’d threatened us. He was sitting in a fake house. It was a yellow house, hollowed out so that Danny could fit inside. The floor of it was soft and looked so comfortable that even I wanted to sleep in it. Danny watched as Bella and Freddy led us to our beds. Blue’s was a mixture of different shades of blue, the inside being a soft, cushiony baby blue pillow. Kerry’s was multicolored, and covered with swirls of pink. But mine was best. It was truly an original. It had swirls and slashes, streaks and stars. Only there was one problem. Danny was jealous. He wanted the bed. When Bella and Freddie had left the room, he lunged at me, trying to take my claws away from the bed.
“Stop it Danny! It’s my bed!” I screamed at him.
“What’s all this hissing and barking about?” Mr. Tendercare asked, as he hurried into the room.
“Oh, no! Bella forgot to move the beds! Bad dog, Danny! Bad boy! Paws off, Danny! Don’t worry, Lola! Down, Danny!” Mrs. Tendercare demanded, pulling me away from the ferocious dog. Danny immediately sat, but Mr. Tendercare didn’t get fooled by the innocent act. He spanked the dog. He then grabbed Danny’s collar and dragged him into the hall. But on the way, Danny glanced over at me, and quietly said, “I’m getting you back!”
Chapter 10
The Trouble with Behaving
Danny the dog was upset. He was so upset that he didn’t rip his dinner to shreds the way I’d always watch him do.
“What’s wrong, Danny?” I asked, finally. I couldn’t help it, but I felt sorry for him. I’m a good cat!
“Oh, it’s too sad to tell!” He replied.
“C’mon, Danny! No need to be shy!” I encouraged the big black dog.
“I told you! It’s none of your business! Oh, fine, Lola! You win. Mr. Tendercare told me bad news the other day. Remember? The day I wanted your bed, and tried to rip it away from you. Well, he told me that if I didn’t behave about you three cats being here, he’d send me straight away to the pound and arrange to have me on the kill list. He’s a stern man, that Mr. Tendercare. And what he says always goes! Once, when Freddie pooped his diaper, Bella went and flushed the diaper down the toilet. Then, the toilet got clogged and it flooded the bathroom. Mr. Tendercare got so angry that he swore that if Bella ever did that again, he’d lock her in the basement for three hours. Bella hasn’t done it again yet, but two weeks ago, her three year old cousin Ava did it by accident. Ava left before Mr. Tendercare found out, and when he did, Bella got the blame. She was locked in the basement, like Mr. Tendercare had sworn, screaming and kicking like a newborn baby. Mr. Tendercare soon found out that Ava was the one to blame, but Bella had already gone through all the suffering, so he couldn’t do anything about it. So now I’m under the same pressure as Bella was, and I can’t stand it! I mean, who wants to be sent to the scary dog pound and be put on the kill list? Those people at the pound don’t care what they kill, just so long as they kill something! That’s the trouble with behaving! And there isn’t a human pound, so of course they don’t know what it’s like, knowing that you’re about to be killed! And YOU don’t know what it feels like either, because you cats have nine lives and don’t care if you’re going to be killed! It’s just not fair!” Danny pouted, crossing his paws.
“We do too know what it’s like! When we’re on our ninth life, we can find out what it feels like!” I retorted. “But you’re only on your first life, so you don’t need to care just yet!” Danny growled.
“Well for your information, Danny the dog, I’m already on my third life. In my last life, I was a brown cat named Brownie. In that life, I drowned in a crystal clear lake. Before that, I was a Burmilla kitten named Grace, and I died seven hours after I was born. I even remember my mother, Cecilia, crying tears of joy two seconds after I was born. Plus, I even remember that I was second of the litter, born after Rex and before Sarah, Cole, and Felicity,” I declared.
“Okay, I believe you, but can you help me get out of the mess I’m in?” asked Danny.
“If you promise to stop bugging Kerry, Blue, and me, I will,” I suggested.
“Fine, I guess that’s fair,” the dog moaned, sealing the deal.
“Great! Let’s shake on it!” I said, holding out my paw. He reluctantly shook it, but I could see that he wasn’t sure I knew what I was doing.
Chapter 11
The Plan
Thinking of a plan wasn’t easy. But Danny and I met every night at three o’clock to think out a plan for him. We finally thought of one, but it clearly needed revising, so one day, when the Tendercare family went out, taking Danny with them, but leaving me and my sisters behind, I snuck into the family computer and typed in the password which I’d memorized by watching Mrs. Tendercare log on to Email her friends.
“Key lime pie,” I recited, as I typed out the password, without any spaces. Then, I pressed the ‘Enter’ button and waited. But then I realized it was the wrong password, so I typed in Lemon Meringue pie. That time, it worked, and I sat back, proud of my work. Then, I went ahead and printed out the blueprint that Danny and I had thought up. I waited as the printer spat out a piece of paper with our carefully thought of plot. It wasn’t really a blueprint, seeing as it was on white paper, so I called it my whiteprint. The whiteprint looked pretty good, but as I said before, it clearly needed revising. It was actually a very complicated plan, because it included partially brainwashing Mr. Tendercare, so I threw out the original whiteprint and spent the rest of the afternoon thinking and typing, then eventually printing, a brand new, more logical plan. That included me taking a huge risk, but I had six more lives to go if I died in the process, although since I’m a good cat, I probably wouldn’t go through all the killing. The plan was that I’d go through everything Danny went through to get the threat, and then I’d get the threat, making Mr. Tendercare forget about Danny, because according to my research, I found out that Mr. Tendercare only cares about the last promise he made, not the ones before.
Chapter 12
The Confession
We decided to carry out our plan as soon as possible, to reduce the chances of Danny getting in trouble again. Danny thought we should’ve gone with his plan, because he was a brilliant genius, and blah, blah, blah. But I glared at him with my icy, cold stare, which freaked him out so much that he was begging for mercy at my feet. So we went with my plan. We waited until we were sure Mr. Tendercare was in arms reach of my collar, and then did our stuff.
“Go, go, go!” Danny quietly cheered. He took his place at the couch, pretending to watch television with Freddie. And then I made my move. I pounced on Danny and hissed the loudest and fiercest cat hiss in the history of loud, fierce hisses. Danny jumped. I swiped at him and then pretended to scratch him. Danny was about to bark, but stopped himself just in time when he spotted Mr. Tendercare. Then, he gave me a thumbs up. That was the official signal to tell me that he was getting angry. I twisted around to see his face beet red, and steam practically coming out of his ears and nose. He lunged for my collar, and I was suddenly scared. I wanted to quit. But I was doing it for Danny; his life was in my hands. If I blew it, he’d most likely die. So I shut my eyes and waited. Mr. Tendercare grabbed my TAIL! Not my collar! He dangled me upside down, ready to scream and yell and possibly hurt me. But then he hesitated.
“I can’t do this. I give up. This would be cruel to you, Lola; I know you’re thinking that. Okay, okay, I’m sorry; it’s just that I’ve got lots of feelings stored up in me ever since Bella and Freddie’s big sister, Winter, left to go to college, with her twin brother, Steven. Winter and Steven were the brightest things in my life. They were my only real children. Bella and Freddie aren’t my real children. Georgia and I adopted them to replace Winter and Steven until they come back. We know that Winter and Steven are going to be back in some time for the holidays, but we still miss them terribly. They made me a scrapbook before they left three years ago, but I’ve lost it, and so now I can’t even take a look at even a photo of one of their faces. I take back what I said to you, Danny, and I’m sorry. I guess I’ll just have to take my time and be patient until the twins are back,” Mr. Tendercare confessed. He gently let me go on my cat tail and stroked me tenderly for five seconds before scratching Danny behind his ears and telling Freddie that it was time for bed. Then, Danny and I watched him carry the little boy up the stairs.
“We should cheer him up,” Danny finally said.
“Great idea! Let’s find that scrapbook that he talked about and give it to him!” I suggested.
Chapter 13
The Gift
Danny and I begged Kerry and Blue to help us find the scrapbook. They agreed, but made us promise that we’d give a cat treat or two for each of them or else they’d refuse to do it. All four of us searched high and low for it until we finally found it. A large, orange book with glittery stickers stuck all over it. It said World’s Best Dad Scrapbook on it and inside was pasted photos of them and Mr. Tendercare, plus some extras, like leaves they’d picked up on a nature hike, or Christmas and Valentine’s Day cards they’d made for each other. I almost cried, it was so sweet. But I held back my affectionate side and carefully held the scrapbook. We hid it underneath the sofa for a few days, to make sure it was updated, and then made the big presentation on Friday. Me and Danny held the book between us that day and walked to Mr. Tendercare. I had to let go of my side and walk in and out of his legs to get his attention, but I got it, and that’s what matters. He bent down and picked it up, then stared at it for a second. Then he screamed and shouted and shrieked with delight. He picked us up and shook us. Danny licked his cheek and then barked a happy, excited dog bark. For a second, I was scared that Mr. Tendercare would make a threat again, but he kept jumping for joy. That was the best day of my third life and probably the best day of Mr. Tendercare’s own life.
THE END