Once upon a time
there was A Wee Small Palace
(because Palaces come in all sizes, you know)
perched at the tiptop of a mountain.
Though nice enough by certain standards,
it was considered A Palace
because of the waterfall on which it sat.
A waterfall that went down
and down
and down
all the way into a magical lake.
Inside The Wee Small Palace,
two kitties lived side by side.
Though he could fool you because he primped a lot,
obviously concerned with his appearance,
the one named God
(which is dog spelled backwards, you know)
could be a bit of a bully.
Even in her beautiful coat of many colors,
our girl Pipp
was skittish of anything that breathed
(which often made her the perfect target for God.)
Despite her generalized and pervasive cautiousness,
Miss Pipp did love and trust one person:
the woman called Jeanne,
often showing her affection
by running figure 8’s around Jeanne’s feet,
something that caused Jeanne to stumble
and trip
and cuss.
Though annoyed at not being able to walk
through her own house without incident,
Jeanne knew that as a baby,
Miss Pipp was attacked by a predator,
and she just always assumed
that the memory of that
rendered Miss Pipp unable to play
or love
or be loved
in the usual sense.
One gloriously temperate fall day,
our Miss Pipp was so besotted
that her figure 8’s took her right ouside with Jeanne,
an act that surprised everybody,
including Miss Pipp.
As Miss Pipp walked around,
trying to get her bearings,
it became increasingly obvious that God was not just surprised,
God was annoyed.
God was upset.
God was quite possibly even concerned.
“Maybe you haven’t noticed,
but MISS PIPP IS OUTSIDE.
This is not good.
This is not right.
DO SOMETHING,”
God begged Jeanne repeatedly.
Jeanne,
whom God now considered an Absolute Fool,
simply went to fetch her camera.
God paced
and he perched
and finally he just stopped and stared.
Once over her initial shock of being outside,
and realizing that God couldn’t get to her now,
Miss Pipp decided maybe it wasn’t so bad being outside and on her own.
She explored a bit
then she just laid down to enjoy catching a few rays
in her newfound peace.
Understanding how a girl often needs to be outside by herself,
Jeanne went back inside and set about doing the laundry.
Or something.
Eventually Miss Pipp knocked on the door
saying she was ready to come in now, please
and after an initial rumble
that sounded for all the world like God was saying
“WHAT ON EARTH POSSESSED YOU TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?”
though it could have been that he was actually saying
“What was it like out there, Miss Pipp? Tell me everything”
sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference
between scolding and relief, you know,
the two kitties are back together again.
And while Miss Pipp
settles down by the warm breeze
from the ice maker
and dreams of being a jungle kitty,
God sleeps the sweet restorative sleep of knowing
that disaster was avoided
and all’s right in his world again.
The End.
Though maybe it’s really The Beginning . . .
If I could, I would purchase this as picture book for the coffee table that I’ll some day own when I forget that coffee tables are notorious shin magnets. But perhaps some day I’ll forget that and think it was to prevent little ones from bumping their growing heads. 😉 But oh! I loved this story!
You make me laugh, Sugar!
I agree–this is a book in the making! xo
how did you know that i was just emailing you? you don’t have to answer. we both know how that happens. xoxo
Of course you already know I am going to say how much I love this, me being the craziest of crazy cat ladies. I smiled all the way through and chuckled in several places. Way to keep God on his toes. xoxo
Miss Pipp had a crush on George, you remember. A big crush.
How wonderful, I think, I hope
I know what you mean, Debbie. I hope Miss Pipp didn’t like it so much that now she makes a run for it every time the door opens!
i love cats, i love God, and miss Pip and you xxx this has started the day off just right… and i hold that tiny difference between scolding and releif very close to my heart <3
figured you’d understand the fine line between scolding and relief. xoxo
L.O.V.E.
thank you.
this was just the perfect tale and I dream of being in Jeanne’s presence one day.
We dream together, Sugar. We will breathe laughter and stories. Oh my goodness, we will.