Episode One:
Fish Out of Water
There are many things that make a cat’s life wonderful. When I want attention, I snuggle with my family: Mom, Dad, and young Abigail who’s six. Abigail loves to snuggle with me, and pet me, and stroke my head with her tiny fingers.
When I don’t want attention, it’s easy to slink off and hide behind the couch or on top of the cabinets. It’s a great view from the top of the cabinets.
There’s a lot to do at my home. Like sprawling on the floor laying in a patch of sunlight, or climbing up the curtains by the big window in the living room. Abigail thinks it’s funny, but Mom and Dad will usually pull me off the curtains before I can climb too high. I guess they don’t want me to get hurt.
Sometimes, I just enjoy laying on someone’s lap and watching TV. I think it’s a magic window to watch different things around the world. Mostly, I see people on the TV, but I also once saw huge cats jumping out of the brambles to chase giant, surprised antelope. Those big cats are always on the hunt. I imagine also chasing antelope across a vast grassland.
Sometimes when Abigail picks me up by giving me a giant bearhug, I don’t feel very big and tough, but I know I am. My name is Tiger after all!
~
Today, Dad came home and set something large and round on the counter. It shimmered in the light from the kitchen window, casting strange reflections onto the kitchen wall.
“Come here, little Tiger,” he called, making kissy noises. Curious, I jumped onto the counter.
In front of me, there was a large circular container, filled with water.
“See?” Dad said. “Do you like the fishy?”
I didn’t know what a fishy was, but I moved a little closer to sniff the container. I wished Abigail was downstairs. She’d probably ask what a fishy was, and Dad and Mom would answer her.
“Awe,” Dad said to Mom. “Look, Tiger’s curious. He likes the fishy. Go ahead and play with it.”
“Don’t tell him to play with it. That’s not nice.” Mom said.
Suddenly, the orange mass in the middle of the container moved. It actually MOVED, rapidly twisting back and forth.
I backed away, startled, sliding on a dish towel and nearly slipping off the counter. Ew, ew, ew. It moves!
“Awe, it’s okay little Tiger,” I felt Dad’s hand catch me. “I guess Tiger’s not interested in her. Crazy, I thought the cat would be all over the fish.”
I was about to slink off and go lay down in the sunny spot on the floor when I froze.
“Psss….” A soft voice was calling and it wasn’t Mom or Dad.
Slowly, I turned toward the container. The fishy had stopped floating aimlessly and was pressed against the end of the glass staring directly at me.
“Can you come closer? I have a very loud voice, but I’m about one-hundredth the size of you so it's really straining to yell.”
My ears perked up.
I flexed my claws on the towel, which stuck like Velcro, and then made the mistake of trying to walk toward the bowl and got stuck in place, nearly falling on my face! I heard a soft tinkling noise and realized the fish was laughing, tiny bubbles emitting from her tiny mouth.
Embarrassed, I walked closer and closer, my tail twitched, a little fluffier than usual.
“Who are you?” I asked. “And how can you fly so gracefully?”
“I’m Lily. And I’m not flying… I’m just floating” the fish said. “I’ll bet you could float in water too if you tried.”
The idea of spending even a second in water seemed terrible. I started to feel bad for the fish.
Realizing this fish could talk, suddenly, things seemed very different. It didn’t seem like this was some strange orange monster - in fact, it seemed the fish might even want to be friends. She had little paper thin fins that seemed to glide and ripple effortlessly through nothing, and her side was a deep red gold made up of hundreds of little arched scales that changed colors slightly as she moved. My eyes grew wider and wider and I slowly, slowly brought my face closer to the glass, losing sight of everything other than the fish. It was so strange and unlike anything I’d ever seen, but I was curious. I think our noses touched. At least mine touched the glass of the container, and I think hers did too.
“Lily… I’m Tiger. Welcome home.
When I don’t want attention, it’s easy to slink off and hide behind the couch or on top of the cabinets. It’s a great view from the top of the cabinets.
There’s a lot to do at my home. Like sprawling on the floor laying in a patch of sunlight, or climbing up the curtains by the big window in the living room. Abigail thinks it’s funny, but Mom and Dad will usually pull me off the curtains before I can climb too high. I guess they don’t want me to get hurt.
Sometimes, I just enjoy laying on someone’s lap and watching TV. I think it’s a magic window to watch different things around the world. Mostly, I see people on the TV, but I also once saw huge cats jumping out of the brambles to chase giant, surprised antelope. Those big cats are always on the hunt. I imagine also chasing antelope across a vast grassland.
Sometimes when Abigail picks me up by giving me a giant bearhug, I don’t feel very big and tough, but I know I am. My name is Tiger after all!
~
Today, Dad came home and set something large and round on the counter. It shimmered in the light from the kitchen window, casting strange reflections onto the kitchen wall.
“Come here, little Tiger,” he called, making kissy noises. Curious, I jumped onto the counter.
In front of me, there was a large circular container, filled with water.
“See?” Dad said. “Do you like the fishy?”
I didn’t know what a fishy was, but I moved a little closer to sniff the container. I wished Abigail was downstairs. She’d probably ask what a fishy was, and Dad and Mom would answer her.
“Awe,” Dad said to Mom. “Look, Tiger’s curious. He likes the fishy. Go ahead and play with it.”
“Don’t tell him to play with it. That’s not nice.” Mom said.
Suddenly, the orange mass in the middle of the container moved. It actually MOVED, rapidly twisting back and forth.
I backed away, startled, sliding on a dish towel and nearly slipping off the counter. Ew, ew, ew. It moves!
“Awe, it’s okay little Tiger,” I felt Dad’s hand catch me. “I guess Tiger’s not interested in her. Crazy, I thought the cat would be all over the fish.”
I was about to slink off and go lay down in the sunny spot on the floor when I froze.
“Psss….” A soft voice was calling and it wasn’t Mom or Dad.
Slowly, I turned toward the container. The fishy had stopped floating aimlessly and was pressed against the end of the glass staring directly at me.
“Can you come closer? I have a very loud voice, but I’m about one-hundredth the size of you so it's really straining to yell.”
My ears perked up.
I flexed my claws on the towel, which stuck like Velcro, and then made the mistake of trying to walk toward the bowl and got stuck in place, nearly falling on my face! I heard a soft tinkling noise and realized the fish was laughing, tiny bubbles emitting from her tiny mouth.
Embarrassed, I walked closer and closer, my tail twitched, a little fluffier than usual.
“Who are you?” I asked. “And how can you fly so gracefully?”
“I’m Lily. And I’m not flying… I’m just floating” the fish said. “I’ll bet you could float in water too if you tried.”
The idea of spending even a second in water seemed terrible. I started to feel bad for the fish.
Realizing this fish could talk, suddenly, things seemed very different. It didn’t seem like this was some strange orange monster - in fact, it seemed the fish might even want to be friends. She had little paper thin fins that seemed to glide and ripple effortlessly through nothing, and her side was a deep red gold made up of hundreds of little arched scales that changed colors slightly as she moved. My eyes grew wider and wider and I slowly, slowly brought my face closer to the glass, losing sight of everything other than the fish. It was so strange and unlike anything I’d ever seen, but I was curious. I think our noses touched. At least mine touched the glass of the container, and I think hers did too.
“Lily… I’m Tiger. Welcome home.
Next > Episode Two: Socks and Shoes
