Minnie Moo
The Extraordinary adventures
of an Ordinary cat
An inspirational tail of courage and change
Copyright 2012 Magdalena VandenBerg,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0938-2
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
CHAPTER 1
Don’t judge a cat by its coat.
Before I chase my tail telling tales of my brave adventure I’m taking a few moments to tell you about my friend. Out on one of my daily walks I bumped into a very fashionable black and white cat called Mr Tuxedo.
Known as Mr T it was a little tricky to find his head. He was sporting a rather elegant collar cone. Super wide this cone, let’s call it that because of its ice cream cone shape, sits at the base of the neck reaching all the way up protecting the head and ears. So impressed I couldn’t resist walking up to say, ‘Wow Mr Tuxedo you look so cat-chic in your cone inspired tuxedo.’
Speaking like he was in an echo chamber he happily said, ‘why thank you Minnie Moo, Moo, oo, oo I’ve just been to the kind animal doctor with a really long name. The veterinarian found a troublesome spot on the top of my head and sent me in for surgery. It didn’t hurt one bit. Now I have to wear this cone to stop myself from scratching.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry for being flippant. I thought you were dressed in the latest fashion from the catwalk in Catalonia. Instead you were curled up wearing hospital pyjama’s.’
‘Ha, Ha!’ laughed Mr T, ‘I wish I was wearing it for fun. Sometimes it gets in the way and makes me grumpy. Luckily I don’t have to wear it forever and, I can still eat plenty of tasty cat treats!’
A few days later I woke just before the cheeky morning birds began chirping their way through another dawn chorus. Jumping off the bed I stretched before walking over to my very own dining mat for a bowl of my usual crunchy cat cereal. Luckily, my Mama M was awake too. Even though it was still early she happily did the one thing my four paws couldn’t do. She opened the door for me and I stepped outside breathing in the fresh morning air. With my cute-as-a-button pink nose twitching in the air I was off to enjoy another beautiful day.
I soon reached the fence keeping the woolly sheep safe in their grassy paddock. The sun was rising promising a blue-sky day and sunshine. Daydreaming, I was startled to see a lone figure sitting on top of a fence post. There sat Mr T looking like a wise old owl, lost in his own little world. I looked up and said, ‘good morning, why are you sitting up there all by yourself?’ Not answering, I yelled again just in case the cone had muddled his hearing.
Half expecting him to Hoot! Hoot! Mr T answered in his normal cat voice. ‘Hi Minnie Moo, don’t worry. I heard you the first time. Up here there is just enough room for the cone and, me. More importantly I’m on lookout patrol. I’ve got this eerie feeling a menacing hawk family has moved in to live in those tall trees all the way over there.’ Lifting his paw, Mr T pointed in the direction of the trees. ‘Anyway I’m worried one day soon a hawk will swoop down to pluck up one of the little anipals for a tasty snack. I heard from the latest twitter buzz, anipals are animals as our pals. Nice huh!’
At the mere mention of the word hawk I felt myself shrink in fear. For as long as I can remember I’ve been so scared of those beady-eyed birds. A few years ago I was living down the road and round a corner from my current house. In the lounge hung a large ceiling fan. With a quick flick of the switch the wooden blades swooped around in fast circles cutting the air with swish-swish sounds. I thought the fan was a hawk. No one could tell me differently. Out of fear I never set one paw in that lounge. What if this hawk flew right down from the ceiling clutching me in crooked gnarly claws before taking me away to never-to-be-seen-again land? Even today the H word makes the hair on my back stand up just like one of David Beckham’s haircuts.
Breaking into my fearful thoughts and unaware of my hawk-o-phobia, Mr T suggested I volunteer my services. ‘Hey, do you want to come on an adventure with me? I’m planning to walk all the way over to Little Village to warn the anipals of their new neighbors?’ Looking around in case he was talking to someone else, I looked on in disbelief. ‘What? Are you kidding me? No way! Absolutely not! Even, if it meant free Friskies for the rest of my life. Tempting! But no.’ Remembering my manners, I politely added, ‘thank you for the offer but I think you should find another cat to go on this adventure with you.’
Then the strangest thing happened. Instead of feeling like a cat I felt like a chicken. A little voice inside my head said, ‘this is your opportunity to overcome your fear. Show everyone you are brave and not a freaky chicken cat!’
Putting an end to the chicken charade Mr T needed to know the truth, ‘look I’m really terrified of hawks.’ The more I opened up about my fear the more I felt ready to conquer it. I confidently said, ‘you know what Mr T? I can’t let fear rule my life. It is time for me to put my best paw forward. So yes! Let’s go! An adventure awaits.’ After a couple of hearty hi-paws we set off into the unknown.
After a few steps I was tempted to head back home for another lazy catnap. Instead I kept moving one paw in front of the other. So leaving behind the things I loved, my Friskie bowl and couch I kept walking with a tuxedo-cone wearing Mr T leading the way.
CHAPTER 2
Clear clutter. Make space for you.
Setting off in the direction of the tall trees we walked with a sense of urgency to reach Little Village before lunchtime. The sooner we could warn the smaller, small and teeny-tiny anipals about the new neighbors the better.
While walking a dark thought clouded my brave pathway. The H-word sent me spinning into a quivering furry ball of worry. After all hawks are related to the dinosaurs. Imagine arguing with anyone from that family tree! Changing gears from negative to positive thinking, I shooed away any bad thoughts leaving room for loads of courage.
Poor Mr T. The further we walked the more his cone bugged him. He was itching to scratch. Wearing it was distracting his outer vision. He could only see directly in front of him, hampering his ability to spot any high-flying danger. Mr T had to put a plan in place to overcome his problem. ‘Look Minnie Moo you’ve probably guessed, this cone is super annoying but I have to wear it. I’m really worried by my limited head movement. I can only look forward, not left, right or up or down. I need you to be my spare pair of eyes. Is that ok with you?’
What was he asking me to do? What’s all this about me being his spare pair of eyes? Did this mean I had to check my pockets for another pair of eyes? If this was the case we were in double trouble. No pockets and I never carry around a spare pair of eyes. Thinking aloud, ‘Oh no! I don’t have a spare pair of eyes. What do I do?’ Mr T Meeoowwed-Out-Loud so hard he almost fell over!
