One night, Cleo was thinking over in his mind how much he would love to explore the countryside. 'Oh what it must be like meeting other animals! It must be really exciting!' The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to go out there. He felt he was missing out on life as he was getting on in years and had not seen the world. He mentioned what was on his mind to his companions the following day. They all cocked up their ears to hear every detail that their leader Cleo, had to say. It all sounded ever so exciting! Silvo was a little apprehensive at first, but soon he was taken in with Cleo. Frazen and Sassy were not so sure. 'What will we do for shelter and what if it rains or snows? Where will we sleep and what about food, Cleo?' said Sassy. 'Don't back off now, we will find somewhere, don't worry'. 'Oh stop!' says another. 'We can't all go together, because our human friend will miss us.' Silvo then interrupts by saying' 'Ah.. we will be back before she realises that we have gone. It will be her that will miss us from around the house because if she hadn't had us she wouldn't see anybody from morning till night. We tell her all the news and gossip!' 'Oh boy! How she will miss that!" says "Frazen. Then Sassy chirped up and says, "When will we go?"

Amid all the discussions they all agreed to go ahead and explore the big wide-open countryside, but Frazen felt a little uneasy about the whole adventure. 'I am very small and not so able to run as fast as the others. Anyway, I just went along with the plan.' Cleo chirped up, 'We will show our human friend that we are well able to survive on our own, out there in the wild as she calls it. She is always reminding us: "that we are so lucky to be with her". We will show her what it is like to talk to us in that manner!!' Sassy asked, 'When will we go?' It was then put to a vote, for next Friday week. They were so eagerly looking forward to their big adventure! Can you imagine our human out searching for us? We will have great fun chasing one another in the big open fields and playing hide and seek in the hedges and meeting new acquaintances. We might even make new friends! Oh the thought of it! Frazen could hardy sleep a wink, as I was so looking forward to next Friday. In the meantime Sassy and Frazen were imagining all sorts of activities that they were going to encounter upon their journey and it was soon approaching.

We all went to sleep early the night before to be well rested for our adventure. Finally, Friday eventually came and they were up at the crack of dawn. They had a great, hearty breakfast and were soon as full as ticks. Our human friend even gave us hot milk! It was such a cold morning and you would swear that she knew we were going on a journey. We were hardly able to talk with the excitement. One by one they left their familiar surroundings and began their journey of adventure. It began with such a beautiful crisp morning, the sun was splitting the stones and we were crossing fields and hedges, talking to loads of different animals, some that we never lay eyes on before! Especially cows, calves and sheep. We took a rest here on a big hill. The climb was sore on our paws because the ground was quite hard. A few hours later it began to pour rain. 'Oh, my poor fur is getting wet and my paws are aching,' said the poor little black kitten known as Frazen. She didn't really want to go, but the others persuaded her to. Here we were out in the wild all right, but at this moment in time, she would prefer to have been back home in her human's house, eating her favourite cat food, and drinking milk. Then she could play or either lay by the open heart fire or lie on her favourite cushion on the big arm chair. Her eyes were so sad thinking about the wonderful life that she left behind. I was beginning to feel miserable. It was too late to turn back now. How could I have been so stupid? Cleo was in charge. Then, out of the blue we heard him say,' Run quickly for your life! There is big looking dog running after us!' Silvo and I were very shaken. I was hardly able to run that fast as I am getting old but I knew I had to because I didn't want to get eaten. When I turned round I realised that it just wasn't any kind of Dog that I saw before, but it was a Big, Bad Wolf! How we all ran with aching paws and wet fur! Just then at the edge of a field was a big tree that saved all our lives. We stayed up there until it was safe to come down.

We were starting to miss our meals, and we were imaging our human calling us. Sassy was beginning to feel lonely and I was sorry for her because she is so good to us. Every time when she goes shopping, she always brings us back some thing nice for us. Our favourite dish, which is chicken, liver, milk, and even Round Steak mince, (if we behaved ourselves or leave a present for her at the door). If we return she mightn't want us back and what would we do then? That never occurred to us before we set out on this wild journey. Adventure they said. 'It's to late to be talking like that now,' says Cleo, who is our leader. Along the way we met some other cats, just like us, out hunting for prey. Then we got chatting and they were anxious to know where we lived and how we all knew one another. Of course, Cleo began to tell them the story. They were astonished to hear that we decided to leave all those nice treats and comforts behind, for this trip in the wild. 'Ye must be mad', they say. I realised that we made a huge mistake. We were all very hungry, exhausted from tiredness and we had nothing nice and soft to lie on. We missed the big open fire and we really missed the little window that she would leave open for us, at nighttime. It was great especially in the bad weather, if we wanted to go in and out, and we were even allowed to sleep on her bed! Not many cats could do that. We got special care and attention and we didn't realise it until now that was so kind of her. All those things we took for granted, that was enough to make up our minds that we should leave the wild and make our way home. This was after our third day and we all had enough of this life. As they say: “Curiosity kills the cat and information makes him fat", Oh, but we were getting thinner and we had seen enough, maybe too much. The other cats said, "It well for ye that ye have a home to go back to. We don't know any other way of living. Only fending for our selves out here, and as you know, it can be quite daunting and scary. They were very interested in hearing all about our human friend. I don't think they believed us, especially when Cleo told them that she even gives us chicken, if we catch rodents, as they don't get any rewards. We felt so sorry for them, as they have no home to go to and here we are, having a home, and leaving it for this and most importantly our human friend Fionnuala, who is the best in the world. We will make it up to her when we get home. We will catch big rats that she has never seen before and we will behave ourselves and be good around the house.

On our forth day of this adventure, as you call it, Cleo, (I call it misery), we all had enough of this rough life. Frazen was complaining about her paws been sore, Silvo and Sassy was saying that they were so tired that they would sleep on a clothesline. Really, Cleo was feeling miserable too, but didn't want to complain, as he was the one that came up with the idea. He was feeling bad for suggesting such a trip. What would our dear feline friend think of us now? Would she accept us after running of like that, and not telling her? Our human friend was out all the time looking up and down roads for us. All the trouble we put her through! She even made lovely posters of us, putting them up all around the neighbourhood and into shops, in case any one saw her beloved pets. She went to bed, not knowing whether her furry friends were alive or dead. That thought nearly killed her. She could understand one cat going for a stroll, but not all four! Well! That was suspicious! I will give them a week to return, if not then I will have to live with the fact that they must have got killed, by wild animals. I have seen foxes and badgers around. Oh, I shouldn't be thinking like this, I know, but it's so hard not to. Every day, she would say, 'Maybe tomorrow I will see them', but then another day would pass, and she was very anxious and worried about them, especially Frazen because he was only a kitten. And she knows all the wild animals that are lurking out there. Sassy keeps asking are we near home yet? Is it far way now? We were all getting ratty, as we hadn't slept property or eaten much for the past few days. 'Some adventure!' says Frazen. 'I'm so looking forward to going home, especially seeing our human friend and all her nice things for us.

Later in the week, the owner of the house was going out for a stroll. I thought I heard cats meowing in the distance but when I didn't see any thing, I was resigned to the fact that I was only imagining things. But then suddenly I saw Cleo, followed by Silvo, Sassy and Frazen. I could scarcely believe what I was seeing! I ran out to greet them and we were all hugging one another for ages. It felt like hours and we were all so delighted to be together again, like one big happy family. I was so thrilled to see them. Got the best meat in the house and heated the milk. They were so cold and hungry and they got very thin and with glary looking eyes. They were so sorry for going off like that without telling me. They were too anxious to tell me what antics they got up to. I told them to wait until after they had eaten and have warmed up a bit. I never saw my cats eat so fast before; they were so hungry and thirsty! It beats me what possessed them to have gone in the first place, I suppose they were curious as to what the real world was really like. Now they know for sure and between you and me I don't think they will be going on such a trip again. Their lovely fur was matted and their paws appeared very sore. I am so happy to have them back as I thought I would never see them again and that goes without saying. Now they were all feeling much better than the previous few days. 'It feels like weeks since we have been here,' I heard Silvo saying. 'We missed our human so much.' They were very excited as they had so much to tell me, especially when they thought that they were going to be eaten for the wolf's dinner! Oh what a thought! I felt so sorry for them, the poor things. I felt so sorry for Frazen. He was so brave to go along with them, as he was only six months old. After telling me their drama, they fell asleep almost immediately purring to their hearts content beside the big open log fire.

Months later I would still hear them going on about that trip. They really appreciate their human friend even more now. I think that will be there first and last adventure, don't you?

Copyright © Fionnuala Farrell
February 27, 2004