A letter to Samantha, by Eddie The Cat.
Dear Samantha, My Grandma came to visit me from Ohio. She is really nice. She brought me some presents. I have a new catnip mouse and a really cool Hawaiian shirt. She said that I should write and tell you a story of something that happened to me. Ok here goes.
My Mom said that I could play on the back deck of our house, while she was inside cleaning. The deck doesn't have any stairs to the ground. I am not suppose to get up on the railing because I might fall. Well a couple of cats from across the street came over to see me. I looked down into the yard and they called up to me. They wanted me to come play with them. I said I could not jump down all that way and besides I would get in big trouble if I got off the deck. Well they told me that I was just a big "fraidy cat" and to just jump to the garage roof and then I could jump down and go play with them. I did not like having any one tell me I was a "fraidy cat", I was really scared 'cause I had never done anything like that. It sure did sound like fun. I looked into my house and did not see my Mom, so I jumped to roof and ran down to my new friends. Oh my, I did not know what grass felt like. It was so soft. I had never been on the ground. They ran real fast across the street and I ran with them. We went into the woods. It was ever so much fun. I jumped in the flowers and ran after butterflies. Then I looked back and saw my house and it looked so far away. I knew that I would really get into trouble now, but my new friends yelled at me to come and see this frog. I didn't know what a frog was but it sounded like fun. I followed my friends but I was really sorry in the end that I did. After we looked at this stupid frog it ran away and so did my friends.
I was lost and didn't know how to get home. It got dark and I could hear my Mommy and Daddy calling for me. I tried to call to them but they never heard me. I had to stay out all night. It was so cold and I didn't have anything to eat. The next day I still could not find out how to get home. I could see cars going up and down the street. They scared me. I saw a big rock and climbed on top. I saw my house! Oh yeah, I get to go home now! Well I started to cross the road and a big truck went by. It blew me off the side of the road into the ditch. I was shaking and was afraid to do that again. I just laid there. My friends came back and laughed at me and called me names. That wasn't nice because I was really scared. I knew then that they were not really my friends. If they had been they wouldn't have told me to leave my house and then make fun of me. I told them that I was not suppose to go off my deck. I should not have listened to them. Real friends understand when you have rules in your house.
It got dark again. I laid there in the ditch and got so cold. I had not eaten anything for two days. Then the worst thing, it started to rain real hard. I finally got up enough nerve to go back up to the road. I looked both ways and no one was coming. It was a good thing it was in the middle of the night and there weren't many cars. I ran as fast as I could. I went up to the front door and cried and cried until my Mommy and Daddy opened the front door. They were so glad to see me and they were crying because they thought I was gone forever. My Daddy picked me up and hugged me and I was all wet. They said that they had be so worried. They even made a picture of me and took it around to all the neighbors and went up and down the roads looking for me. I did not know how much my Mommy and Daddy loved me.
I really learned my lesson. I will do what my Mommy and Daddy say. I will not go off my deck. When my Grandma heard about what I did, she did not get mad at me either. She just picked me up and hugged me real hard. So Samantha, she wanted me to write and tell you what happened to me. It is always best to listen to what your Mommy and Daddy say and don't run after your friends, or frogs!
Love,
Eddie the cat.
Copyright © Megan Martin
August 14, 2001
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have a grandcat by the name of Eddie. He is named after the WWII Aviator Eddie Rickenbacker. My son is a career Navy Officer. My young second cousin (Samantha) lives down in North Carolina. I wanted to tell Samantha a story about my grandcat, about what *REALLY* happened when he ran away. I thought I would tell the story to Samantha as if it were Eddie writing the story.
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