The tale of Chee-poo

Once upon a time there was a tiny little cat who worked real hard at her job. She caught all the mice in the slot that the cat colony had assigned her and even volunteered for some extra slot time. The cat that caught the most mice would be awarded the fishy bag award at the end of the year. All cats vied for the award and so did the tiny little cat. She worked late hours and skipped her meals. And finally she was so tired that she took 3 weeks leave to go meet her parents back in the town. The tiny little cat caught a bus and traveled for 2 days and 2 nights to reach her home. Her parents were glad to see her. Her dad came to pick her up at the bus station. Her mom had made her tuna patties and milk pudding for dinner. The tiny little cat finally felt safe .Nothing like home, she thought, as she curled up on her warm soft bed.

3 weeks of vacation seemed to fly and soon it was time for the little cat to go back to work. She left with a heavy heart since she did not know when she wud be able to get leave again. And so the tiny little cat got back onto the bus and traveled 2 days and 2 nights to reach her workplace. The next day she cheerfully went to work. She was working in her slot when suddenly her blackberry started vibrating. It was a message from the Old cat. The Old cat was the master of the colony and lorded it over all the other cats. The tiny little cat went to the Old cat and bowed low before him. The Old cat looked at the tiny cat thru half closed eyelids and handed out a package and said “Chee-poo,u have done a great job this year and have caught a lot of mice. But I believe that u can catch more if u try.”Chee-poo nodded eagerly and ripped open the package and out fell a couple of …….peanuts!!!

Chee-poo was shocked. She cudn’t believe it. She looked up at the Old cat and said “Sire, I do not deserve such a low reward for a year’s work. I have worked harder than all the other cats.” The Old cat sniffed disdainfully and said “You let me decide that.”Chee-poo protested “But, Sire, I did not……miaaaaooooowwww!!!!” The Old cat had turned around suddenly and threw a huge fish head at Chee-poo.Before she cud dodge, the fish head hit Chee-poo on her back paw. Poor Chee-poo ran away with her tail tucked between her legs. Her poor foot was swollen and painful.
She sat on the wall of her apartment and wept bitterly. She heard a noise and looked down to see the dog next door whose leftover milk she sometimes lapped at when the dog was asleep. If the dog was awake, she wud chase Chee-poo barking wildly.Chee-Poo stiffened cos she knew with her hurt paw she cud not run fast or far. She though bitterly “Yeah,just what I need. I hope he eats me up in one big gulp. Then I won’t know a thing. Besides who wants to live in this stupid place. I wud be better off being eaten”.
But amazingly, the dog did not seem to be chasing her but regarded in a quiet manner.Chee-poo was surprised and wiped her nose dolefully. The dog kept watching Chee-poo.Chee-poo finally fell asleep on the wall, tired out with her long journey and tears. She woke to find someone sniffing at her. She opened one eye to see the dog standing on its hind legs, front paws against the wall, its nose almost touching her and leapt back in fear, landing hard on her injured paw. The dog said “Fear not, tiny little cat. I was just waking u up for some dinner” and nodded towards her bowl.Chee-poo looked at the bowl in amazement. She limped timidly to the bowl and with a glance at the dog, started lapping at the milk. She half expected the dog to pounce on her but the dog kept watching her quietly.

As she lapped up her milk, Chee-poo remembered her mother’s milk cookies and a half-sob caught at her throat, making her choke on the milk .The dog hurried to her and thumped her back slightly. “Are u O.K?” she asked. The kind tone brought tears to Chee-poo’s eyes. The dog asked her in concern “What happened? Is the milk too hot for u?”She lapped at the milk and looked puzzled.Chee-poo wiped her eyes and said “No, the milk is O.k. Thank you.” The dog asked “Is ur paw hurting u?”Chee-poo looked at the dog in surprise. The dog explained “I saw u limping”.Chee-poo looked at the kind dog and found herself pouring out all her troubles to the dog. The dog listened patiently as Chee-poo concluded “Now I have hurt my paw and I cant work as fast as I used to.” The dog asked her “Wud u earn enuf to eat with a normal work day? Without putting all ur spare time into it? If so y don’t u take up a hobby and do something for urself? U wud be happier and wud not be pouring all ur energy into ur job. That way if u don’t receive the rewards u expect .U wud not be so disappointed.” Chee-poo looked at the dog and said “But what shall I do?”. The dog said “Crochet.” Chee-poo exclaimed “Crochet?!!! But I don’t have a needle and neither do I know how to crochet”. The dog waved a paw and said “I cud teach u and u can use my needle. I don’t use it anyhow”.Chee-poo looked in amazement at the kind dog and nodded agreement. The dog trotted away and came back with a ball of wool and a crochet needle and taught Chee-poo to crochet. And to her surprise,Chee-poo found crochet very interesting. She was excited and wished she cud crochet all day long.
The next day Chee-poo limped to work and caught a few mice under the Old Cat’s sharp gaze but cud not catch as many as her usual day’s work. Each time she felt depressed, she thought of her new friend and that cheered her up. She cud hardly wait to get back and start crocheting again.

In the evening, the little cat limped back to her wall and found the dog waiting for her on the other side and they sat down to crochet….Soon it became a pattern …Slowly the little cat’s paw healed and she cud catch as many mice as she used to. But she no longer worked overtime. She finished her work for the day and came back home to crochet with her friend. But strangely she was happier than she had ever been. She had made a cap for herself and one for the dog. Next she was planning to make a couple of hats for her parents. She ran to her wall and looked around for the dog who normally wud be waiting for her. Today the dog was nowhere to be seen but the crochet needle and ball of wool were on the wall. Assuming that the dog wud be back in a minute, Chee-poo started on her crochet. Still the dog did not come.Chee-poo felt hungry and saw the dog’s bowl with some milk on the ground. She jumped off the wall and drank some milk from the bowl. All of a sudden, she heard a wuff.She jumped in fright and looked around to find the dog come running full tilt at her, wearing the cap Chee-poo had crocheted for her, barking loudly, followed by the mistress of the house.
The terrified little cat fled to her wall and sat on the wall looking down at the barking dog in bewilderment. After a minute, the mistress went back into the house and the dog sniffed at her milk bowl and ran back inside the house. At the door, she stopped and looked back at Chee-poo for a long moment, wagged her tail once, straightened her cap and ran inside.

Chee-poo sat back, her tiny heart was still hammering .She picked up her wool….and looked wistfully at the door of the house, smiled to herself and continued her crochet.