F2F Class Notes 5th March (Cricket)

The Stinky Little

Kitten

By Jim Peterson

© 2013 James Peterson

The Stinky Little Kitten By Jim Peterson

In the barn on a farm in Wisconsin there lived a momma cat and her six little kittens. There were three boy kittens and three girl kittens. They lived in a corner of the barn in a nice box filled with straw. They were all very happy little kittens.

Five of the kittens spent most of their time playing in the straw near their box. They played kitten games like pounce and jump and chase. But the other kitten was a very curious and friendly little girl kitten. She loved to explore the barn and the farm. She already knew most of the other farm animals.

One morning after breakfast while her brothers and sisters practiced their pouncing and jumping and chasing the curious and friendly little kitten went out to say hello to the other farm animals. As she walked across the barnyard her gold colored fur was shining in the morning sun.

In the barnyard she met the cow. “Good morning Mrs. Cow” said the kitten. “Good morning friendly little kitten” said the cow.

In the pasture she met the horse. “Good
morning Mr. Horse” said the kitten.
“Good morning friendly little kitten” said the horse.

Near the chicken coop she met the hen. “Good morning Mrs. Hen” said the kitten. “Good morning friendly little kitten” said the hen.

Beside the duck pond she met the duck. “Good morning Mrs. Duck” said the kitten. “Good morning friendly little kitten” said the duck.

After leaving the duck pond the curious and friendly little kitten wandered over to the garden. She had been to the garden before and she liked to stop and smell the pretty flowers that ringed the garden but she had never been inside the garden fence. Since she was a curious little kitten she decided to see what was in the garden today.

She went into the garden and walked up and down a few rows of the garden plants and then she saw what looked like little green trees. “Oh goody” the kitten said to herself. “These little green trees are perfect for a little kitten like me to practice my climbing.”

She decided this was also a good time to practice
her stalking and pouncing. First she would pounce a tree and then she would climb it. She crouched behind a tomato plant and tried to judge the distance to the nearest little tree. She guessed it was only two kitten hops and a pounce to the tree.

She crouched as low as she could. Her tummy was right on the ground. She fluffed the fur on her back and on her tail so she would look bigger than she really was. She put her ears forward and puffed her cheeks so her whiskers were pointed slightly forward from her face. She wiggled her hips to make sure her back paws had a good grip in the garden dirt. She was almost ready. She lay perfectly still with just the tip of her golden tail slowly moving from side to side.

Then away she went. Two kitten hops and a pounce. She was upon the little green tree.

But when she jumped onto the little tree it broke and she landed on the ground with a thump. The little green tree was under her tummy. “Wow.” said the kitten. “This little green tree isn’t very strong and it sure smells funny. It even stinks.” But the kitten liked playing with the green trees and she tried to climb all of them. When she was done the little kitten had broken all of the skinny, little green trees.

As the little kitten looked around for something else to do she heard her tummy growl. “I’m getting hungry,” she said to herself. “I think I will go home and have some lunch.”

So the friendly little kitten ran all the way back to the barn and jumped into the box where she lived with her momma and her brothers and sisters. In the box her brothers and sisters had already started to eat lunch. She pushed her way into the group and started to eat.

“Phew!” “Yuk!” “What stinks?” The other kittens backed away and looked at the friendly little kitten. “Where have you been?” one of them asked. “What have you been doing?” Asked another kitten. “Why do you smell like that?” asked a third kitten. Then they all giggled little kitten giggles as one of her brothers said, “You are our sister and we love you even if you

do stink but we would be happier if you weren’t such a stinky little kitten. We want you to get unstinky and smell like a kitten again.”

Momma cat sniffed her stinky little kitten. “My, my,” said Momma cat. “You must have been playing in the garden. You smell like onions. You are a stinky little kitten. I will have to give you a cat bath.” Momma cat started to lick her stinky little kitten because that is the way momma cats give their kittens a bath.

After only three licks with her tongue momma cat stopped and looked at her kitten. “I’m sorry little girl.” said Momma cat. “But I don’t like the taste of onions. You will have to find some water and take a real bath.”

The little kitten was sad that her momma
could not give her a bath. She liked it
when her momma washed her. It always
made her purr. “I will give myself a bath,” she said. But after a few licks with her own tongue she stopped. She looked at her momma and said “Momma I don’t like the taste of onions either. I guess I will have to find some water and take a real bath.”

She slowly walked away from the box and left the barn. As she left the barn the sun went behind large dark clouds. It was as if the sun didn’t like stinky little kittens either.

In the barnyard she went over to the cow. “Hello Mrs. Cow.” said the friendly little kitten. “May I take a bath in your water pail?”

“Oh my no!” said Mrs. Cow. “You are a stinky little kitten and you would make my water taste like onions. Please go away.” The little kitten walked slowly away from the cow. She was sad.

In the pasture she met the horse. “Hello Mr. Horse.” said the friendly little kitten. “May I take a bath in your water pail?”

“Oh my no!” said Mr. Horse. “You are a stinky little kitten and you would make my water taste like onions. Please go away.” The little kitten walked slowly away from the horse. She was even sadder now.

Near the chicken coop she met the hen. “Hello Mrs. Hen.” said the friendly little kitten. “May I take a bath in your water dish?”

“Oh my no!” said Mrs. Hen. “You are a stinky little kitten and you would make my water taste like onions. Please go away.” The little kitten walked slowly away from the hen. She was very sad now.

“I know”, said the kitten. “I will take a bath in the duck pond.” She ran to the duck pond and met Mrs. Duck. “Hello Mrs. Duck” said the little kitten. “May I take a bath in your pond?”

“I’m sorry little kitten” said Mrs. Duck. “All
the farm animals are talking about what a stinky little kitten you are. I don’t want my ducklings to smell like onions. You will have to take a bath somewhere else.” Now the little kitten was very, very sad.

“I know,” said the kitten. “I will go to the stream at the bottom of the hill behind the barn.” She was excited about

washing in the stream so she ran all the way down the hill to the stream. As she stuck her paw into the stream a turtle stuck his head out of the water and said to the kitten. “Stop! I have heard about you. You are the

stinky little kitten. I live here with my turtle family and the fishes. Please don’t come into our stream. You smell like onions and if you take a bath in our stream my turtle family and my fish friends will all smell like onions. You must go somewhere else to take a bath. Please go away.”

The little kitten was now sadder than she had ever been before. She was so sad she started to cry little kitten tears. She cried and meowed and she

meowed and cried. She was a very, very sad little kitten.

“Why doesn’t anyone like me anymore?” she cried. “I am the same friendly little kitten I was before. The smell of onions doesn’t make me a different kitten.” She cried and she cried.

When she left the stream she was very careful to avoid the big muddy patch at the edge of the stream where piglet lived. She had never spoken to piglet. Being a very clean kitten she didn’t understand why piglet was always covered in mud. She didn’t know that the mud protected piglet’s sensitive skin from the sun. Without the mud piglet would get sunburn.

As the little kitten walked up the hill toward the barn it started to rain. Halfway up the steep hill the little kitten slipped on the wet grass and slid all the way back down the hill to the stream. She slid right into the mud at the edge of the stream. While trying to get out of the mud she kept slipping and falling into the mud over and over again. Soon the poor little kitten was completely covered in mud from the tip of her little pink nose to the tip of her golden tail.

“Oh dear me” the little kitten cried. “First I smell like onions and now I am covered with mud. None of my friends
will ever like me again.” She started to cry
again.

Piglet had been quietly watching the kitten as she talked to the turtle. He watched her leave the stream and start up the hill. He saw her slip on the wet grass and slide into the mud. All this time he had been

silent because the kitten had never spoken to him and he had the feeling she didn’t like him. But now the kitten was in trouble and he was a very polite piglet so he knew he had to help her even if she didn’t want his help.

Piglet sloshed over to the stuck kitten and introduced himself. “Hi little kitten” he said. “I am piglet and I can help you get unstuck.”

“Hello piglet, I must get back to the barn. Please help me” said the kitten.

Piglet got behind the kitten and pushed her out of the mud and up the slippery hill. When the kitten was able to go the rest of the way to the barn by herself piglet turned and silently went back down the hill.

It began to rain harder as they were climbing the hill. By the time the little kitten reached the top of the hill

it was raining very hard but she didn’t care anymore. She was already a wet, stinky, muddy, sad little kitten.

At the very top of the hill the kitten stopped and turned to look at piglet as he went back to his mud patch. She was sorry she had never spoken to him before. She suddenly realized that none of her friends had helped her but the one farm animal she had avoided was the only one who

had helped her. She was confused.

She stood there in the rain and thought about that for a few minutes then turned and headed to the barn again. As she got near the barn she was wondering where she could go to hide since her friends didn’t want her around anymore. “Nobody wants a stinky, muddy little kitten as a friend” she said to herself.

Then she thought she was feeling the raindrops more than she had when she was climbing the hill. She turned her head and looked at her tail. The mud was gone from her tail. She looked at her back and the mud was gone from her back too. She looked at her paws and her sides and her tummy. She couldn’t see any mud anywhere. The rain had washed away all of the mud. She was no longer a muddy little kitten.

The little kitten went into the barn. She rolled in some straw to get dry. When she was as dry as the straw could get her she decided to lick herself dry the rest of the way.

She started to lick herself like kittens do. She licked her back. She licked her paws. She licked her tail and her tummy too. She was almost dry when she suddenly stopped.

She sniffed her back. She sniffed her paws. She sniffed her tail and her tummy too. “Hey” she said aloud. “I don’t smell like onions anymore.”

Sure enough, the mud had soaked up the smell of the onions and the rain had washed away the mud. The smell of onions was gone from the friendly little kitten.

She was so happy she did a happy kitten dance. She stood on her back paws and put her front paws by her tummy. She twirled around twice

while she meowed happily. She was very happy to be un-stinky. She had to tell her mommy and her brothers and sisters she was un-stinky again.

The little kitten ran to the box in the corner of the barn where her mommy and her brothers and sisters were. They were very happy to see her and very happy that she didn’t smell like onions anymore. She smelled like a clean little kitten again. All of the little kittens did a happy kitten dance.

After their happy kitten dance all the other little kittens gave the now un- stinky little kitten big kitten hugs and kitten kisses. Then momma cat gave her some momma cat kisses and said “Welcome home my sweet little kitten. You are not a stinky little kitten anymore.”

The kitten told her mother about how she tried to find a place to take a bath but none of her friends would help her. She didn’t understand why they didn’t help but the one farm animal she had always avoided was the one who helped her.

Momma cat thought about that for a few minutes. Then she pulled the kitten close and said “Problems come in different sizes. What may be a big problem for you may be a little problem for some one else. Also helping you solve your problem may cause a bigger problem for who ever helps you. That was the case in your situation. If the cow, the horse or the hen had helped you they would not have any fresh water for the rest of the day. That is a very big problem for them. Much bigger than the way you smelled. If the ducks, turtles and fish helped you they would not have fresh water until it rains. That is a big problem for them. Do you understand what I am telling you?”

“Yes momma” replied the kitten. “But why did piglet help me when I had never talked to him before?”

Momma cat thought for a few more minutes. “You avoided piglet because he was always muddy and you don’t like mud. You judged him by how he looked not by who he was. That was wrong. The fact that piglet helped you at all even though you always avoided him shows that you are a slightly snobby kitten and he is a very nice piglet.

“I will try very hard to remember mommy. I guess mommies and daddies know a lot of stuff and kittens need to listen so we can learn. Then when we grow up we will be smart too.” said the kitten. Then she smiled as she curled up next to mommy cat and purred herself to sleep. Maybe she would dream about her new friend piglet.