|
Lucky Four
by Joan Underhill
"Hey! Hey, wait for me," yelled a yellow striped kitten as her friends started
to cross the busy highway.
It was dark and raining, a very dangerous time to be out. Being animals with
no families to care for them, the four little kittens had no choice but to be out on such a nasty night. They needed something
to eat. Their stomachs growled. They needed food wherever they could find it.
The kittens had heard from the rich people's cats that a party was happening
on the other side of town. The word was that there would be all kinds of tuna, salmon and rich cream - all things they longed
for. But to get there meant the young kittens must cross the dangerous highway. They were very nervous. Stories were told
about the highway. One must be very careful when crossing.
Just as the mangy black and white four kittens got half
way across a big black truck, the flashing lights of a police car and a white ambulance with screaming sirens came into sight.
The police and ambulance whizzed by. But the big truck stopped. The kittens froze with fear. They didn't know what to do.
One little kitten whispered to the other, "Stay still. Maybe the trucker
hasn't seen us yet."
"Oh yes, the human has seen us. I feel him watching us," said the smallest
kitten.
The roaring sound of
the air brakes hurt their ears. The clunk of big boots echoed as the human jumped from the big black truck. The black boots
came closer and closer to the little kittens. The kittens trembled and huddled close to each other.
Then out of the dark a warm pair of hands reached down and
gentlyscooped up all four kittens and carefully put them in his jacket. The strange human carried them away and they did not
know what was going to happen next. He put them down one by one on the seat of his huge truck. The kittens were very afraid,
they still did not feel secure.
"What do we do?" cried the youngest kitten of them all.
"Let's just wait and see what happens. If we run he might get angry. Just
don't move," said the oldest of the four.
A few minutes later the driver of the truck got in and spoke softly to
each of them. He gently rubbed each of the kittens and told them how lucky they were that he found them and how glad he felt
that they didn't get run over by a car. He also told them he would find them a home where they would be in a safe place in
a barn. They would have lots of room to run and hide and have lots of fun and there would be plenty of fresh milk to drink.
All four kittens curled up together and went to sleep. I guess we should all be
that lucky said one to another.
Joan Underhill lives on the Cains River Road
in Blackville. She wrote this story for her grandson.
Back to Whoop & Driver
|
