A Standalone Bedtime Story from the Story Whale Vault
A Cat Named Pumpkin Goes for a Wander...
If there’s one thing cats love, it’s food.
If there’s a second, it’s getting pats.
But, for some cats, if there’s a third, it’s surely exploration.
Today’s story comes from the Story Whale vault. I also wanted to quickly say that Story Whale now has an actual standalone section!
Today’s story was written for my aunty and uncle, Nick and Brian. It’s a story about their gorgeous cat, Pumpkin, who was an explorer in the truest sense.
Pumpkin really did one day randomly set out on the adventure of a lifetime. To the dismay of my aunty and uncle, Pumpkin up and left on a journey. He went missing for over a week before he was found by a good Samaritan on the other side of town and was brought back home. Who knows what drew Pumpkin to set out on his adventure that day. A troublemaking friend? A vendetta he needed to fulfil? Perhaps a yearning to see the world.
All I know is this, Pumpkin was a deeply loved member of the family.
Please enjoy the story of his adventure.
This story is dedicated to Pumpkin. Part of the family.
Some cats like to spend their days relaxing in cosy cupboards and stretching out in the sun. They like the peace and quiet. They will then eventually come meowing into the kitchen for snacks and pats. Sleep, eat, pats. Repeat. Some cats are completely content with such a routine. For the most part, Pumpkin was one of those cats. He had his cosy nooks and loved a good tan. And his owners, Nicola and Brian, fed him like he was a food critic at their restaurant - divine dish after divine dish, to be catered for at any moment upon request.
Pumpkin had an extraordinary arrangement. His owners were utter suckers. He could get them to do whatever he wanted. And the main thing he usually wanted was food.
Ever since Pumpkin once caught a glimpse of a historical documentary about Ancient Egypt and how cats were worshipped as gods, he assumed his owners Nicola and Brian were simply worshipping Egyptians trying to reconnect with their spiritual heritage.
One warm Sunday Pumpkin lounged out on the warm driveway in front of the house. He was not the young cat he once was. He could feel it as he trotted up and down the stairs. He could feel it in his first wake-up stretch of the day. He could feel it now as he lay in the sun.
It was then that a mouse came suddenly rushing down the footpath. Pumpkin watched as the mouse stopped at the end of the driveway for a moment. Then he heard the screech of a cat meowing. The skinny black cat bolted across the road for the mouse. The mouse immediately darted up the driveway.
“Stop that mouse!” said the black cat.
Pumpkin got up to get the mouse but tripped over himself. He scrambled back to his feet, watching the mouse as it sprinted for a hole in the fence. Pumpkin chased as fast as he could and lunged… but the mouse had gotten away and the next thing Pumpkin knew he was lying on his back, dazed, having smashed into the fence.
The black cat came over to Pumpkin and stood over him. “Call yourself a cat?”
Pumpkin slowly got back to his feet.
“Mind your tongue, skinny,” said pumpkin. “I could gulp you in one.”
“Only if you could catch me, which you couldn’t in a thousand years.”
“Whatever,” said Pumpkin, dusting himself off. “You’ll see. One day you’ll see. You can’t be young and nimble forever.”
“Yeah, yeah. Sure thing, grandpa.”
“At least I have a home,” said Pumpkin. “That’s what really matters. Look at yourself. I can see your ribs.”
“That’s the price of an adventurous life,” said the black cat. “And I assure you, I’ve had grander meals in my travels than you’ve had in your can-a-day same-meal-everyday life.”
“You don’t know me. I was an adventurer once. I’ve slept out in the cold. I’ve scavenged and hunted. I’ve travelled.”
The black cat turned towards the street. “Come on then. Let’s go adventuring.”
But Pumpkin hesitated.
The black cat teased him. “What? Little old grandpa doesn’t want to miss out on his dinner and pats?”
“Ok. Fine,” said Pumpkin. “Let’s go.”
The two cats started off down the street together.
“What’s your name anyway?” said the black cat.
“Pumpkin.”
The black cat let out a big cackle.
“Too cute,” he said. “My name’s Lucas.”
Lucas and Pumpkin travelled for ages, dodging dogs and darting across busy roads. Pumpkin tried really hard to remember each turn they took so he could make his way home later.
The sun was setting and Pumpkin was getting a bit nervous. Finally, they got to a bunch of restaurants and Lucas led Pumpkin to the car park out back.
“This way,” he said.
The two cats snuck along the car park. Lucas crept up to the back door of one of the restaurants. There was all sorts of noises inside. Lots of clanging and music and humans talking. Pumpkin and Lucas looked in through the mesh of the back door.
“There it is,” said Lucas. “Look at it.”
On the counter inside the restaurant was a skin-on whole piece of salmon.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” said Lucas.
Very quietly, Lucas got up on his back two feet and pulled down the handle of the fly door. He carefully opened the door.
“Go on,” said Lucas. “Let’s see what you’ve got. Grab the fish.”
Pumpkin looked at the fish on the counter and his mouth started watering. It felt like his paws weighed a thousand pounds. He couldn’t move.
“Quickly,” said Lucas.
Pumpkin went for it. Suddenly he dashed into the restaurant kitchen and jumped up onto the bench to get at the fish.
As he sunk his teeth into the salmon, a human dressed in white spotted him and hissed, “Tssssss!”
Pumpkin snatched up the salmon by its tail and ran away back the way he came with the human in hot pursuit. Pumpkin bolted out of the kitchen and Lucas shut the door quickly just after he got out.
The two cats then scrambled across the car park and over a fence. They kept running, jumping fence after fence until, finally, they climbed a tree and decided they were safe.
Pumpkin and Lucas devoured the enormous piece of fish, chomping down every last morsel until they were both so full they couldn’t move. Lucas then started to talk about all of the adventures he had gone on in his life. Pumpkin was happy to sit and listen. Pumpkin hadn’t spent time relaxing and talking with another cat in a very long time. Usually, he was hissing at them to stay away or fighting them. It felt nice to be able to let his guard down and relax with a fellow cat. Under the moonlight, they eventually drifted off to sleep.
*
Pumpkin woke up the next morning in the tree drenched in warm sun. Lucas was already awake and bathing himself.
“Morning, Pumpkin,” he said.
“Wait, I fell asleep?” said Pumpkin.
“Sure did,” said Lucas.
“My humans!” said Pumpkin. “I need to get home.”
“Nonsense,” said Lucas. “You’re a cat, Pumpkin. That’s not home. That’s prison.”
“You don’t understand,” said Pumpkin.
“I do understand. I’ve lived in places like that. I was with a family for two years once. I thought I was one of them. Then they bought a dog and I was nothing to them. You can’t trust humans, Pumpkin.”
“My humans are different. They will be worried about me. I need to get home. I need to get home right now.”
“Suit yourself, Pumpkin,” said Lucas. “One day you’ll see.”
Pumpkin climbed down out of the tree and looked around frantically.
“Lost?” asked Lucas.
“How do I get home?” asked Pumpkin.
“How should I know?” said Lucas.
Pumpkin had to get going. He left Lucas and went in the direction that felt the most familiar and jumped the fence. He marched on, eager for home, jumping fence after fence. The further he went, however, the more unsure he became. Everything looked so new. Everything looked so different.
He jumped another fence and was suddenly at a big road. He remembered crossing a big road with Lucas. It was quiet then; now it was like a constant parade of loud and stinky cars.
He paused at the edge of the road as the cars went flying by. He thought of Nicola and Brian at home waiting for him. He then held his breath and went for it. He bolted across the road to the other side, hearing cars honking all around him as he rushed between them.
Pumpkin only just made it across in one piece, but he didn’t stop to celebrate. He just wanted to get home. And so he continued on his journey.
The day dragged on and on and slowly got darker and darker. Pumpkin changed direction and then changed direction again. He thought he must be close. He must be.
Day became night and Pumpkin began to get cold and hungry. He didn’t recognise anything anymore.
Pumpkin walked down an empty alley and found a discarded chicken bone. He gnawed on the bone and then he tucked himself in underneath some cardboard. He couldn’t sleep. Instead, he stayed awake all night thinking of Nicola and Brian.
It went on like that moon after moon. Pumpkin never stayed in the same place for two nights. He always stayed on the move. He always stayed searching. He had to. Because he knew they would be searching for him too. Just as he wouldn’t give up, neither would they.
As the days went by, Pumpkin felt himself getting weaker and weaker. He couldn’t find much food and he was having to sleep out in the cold.
The days were long and awful. There was too much happening for him to keep track of. He was constantly getting shooed away and chased from spot to spot. He would have to pick out scraps from bins and drink from leaking bubblers. Birds swooped at him and dogs barked at him everywhere he went.
One night, he was the hungriest he had ever been in his entire life. He walked down a dark alley, searching for something to eat. Anything. And then he spotted it. A mouse.
Pumpkin crept up and then pounced. He managed to get a paw on the mouse’s tail and pin it down to keep him still.
“No, wait, please!” said the mouse. “Please, don’t eat me!”
Pumpkin looked at the little mouse underneath his paw. His tummy rumbled for food. The mouse was squirming. Pumpkin then lifted his paw.
“Go on,” said Pumpkin. “Go home.”
“Thank you,” said the mouse. “Thank you so much.”
The mouse ran away and Pumpkin’s stomach growled.
Pumpkin was exhausted from days of foodless wandering. He found a spot in the alley next to a bin and nestled up to sleep.
It was a wickedly cold evening and the stars we out and shining. That night he dreamed of being back home with Nicola and Brian. He was lying on the couch with them as they watched a movie. He was warm and cosy and his belly was full. He was smiling and purring.
Lying there in the alley, fast asleep, Pumpkin felt a small paw on his face. He opened his eyes to find a mischief of a dozen-or-so mice standing before him. Still in his dream, he was briefly terrified, wondering where he was.
At the front of the group of mice there was lady mouse with a golden crown.
“My name is Princess Strongheart,” she said. “Earlier tonight you spared my son.”
Pumpkin was too tired to move or speak.
“I have come to grant you a wish,” said the Princess.
Pumpkin could barely open his mouth he was so exhausted.
The words barely coming out, he said, “I want to go home.”
The Princess smiled. “And so you shall.”
Tired and drained, Pumpkin closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
Sure enough, the next morning when he awoke, he was home, sitting just outside at the doorstep. Overjoyed, he meowed as loud as his weakened voice could manage.
The door to the house opened and there stood Nicola and Brian side by side. Their faces lit up when they saw him. They picked him up right away and hugged him close. They took him inside to get him some food, but Pumpkin didn’t want to eat straight away. He wanted to be held and patted. And so the three of them sat together on the couch and held each other tight. The family was back together.
Pumpkin was home again.