TUESDAY TAILS
ONCE UPON A TIME...
It's tale time featuring Piggy!
Today my wunderpurr pals I'm delighted that my supurr furriend Piggy is here to share her literary prowess with mew all, so without further adieu, here is Piggy's tale...
Published by Tuxedo & Beans
Book Blurb:
“We don’t always have to fight or prove ourselves to
be big and strong.
Sometimes it’s the smallest of creatures who can teach us life’s greatest
lessons.”
The grey-striped tabby cuddles her tiny kitten close. “Peanut,” she says.
“What if I tell you the most wonderful tale tonight? A bedtime story I
think you might enjoy. This is a true story, one of an unlikely
friendship, great bravery, heroes and villains.”
This is Piggy’s story…
Available to Buy Here:
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Author Bio's:
Karen Malena is a cat lover living in Western,
Pennsylvania. Her compassion toward others is evident in her writings and
blogs. Her interests include reading, weekend trips with her husband, music and
nature. Karen is active in her town encouraging others to write through local
library programs and author events. She’s a member of Pittsburgh East Scribes,
a monthly writing group in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.
Piggy
is a domestic shorthair cat living in Western Pennsylvania. Her interests
include tuna, Doritos, Spaghettios, and chicken. She lives with her human Matt.
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Social Media:
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Excerpt:
Part 1
Goober’s Tail
A pink-nosed kitten barely two months old, reached his paws
toward the stately grey-striped tabby trying to bathe him with her sandpaper
tongue. He swatted at her tail, trying to catch it between two small, but very
furry paws. He wriggled away from her, annoyed at this bath time ritual.
“Stop it, Mom, that tickles,” the kitten said.
The mother cat ignored her babe, continuing to lick every
inch of her precious adopted son. The tongue combed through the white fur, and
her paw gently held him down.
She fretted over the rescued kitten, not only in keeping
him clean, but especially because he was so vulnerable, the smallest one of the
litter. Her human had chosen him from the animal shelter for this very reason.
He had a soft spot for the underdogs of the world.
“Why do I have to be clean before bed?” The kitten
squirmed, catching his mother’s tail this time before she gently pulled it away
from him.
The mother cat who’d answered this question many times
before stopped for a moment.
“Peanut,” she said. “I have a different kind of “tail” for
you. What if I tell you the most wonderful story tonight? It’s a bedtime tale
that I think you might enjoy.”
Peanut the kitten stopped fussing; his big green eyes
alight with wonder. “A story, Mama, a fun story?”
“Oh yes, but this one is true. It’s about an unlikely
friendship, great bravery, heroes and villains. This is the story of the great
mouse rescue.”
“A mouse?” Peanut questioned.
The grey-striped tabby cuddled her young one close. She
licked his soft, tiny head and then rested her chin upon him. A sigh escaped
her, and she looked up into the darkness of the room; her cat night vision
excellent. Her human was asleep, snoring away in the next room. She closed her
eyes and let the thoughts come to her; thoughts of her dear sister and friends.
A meow that sounded oddly like a chuckle echoed in her mind, or had she heard
it?
Settling in with her paw across Peanut’s back, Goober the
cat began her tale.
*****
A dilapidated, gray-shingled house sat among tidy red brick
homes in a quiet neighborhood of Ambridge, Pennsylvania. It stood out for the
peeling strips of paint, the sagging front porch, and the tendrils of ivy
creeping up the side. A wooden fence badly in need of a paint job surrounded it
with a creaking, rusty gate. Behind this gate sat the meanest, toughest, and
angriest cat anyone ever laid eyes on: his name was Bolivar. He belonged to no
one and nobody belonged to him. Day after day, he’d wait for unsuspecting
pretty, seducing them with his snake-like voice, and then grabbing them when
they least expected.
The house in which he stood sentry had been deserted for
several years. He claimed this property for himself and picked fights with
other cats in the neighborhood who dared step foot inside his weedy yard.
Bolivar lifted his ragged orange head and licked at a wound
on one paw. The scar on the right side of his face and his partially torn ear
pained him today; the results of many battles. His stomach growled; he hadn’t
eaten a decent meal in at least four days.
Recently, the neighbors had begun to lock their trashcans
up tightly; a few of them included heavy bricks on top to prevent him from
tipping them. Not a scrawny bird to eat, not even a tasty little crawling bug;
his mood went from bad to worse.
Out of the corner of his eye, through one of the slats in
the fence, Bolivar spotted movement. In the next yard, a plump, furry brown
mouse frolicked about. With his changing luck, Bolivar perked up. He lay low to
the ground, every muscle in his body tense and alert. His tail twitched in
anticipation and his hind quarters wiggled as he sprung forward to pounce upon
the unsuspecting rodent. . .
*****
Goober paused for a moment with her story. Peanut
apparently had forgotten all about sleeping. He stared at his mama, wide-eyed.
“I thought you said this was a mouse rescue? It sounds like
this cat was ready for dinner.”
“I did, son, be patient,” Goober said, and resumed licking
her kitten. Peanut rolled onto his back, paws in the air, Mama’s tongue made
the fur of his belly stick up in all directions.
“Well I don’t like Bolivar,” Peanut shivered. “He sounds
mean and scary.”
“Yes, he was,” Goober said, sighing. “But let me go back a
little further. I’m going to tell you how another cat, a brave, beautiful cat
got the best of him and how she and a mouse became the closest of friends.
You see, we don’t always have to fight or prove ourselves
to be big and strong. Sometimes it’s the smallest of creatures who can teach us
life’s greatest lessons.”
Peanut began purring while mama resumed her story.
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Thanks so much fur dropping by today and we do hope mew enjoy today's pawesome literary offering.
BTW we'll all be present and correct for WW on the morrow!
Until then, sweetest literary purrs to mew all
Basil & Co xox
