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The
Adventures of
© 2005
by David Lourie
Registered, Australian
Writers Guild #4330
"Dharma Gets Lost" Dharma The Kitten is taking a nap on his favourite soft red cushion. But suddenly he wakes up with a start, when Kooky Kookaburra lands in nearby tree, and makes his laughing Kookaburra call: “Hoo hoo, ho ho, ha ha ha. . . Hoo hoo hoo, ho ho ho, hahaha!” Dharma sighs, “I have no idea what your gag might be – I just hope the joke’s not on me!” This time Kooky Kookaburra laughs louder and longer than ever: “Hoo hoo hoo, ho ho ho, hahaha!” “Well,” says Dharma, “you’re full of sass, and that’s why they call you the Laughing Jackass!” Dharma gets off his plush red cushion and goes over to the window. There he sees children playing outside, and hears lots of birds singing. “Wow,” Dharma says, “it’s a bright sunny day! Perfect for a Cat to play!” Then he thinks, “I wonder what Emily is doing today?” Dharma goes to Emily’s room, and sees that she is cleaning her roller skates. So Dharma sits down beside her and starts cleaning himself. Emily rubs and rubs her metal skates until they are nice and shiny, while Dharma licks and licks his soft fur coat until it’s as shiny as Emily’s skates. Then Dharma is satisfied that he’s done a good job. He sees the big sofa, and says, “Boy, do I need to stretch my claws, before they go dull and fall off my paws!” So he goes over to the sofa and digs his claws in. But Emily gently scolds him, “Dharma, stop it! You know you mustn’t do that on the furniture! Go outside and scratch on a log.” So Dharma goes over to the doorway and gives Emily a wide-eyed silent meow. She understands, and lets him out. “Good boy,” she says. “I won’t tell on you for scratching the sofa.” Dharma goes over to the gum tree and digs his claws into the bark. He arches his back, pulls hard and has a good, long stretch. He thinks, “That’s the way it should always be – a good long stretch on a good strong tree!” Then Dharma goes back to the front door and meows loudly. Emily opens the door, but she is impatient. “Oh, Dharma, make up your mind! Which is it, in or out?” Dharma is disappointed to be greeted that way: “Gee, Emily, you’re no fun! When your mum scolds you, you come undone!” “I’m just trying to teach you to be good,” Emily explains. But Dharma is unimpressed. “Well,” he announces, “I need a good long break – there’s only so much one Kitten can take!” So instead of going back inside the house, Dharma prances across the yard with his nose in the air and his tail held high. “Be careful, Dharma!” Emily shouts after him, because she loves him very much.. Dharma crosses the street, and sees an unfamiliar car parked there. He gives it a good sniff all over, and thinks, “No local animal smells like this -- it’s a scent that makes me want to hiss!” So Dharma lets out a great big hiss. But suddenly a cold wind blows over him, and makes his hiss turn into a shiver. Then a loud crash of thunder scares him, and his big green eyes go wide with fright. Then three big, wobbly raindrops fall from the sky and crash right on Dharma’s head. “Yuk!” shouts Dharma. He jumps through the car’s open window, just as the downpour starts. “Aah,” he says, landing on the comfortable car seat, “Out of the rain, and feeling no pain!” Then he sees a thick woollen jumper on the back seat. “Wow,” says Dharma, jumping onto the jumper, “Soft landings and open doors – so good is my luck, when it rains it pours!” Dharma licks a little spot of mud off his paw, and then he curls up snugly on the jumper. He purrs contentedly, feeling nice and warm, and safe from the cold wet weather outside. Soon he falls asleep, to the sound of raindrops splashing on the car roof. His eyelids flutter and his paws twitch, as he dreams little Kitten dreams about playing in the warm sunshine. But while Dharma is dreaming, a young woman quietly gets into the car and starts the motor. She doesn’t notice Dharma, who is deep asleep on the back seat. In fact, the dream Dharma is having is so enjoyable that he doesn’t wake up once, even as the woman drives the car all the way to the other side of town. The woman parks the car beside her house. She gets out and slams the door shut, which jolts Dharma awake. He is still so sleepy he doesn’t remember where he is, or how he got here. His eyes open wide, his ears go flat against his head, the hair on his back stands up from fright and his nose twitches from all the strange new smells. He shakes his head and wonders, “Where in the world am I – is this Cat Heaven, and did I die?” The car window is partly rolled down, so Dharma starts to climb out, but his collar gets hooked on the window winder, trapping him there! Luckily, his collar has a little bit of elastic which Emily’s mother sewed into it, so it stretches instead of choking him. Dharma pulls hard on the collar. He stretches it out and manages to work his head free of it. Then he jumps out the window, leaving his collar and name-tag behind. But no sooner does he start exploring his new surroundings, when he is startled by the sound of a car starting. He looks around and sees the young woman driving away in the car that had brought him here! As Dharma looks around, he slowly realises he is now stranded in this strange neighbourhood – and without his name tag, which had Emily’s phone number on it! Dharma thinks, “I’m starting to feel as scared as can be! How could this ever have happened to me?” Suddenly a mean old Dog with big teeth comes running up to Dharma, barking fiercely. Dharma feels frightened, because he’s not used to such unfriendly treatment back home. So he scampers under the nearest parked car, and crouches there where the Dog can’t reach him. Dharma patiently watches the Dog barking at him, until the Dog gets bored and tired of barking, and leaves Dharma alone. Dharma sniffs around under the car, and he realises that he is in some other Cat’s territory. And sure enough, a big ugly Tomcat suddenly comes up right behind Dharma and hisses ferociously. Dharma hisses back, just to prove he’s not a scaredy-cat, and then he runs away as fast as he can. Suddenly the rain starts pouring down, and Dharma’s fur gets drenched before he can run under the nearest parked car. But even when he’s under the car he can’t stay dry, because the it’s raining so hard the water is running along the street, so now Dharma’s paws are soaking wet. Dharma shivers and shakes from the cold, and now he’s also feeling terribly hungry. Finally there is a break in the rain. Dharma pokes his head out from under the car, and he sees a building with a sign that says “Tennis Club.” Dharma leaps over the puddles and happily bounds up onto the Tennis Club veranda.
Dharma excitedly thinks, “Here’s a building where people live –
maybe it’s warm, and they’ll have food to give.”
Then he sees an open door, so he goes through it, and there is a man sweeping the floor. But the man doesn’t notice Dharma. Dharma feels lonely and hungry, so he comes up behind the man and rubs against his leg, giving his cutest little meow. But the man is mean and nasty. “Get out!” he shouts at Dharma, and waves his broom in the air. The man chases Dharma out the door and away from the building. Now Dharma is back in the rain again. “Doesn’t he know I’m somebody’s pet?! I wish he’d just take me to the local Vet!” Just then the man’s young son comes out of the building and sees Dharma. The boy is named Eddy, and he is the same age as Emily. Eddy bends down and pets Dharma affectionately. “Poor little guy,” Eddy says. “Somebody should have put a collar on you, so we could call your owner.” Then Eddy walks away, and Dharma is left all alone again in the rain. Dharma is so sad and disappointed, he starts to cry, “Gee, I really thought I had a friend – someone on whom I could depend.” Dharma’s fur is still soaking wet, and he feels more chilled than ever. Now he is sneezing as well as shivering. Meanwhile, back home, Emily is scared as she searches all over the neighbourhood for Dharma. It’s getting dark, and Dharma is usually safely indoors by this time. Emily holds a bowl of cat food in her hand, and she calls out Dharma name over and over again, up and down the street, but Dharma is nowhere to be seen. “Oh, I hope you’re all right, little Dharma! I love you!” Emily says through her tears. Emily goes back into the house and cries into her mother’s apron, “I hope he’s not lost!” “He’ll come back, Dear,” her mother answers gently, patting her head, “Don’t worry. If he isn’t home soon, we’ll go find him.” Meanwhile, Dharma is huddled in the damp dirt under the Tennis Club building. He’s sneezing and shivering more than ever. He thinks, “So this is what it’s like to be lost! I’d never thought about the physical cost!” He looks up and sees a local female Kitten dash under the building to get out of the rain. She approaches Dharma in a friendly way, and they sniff each other all over. Dharma tells her, “You smell so nice, I think I’ll smell you twice!” “You look like you’re starving,” says the local Kitten. “I most surely am – I could eat a whole ham,” says Dharma. “Why don’t you catch your own food?” asks the local Kitten. “There are plenty of Mice and Lizards around here!” Dharma explains, “I’ve never been like that – I’m a people Cat!” The local Cat is amazed. “You mean they fed you every meal?” “Yes,” Dharma says, “They never taught me how to hunt, so now for me it’s a tricky stunt.” “Well, I bet the Mice and Lizards are happy about that!” says the local Kitten. “See you later,” and she goes off to catch her dinner. Dharma is all alone again. He spends the whole long, cold night shivering and sneezing and feeling miserable, huddling in the damp dirt under the Tennis Club. He thinks, “I may wander now and then, but I’ll never get into a strange car again!” In the morning, young Eddy looks under the building and sees Dharma still in his wretched condition. “Poor little guy,” says Eddy, as he pets Dharma kindly. Then Eddy goes off and brings back a bowl of milk, and puts it down for Dharma. “You must be starving,” Eddy says. Dharma sniffs and sniffs at the milk, but his nose is stuffed up. Eddy says, “I know what’s wrong! Your nose is all stuffed up, and you can’t smell the milk, so you won’t eat it, even though you’re hungry. Okay, maybe I can do something else to help you!” Eddy walks over to the nearby radio station, and tells the radio DJ, “There’s a lost little black-and-white Kitten under the Tennis Courts, waiting for his owner to rescue him.” So the DJ agrees to send the message out over the radio, to help find Dharma’s owner. Meanwhile, Emily and her mother are driving around their neighbourhood calling out for Dharma. They have the radio tuned in to the local station, and soon they hear Eddy’s message about the lost Cat. “That must be Dharma!” Emily cries with joy. She and her mother are elated by the news. They drive straight over to the Tennis Club to rescue their dear lost little Kitten. And when they arrive, they find Eddy petting Dharma, and keeping him company. Dharma is so happy to see Emily! He runs over and rubs his head against her leg until she picks him up in her arms, even though he’s still all wet and muddy. Emily is so happy to see Dharma that she doesn’t even care when he sneezes all over her, or when his muddy feet make her dress dirty. And Emily’s mum doesn’t mind, either. Emily thanks Eddy for helping to save Dharma. She invites Eddy to come visit sometime. “Yes,” says Eddy, “I’d love to visit you and Dharma.” Emily’s mother says, “You’re welcome, any time, Eddy.” When Dharma arrives home he is treated like a hero, with lots of hugs and petting, and plenty of scratching under the chin. Emily’s mother makes a special strong-smelling meal for Dharma. “I added fish oil, so he can smell it,” she explains to Emily. Dharma sniffs and sniffs at the bowl of food, and finally he can smell it. He gobbles up the whole bowl, and meows for more. He finishes his second portion, then sits down and cleans his paws and whiskers, making sure to do a nice thorough job of it. Then he has a long, lazy stretch, and big yawn. He curls up on his favourite red cushion, which Emily has moved so it’s right in front of the heater. Emily gives Dharma another good long scratch under the chin. “It’s so good to have you home, Dharma!” Dharma says, “It’s so good to be home, I don’t want to roam. I’m warm and I’m fed, and I’m going to bed!” Dharma curls up on his cushion, in his favourite sleeping position. He purrs and he purrs, until he purrs himself to sleep. His eyelids flutter and his little nose and paws twitch, as he dreams happy Kitten dreams about safe warm houses, with loving people and plenty of soft cushions, and great big bowls of smelly food. |
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