The Cat With A Large Appetite

Chapter 1. Louis De France

In the circus, there was a trained cat that could do a lot of circus tricks, like walking on rope, and standing on hind legs without support. Her name was Lisa. But she wasn’t working in a circus. She lived in the circus dustbins… The bins which were full of circus stuff. She meowed loudly to attract people near the circus, to earn her food.

She also had a kitten called Alexander, who was very cute. One day he was playing on the road and suddenly a car came on the road whose drivers’ name was LOUIS DE FRANCE. Alexander suddenly jumped on the car bonnet and bumped with car windshield. Louis got scared and stopped the car. He jumped out of the car. He thought that a big bomb was thrown on the car! But to his surprise, it was only a small kitten. He smiled that he got tricked. The kitten meowed at him, and Louis liked at this brave act. It wasn’t any lazy street kitten. He could make out that the little kitten liked adventures and had a great appetite for learning and eating. So Louis petted Alexander and took him inside the car. Alexander did not know then, that this is the start of a great adventure for him, and they were on their way back to France…. The native place of Louis!

When Alexander came out of the car, he was welcomed by a signboard “Bienvenue en France” (Welcome to France). He did not understand it, but he smelled of bakery, & felt hungry. Soon, they went into a hotel and sat on a table. A waiter asked him “Veux tu un Croissant?” (Do you want a croissant?). Alexander was scared of this foreign language, and ran towards the kitchen. Just then he saw a pamphlet showing picture of French breads. “So, that delicious looking bread is Croissant…” Louis ran searching him and took him back to the table. He jumped on the table and tasted a croissant. He loved it and ate two more. After having lunch Louis went back to the airport. By now Alexander had learnt few French words and their meanings. He was very happy with himself. He waved at a man on the airport said “bonjour” (Good day) and the man just fainted with surprise!! Alexander thought to himself, “If I talk to some more people then tomorrow’s headline could be like ‘SIX PEOPLE FAINTED BY A CAT’ or ‘A GHOST CAT AT THE AIRPORT’… So I better keep quiet in front of people…” He thought he started understanding French & his problems are all solved. What he did not know was that Louis was leaving France, & where they were going, French language will not help Alexander.

Chapter 2. When in Rome…

The next day, they arrived at Rome and Louis took Alexander to the colosseum. It was just enough for 100,000,000 cats to stay in. He smiled at the idea of cats in Gladiator fights. There they again went to a restaurant and a man offered him a bowl of creamy “Zuppa di funghi” (Mushroom Soup). He liked it so much that he drank two bowls of it, until he looked like a big balloon filled by soup. He had no more energy to move with full belly, so they went and booked room at a hotel.

As they arrived in the room, he saw a small and soft bed. He sat on it and stretched his paws. Everyone heard a screeching sound Riiiiiiippppppp… As he looked down and oops… Alexander had torn the bed mattress. The manager got angry at him, and kicked Alexander out of the hotel. But how could he go away from Louis… so he got an Idea.

He quietly got in near the receptions desk. He saw the manager coming that way so he jumped on the stairs, and went upstairs to search for Louis’s room. He opened first door on his left. But this was not Louis’s room. There was a man bathing. Alexander knew he was in trouble again. He quickly hid behind the door and a few people walking by the passage saw the man. They laughed soo much at him that one nearly cried. One of them closed the door and saw Alexander standing like a statue in the passage. The man thought that it was a real cat statue. He admired the creation of sculptor, and moved ahead with the others.

Finally Alexander went back to the reception and saw Louis’s room number in the register. Then he confidently went back to the proper room. Louis opened the door, greeted him. Louis then turned the mattress upside down, so Alexander could also sleep without damaging it.

Next day Alexander jumped out of the window instead of getting caught by the manager again. But he did not think about which floor they were on. He immediately regretted his decision to jump, as he was falling from the 10th floor. But people near his landing were surprised to see such a small kitten landing on its feet!!! Everyone clapped for his acrobatic landing. He wondered “Either they had never seen a cat jump before, or they had never heard that cats always land on their feet.”

Chapter 3. Trouble in Germany

After checkout from hotel, Louis and Alexander went to the airport to go to Germany. But the only plane going to Germany was a small private 2 seater plane. Louis and Alexander had no choice so they got into the seats. ”huh?” said Louis. “Where is cover for this seat” he screamed to the pilot. The pilot said that these seats are open and they can enjoy the wind. Alexander was kept in a cage so he wouldn’t fly away. After a brain racking two hour flight they finally arrived in Germany in the city of Berlin. Louis also saw a small cat cage on another seat, he picked it for Alexander.

 They went to see the tall tower on which the victory column with Victoria called Siegessaule. It was a tall tower with the golden angel Victoria atop it. Alexander stared at it with amusement. It was such a humongous tower; Alexander had never seen such a tall building… Finally after watching the monument they booked a hotel with many wood and ceramics vases, as they entered the hotel they saw a line full of ceramic vases, they were on the stairs, on the reception. Alexander climbed on one vase and then started jumping from one vase to another. Louis tried to tell him not to do that, but just then something happened. Alexander tried to jump from a small vase to a tall vase. The small vase toppled and fell on another vase. That vase hit the second vase and vase dominoes started. As the vase dominoes went towards the receptionist’s desk, Louis tried to save those vases. But he did not understand if to save the vases or save Alexander. As the last vase hit the receptionist counter, the permanent marker on the desk was thrown on the register, scratching out the bookings of few customers. Those customers would be in for a big surprise soon, as their bookings were unknowingly cancelled because of Alexander.

Alexander pretended that he had done nothing and the vases fell on their own. He just walked out of the hotel quietly before anybody could catch him. After this entire ruckus he was feeling really hungry. He meowed to Louis to go to a restaurant. But in the restaurant he saw the menu card and got confused after seeing those weird cuisines names. He just ordered some food named “Schwabischer Zwiebelkuchen”, and waited to see what arrives on their table. He thought that the dish would contain some fishes and a big bowl of milk, but the waiter gave him an ‘Onion Cake’. He tasted the onion cake and said “ugh, what a dish! It doesn’t contain any fish or milk” but again he thought “let it be, at least I got to learn some German words.”

He gave away this cake to Louis. But his milk quest wasn’t over so he went into the kitchen and saw a big glass of milk. The kitchen table was too high, so he found a small ladder near the table he moved it near the glass and climbed on it but the ladder was not steady. It slipped and fell, but as alexander was a tough kitten he jumped bravely and reached the table counter. As the award of his jump he got the milk bottle. It was only after that, he understood that the ladder had fallen. Now he felt afraid to climb down with the milk bottle. Now he was thinking that I won’t get any milk but fortunately the milk bottle didn't spill, so he drank up half the bottle. After tasting it, he understood that it was the same chocolate milk which they got in the circus on the Ice cream sellers basket. He finally climbed down with full stomach and they left restaurant to go back to the hotel.

The hotel manager kept alexander in a different room full with cats and their toys and said “go play with your amigos” and locked the room but Alexander was smart, he understood that they were going to pet him like other cats so he found a small window and jumped out. But accidently he fell on a truck which then stopped on the red signal so he could jump out. As he was walking back to hotel, he saw a restaurant with name “Frisch Gebackene Kuchen” (Fresh baked cakes). He went in and ordered a pastry. As the waiter was preparing it, he remembered that he did not have any money. So he sneaked back to the hotel. From all the fallen vases, he picked up a small vase, and as he returned to the restaurant, he gave the vase to the waiter in place of money. Then he enjoyed the pastry.

Chapter 4. La Tomatina

After an eventful day in Germany, they planned to leave today to Spain. Now Louis booked ticket of a better, normal plane for them. After a good sleep of one hour during the journey, they reached Spain where everyone was celebrating La Tomatina, the Tomato Festival. They saw everyone was throwing tomatoes and water at each other. As Alexander went out on the street, a big water jet from the celebrations came straight on his face. He got scared, as he didn’t like getting wet or being hit with tomato, so he hid behind Louis. They booked a hotel so they could be safe inside. This time they booked a hotel which was famous for wood carvings. Now it was all Alexander’s time. He began climbing on the wood carvings but accidently he fell on a woman. The woman jumped in fright as Alexander climbed down. He heard a word called “guano” in the process by an English traveller passing by. He wanted to know what it is. Fortunately a cat came there so he asked him “What’s guano?” The cat thought ‘Como puedo explicar!' (How can I explan!). Just then, something sticky and dirty fell from the sky on Alexander’s head. When he looked up he saw a bird flying above them. The other cat laughed and said “bueno, aquí hay una muestra gratis” (Well, here is a free sample of it). The cat went away laughing.

After staying there for a day, Louis rented a bicycle and kept Alexander in the basket so he wouldn’t do any more mess. On this quiet journey (which was big for Louis), Alexander also ate some churros and tapas that Louis bought for them, and slept in the basket as Louis sped towards Czech Republic.

Chapter 5. Snow-Cat in Snow

After a long and tiring bicycle journey, they reached to the mountains near Czech Republic. There they had to leave the bicycle and board a snow-cat (a big car which works on snow). As they reached the mountain peak, there was lot of snow. Alexander wanted to ski on the snow, but suddenly he slipped and fell and began rolling down in the snow. Louis raced behind him; when Alexander finally stopped he had become a snowman!! Louis digged him out from the pile of snow.

Nearby they saw a snowmobile - a snow scooter – parked and available. Louis said, “Let’s have a ride on this”. They started their journey up the mountain on the snowmobile. As they were just a few meters away from the peak, unfortunately the fuel finished and they started sliding down again. They shouted for help but there was nobody nearby. Fortunately they found a bit of fuel in a bottle in the snowmobile hood. It was labeled “Barevná Voda”. Louis poured it in the tank. “Meaowssss” Alexander sighed!! As they kept going the vehicle started making a noise. Louis cried “ooooopppps, this is the wrong fuel!!” In fact it was just some ‘Colored Water’; not the real fuel. By this time they had already reached the peak. As they moved away, they heard a loud “Boooooooooom”, the ski blew up. They walked quietly and acted as if they had nothing to do with it.

Now Louis remembered that he had to attend a meeting at his office, which was in UK. They would have to leave at noon to arrive at UK the next day. So, he booked a small cabin to rest for 6 to 7 hours. While Louis slept at the cabin, Alexander could not sleep, so he sat at window and looked around. He saw a lot of migratory birds flying in the sky. He took Louis’s Binoculars enjoyed watching the birds. “It’s time to go home” said Louis. Alexander jumped with happiness on this thought and finally kept away the binoculars. This time they booked a train ticket. This was a long journey, but they travelled through Germany and France on their way to UK. Alexander could remember all the fun he had in those countries during this travel.

Chapter 6. Home Sweet Home

They soon reached UK. Alexander was very excited to go back home after a long travel. This was the place where he was born and had started his journey with Louis. After a short taxi drive, they reached at the circus. Alexander was peeping out of the car window, to search for Lisa. Lisa too looked at the big car from which Alexander was calling her name loudly. They were very happy to see each other. Lisa could not stop staring at the confident and grown up kitten standing in front of her.

While Alexander was away, Lisa had also got a job in circus. She used to jump on the Net and do cycling. Now looking at her performance, Alexander also wanted a job in circus. So, he went on stage and started speaking all the foreign language words he learned during his travels. People clapped for him because he was the only kitten in the circus who knew so many languages and cuisines. He was the only animal in circus that had seen the world outside circus cage and tents.

He proudly told his story to his mother and others in circus. This is how a small, courageous, smart and mischievous kitten’s first story had ended. But his appetite for travel, adventure, and learning new cultures, is not to be satisfied so easily… he would soon wish again to go on the new adventure! 

The End.