SCATTER, THE CAT

by M.L. Klein

Scatter the cat was not happy. There she was, waiting for her morning bowl of cream ever so patiently but Papa John Landsakes was not paying attention!
Her morning cream should have been a sweet memory by now, lingering on her whiskers.
Why, he even forgot to scratch her behind the ears, chuckling what a good girl she was and pretty, too.
No, Papa John was scratching his beard and chuckling at the magic box. That’s how Scatter thought of the computer. It made pictures look like real life and real life look like pictures. Scatter took a dim view of real life when it upset her plans.
Before long, she would be late for her playtime at the goldfish pond, then, her nap in the sun. How could she do all that without her bowl of cream in the morning?
With her plumed tail high, she jumped lightly on Papa John’s lap and purred and chirred.
But, this did not get Papa John’s attention. So, she chirred and then purred.
This did not work, either.
Well now, Scatter the cat was not without ideas of her own. And Scatter was not named Scatter for no reason, something the sparrows outside in the garden knew all too well.
With a little jump and a big fwump, Scatter landed on the keyboard so hard that papers flew and pencils rolled.
“LANDSAKES!!” Papa John exclaimed. There were all sorts of strange noises that blinged and lights that blinked from the machine.
Then, with a Blap and a Bleep and a Blip and a Blop, and not to mention a Blup, Scatter suddenly found herself inside the magic box looking through the glass at Papa John. “OH NO! OH MY! OH DEAR!” he cried aloud. Scatter put her paws on the glass screen to peer out and mewed mournfully that now she will never get her bowl of cream!
Papa John wrung his hands and did not know what to do. Then, he saw the key with the word ‘Escape’ on it. ESCAPE! Would it bring Scatter back or make her disappear? Papa John took a deep breath and hit the key. With a Blup and a Blop and a Blip and a Bleep and a rather odd sounding Blap, Scatter was back! She was always quite the quick and nimble-footed cat but nothing exceeded the speed in which she flew off the keyboard.
Scatter got her bowl of cream, at last, and so many hugs that it took her all day to fluff her fur just right again and, in fact, missed her firm appointments in the backyard.
Papa John scratched his beard and his head for a long time after that.
Sparrows sitting on the window sill tittered and giggled until their tummies ached.
And Scatter never scattered much of anything, again.

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FIGARO AND CLEO and AUNT DELILAH, TOO