Cassie the Sassy Cat (and Squeaky the Mouse)... in progress

Cassie the Sassy Cat (and Squeaky the Mouse)

CHAPTER ONE

One day, Cassie was sitting in the grass.  The sun was shining and Cassie was so relaxed that she didn't see the little mouse hiding behind the tree.  The little mouse named Squeaky had his little binoculars and was casing out Cassie, because Cassie was right in the path to the house.  Squeaky thought to himself, "I need to find a way to get into that house."  You see, Squeaky saw the truck come home from the store and he knew that in the house there would be a lot of cheese and other fine goodies for him to enjoy, and of course for him to take back to his family (he is not a selfish mouse, at least most of the time, he would certainly share some with his family - if only he could get into the house).  He was also hoping that the grocery bags contained some sort of alcohol treat.  His favorite was rum, but it had been so long since he had had a yummy drink that he wasn't going to be picky on this day.

Cassie was enjoying the sun shining warm on her fur.  Her eyes were half shut due to the brightness of the sun and how relaxed she felt.  She was thinking about what a great owner she had and how much she loved her.  She knew she was a spoiled cat, but she also felt that she deserved to be spoiled and nothing less would ever be acceptable. 

The sun was so cozy that Cassie started to fall asleep.  Her eyes slowly closed, then opened a bit, then closed, then opened a bit, until Cassie fell into a deep, warm, cozy slumber.  She started dreaming of Feline Eden, something she had heard about this last Sunday at Feline Foursquare.  In her dreams, Cassie had servants all around her, giving her a pedicure, washing, brushing and fluffing her fur, one of the servants feeding her tasty little cat treats that hung in clusters like grapes. 

After Cassie had been asleep for at least ten minutes, Squeaky thought it would be a good time to make a move for the house.  He knew it might be dangerous, but he was so excited about all of the cheese and other treats in the house that he couldn't wait any longer.

Luckily for Squeaky, it was springtime and the grass hadn't been mowed yet, so there was plenty of room for him to work his way through the tall grass without being seen, as long as Cassie didn't wake up that is.  He crouched on all fours, making sure that his tail stayed low to the ground, and started inching his way to the house. 

CHAPTER TWO

Creepy, crawly, creepy, crawly, one paw in front of the other, slow and steady.  Squeaky continued to creep and crawl until he made it to the edge of the grass beside the old pickup truck.  Poking his head slowly over the grass blades, he peaked over at Cassie, who at that very moment raised her head, eyes still closed, gave a wide yawn, and stretched her body.  Squeaky jerked his head back into the grass blades as Cassie, unbeknownst to him, laid back down and went back to sleep. 

Squeaky was terrified!  Especially after seeing the big, sharp teeth in Cassie's mouth.  He imagined the daggers poking through his teeny muscular frame, blood oozing from his wounds, as he lay limp in her mouth.  Shaking his head ever so slightly as to not make noise, he tried to get the image out of his mind. 

Squeaky didn't know what to do.  If Cassie was awake, he knew she would catch him if he ran.  On the other hand, if he didn't run, he knew that if she came any closer she would smell him and then she would still catch him.  At that moment, he wished he had taken a bath that morning, his mousy smell may have not been so strong if he had, but it was a moot point now. 

Silence surrounded Squeaky for five minutes, though to him it seemed like hours, when he finally decided Cassie must have gone back to sleep.  Being the brave little mouse that he is, he slowly raised his head once again slightly over the grass blades.  He was relieved to see Cassie sprawled out and snoozing away. 

Whew!  Squeaky took a deep breath and tried to relax for a second while he decided what his next move would be.  Trekking through the grass was quiet and he was lucky to have made it past Cassie, but he knew that Cassie had Feline Radan capabilities, which meant that if Squeaky made any noise with his little paws on the gravel, ground, porch, or any hard surface, that Cassie would wake up instantly.  He would have preferred to just make a run for it, but he knew that logically that would be a big mistake and that he needed to take his time and move slowly and very quietly as to not wake the Cassie.

The truck tire was very close and Squeaky thought his first move should be to silently creep over to the tire, as it gave him a little bit of a hiding space.  So, brave little mouse that he is, he slowly crept over to the front of the truck tire.  He was walking on gravel and it took everything he had to hold back yelps when he stepped on the edges of the rocks, though they did not cut his feet they surely caused him significant pain. 

Squeaky was starting to wonder if this whole ordeal was worth all the effort and the chance of being killed, but then he started envisioning all of the tasty cheeses, crackers and perhaps some wine, and he suddenly felt reenergized.

"I've made it this far, I can make it all the way."

Suddenly, the fur on his neck stood straight up and a ripple of fear traveled all the way from his head to the tip of his tail.  He looked to his left, nothing.  He looked to his right, nothing.  He knew whatever was making him so scared must be right behind him. 

The little tail shook with fear as he slowly turned his head to look behind him, reaching so his nose poked past the side of the tire and he could see around it, only to come face-to-face with Cassie, who unfortunately did not look like she was in a good mood.

CHAPTER THREE

"Oh, boy," Squeaky thought to himself.  "I'm a dead mouse now."  He was so scared he almost peed his fur.

A gust of wind suddenly blew a cloud of pollen through the air, enveloping them both in a hazy cloud.  Cassie, to her dismay, started having an allergy attack.  She sneezed once, blowing Squeaky all the way to the front tire of the old truck.

Squeaky bounced into the tire and landed on his back, stunned for a few seconds.  He could hear Cassie stifling, about ready to sneeze again. 

"This is my chance!"  Squeaky thought to himself.  Being the flexible mouse that he is, Squeaky flipped over onto all fours in a nanosecond and made a run for the stairs. 

Cassie gave out another big sneeze.  "Achooooooooooooooooo!"  Cassie rubbed her eyes with her front paws, wiped her nose, and started licking her paws clean.

Squeaky hit the stairs, and being the incredible acrobat that he is, leaped each step with agility, even taking a moment to do a double flip when he landed on the porch.  This may have been a stupid move, knowing Cassie could be right behind him, but he was so caught up in the excitement when he started leaping that he just couldn't help himself.

The cloud was just beginning to clear when he stood on the top step and looked back down the stairs.  Cassie let out one more enormous sneeze, "Achoooooooooooooooooooooo!" 

She immediately looked up the stairs and their eyes locked.  Cassie thought to herself, "you better run, little mouse, because I'm comin' to get you!"  Though she didn't speak the words, let alone meow them out loud, Squeaky knew just what she was thinking.

He did a back flip with a twist ending with a perfect landing at the front door.  He had seen what looked like a tiny hole in the siding to the right of the door when he was looking through his binoculars earlier, so he knew right where he could hide. 

He made a run for it, but was caught by surprise when he came to what he thought was the hole.  It was only a large area where the paint had scraped off, underneath being the old paint which was a very dark brown color. 

"Oh, no!"  Panic set in as Squeaky looked back over his shoulder.  Cassie was still down by the truck, but she gave him an evil grin and made a run for it. 

"Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no."  Squeaky darted his eyes checking out his surroundings as fast as he possibly could.  "There has to be somewhere to hide!" he thought to himself.  "There has to be!"

He saw an antique clear glass bottle.  It was about 2 feet tall and skinny with a narrow top.  He was sure if he could get inside he at least could get to the bottom of the bottle and Cassie wouldn't be able to reach him.  It was the best he could think of looking around on a moment's notice.  He made a run for it. 

Squeaky jumped up on a box, back flipped up onto the arm of a bench that was close to the top of the bottle, then jumped high up in the air, coming down in a dive position, his body as straight and tight as he could make it.  He was hoping he would fit and be able to land safely once he was in, and of course being the great acrobat that he was he was sure he could do an insta-flip before hitting the bottom of the bottle once he got inside.

By this time, Cassie had made it up onto the porch, jumped up onto the bench, and just as Squeaky was about to enter the bottle she made a swipe for him.  "Meooooooooooooooooooooooow,"  Cassie hissed as she reached out her left paw and tried to entrap Squeaky.

Her paw barely touched the end of Squeaky's tail and her paw kept moving to the right, the force knocking her off the bench.  But, being that she is a cat, she landed on all four feet.  Her feet hit the porch and she stared at the bottle as Squeaky did a half flip and landed on his hind legs at the bottom of the bottle. 

Cassie was very angry now, and though Squeaky knew he was safe, at least for the moment, he was still on edge being able to see Cassie pacing around the bottle, staring at him, eyeing him up and down like a piece of meat.  She walked slow circles around the bottle, rubbed up against the bottle while she purred, though Squeaky could tell it was not a nice purr.  It was more of a "I'm-so-happy-I'm-going-to-get-to-eat-you-soon" kind of purr. 

After an hour or so, Cassie finally settled down, wrapping herself around the base of the bottle.  She started to fall asleep.

There was nothing Squeaky could do to get out of the bottle without first knocking it over.  Though he was an amazing acrobat, the bottle was too skinny and the opening too small for him to be able to do a giant leap, and it had no hand holds in order for him to climb out.  His only choice was to sit and wait, hoping that Cassie's owner would call her in for the night.  Since it was early afternoon, he knew he might be there a while.