Xena’s Story Part 2

If you missed Xena’s story, Part 1, please click here.

Lucy: Xena, as your most excellent editor, I must nudge you to write the second part of your story. Your fans are waiting, and you don’t want to disappoint them. As for me, I need a nap. Why don’t you do that while I sleep?

Xena: You’re right, Luce. Let me think. *5 minutes later, which in dog time is at least half an hour* OK, here’s what happened next…

Xena’s story: A Dog and her Cat Friends, still with no Plot Hounds, Part Two

Summer slid into fall, and fall into winter, and the Siamese cats Sho and Tye missed their new schnauzer friend named Xe. “I want to go find Xe in the great USA,” meowed Tye. “She’s my only schnauzer friend – my only doggie friend, really. And we’re like sisters now.”

Come spring, Tye was determined to jump a ship and sail to the great USA to visit Xe. Sho warned her about the dangers, and said it would be smarter to stay at home near their hut Canada, and let Xe come back and visit them. Tye argued that Xe had told her that the USA didn’t have any crocodiles or cobras, so it must be a safe place.

In the end, Tye did what she wanted. Sho stayed behind to protect Canada. While trying to figure out a way to get to the great USA, Tye met a young Siamese boy who became smitten with her beauty and promised to help her board the next ship heading that way. The boy, whose name was Buddy, got a job on the ship as a deck hand, and smuggled Tye on board in his duffel bag.

Eventually the Captain found out, and was about to throw her overboard when she cried out, “Wait! Have you seen any mice on this ship since we left port? NO! No you haven’t, because I have been earning my passage. Come down to my, er, Buddy’s cabin and you can see I’m telling the truth, and it would be disastrous to throw me – your mouser – overboard.”

So down to Buddy and Tye’s cabin they went, where the Captain, delighted and astounded that Tye was telling the truth, found the ship’s mice.

After that, the Captain and Tye spent a lot of time together, and became fast friends. He often tossed the fish he caught to Tye to eat. He even gave her some corn to share with her mice friends – on the condition that the mice stay in Tye’s cabin. The little mice had never lived so well, with a soft bed and a steady supply of food, so they were happy to remain where they were.

Time flew by, and soon the ship docked at a port in Texas, USA. As Tye stepped off the ship onto American soil, an ICY officer put her in pawcuffs and told her she was being detained as an illegal Siamese cat. She was frightened and bewildered! No one had ever treated her like this. The ICY person was cold to her pitiful cries and pleas and carted her off to a horrid detention center.

After a couple of weeks of eating nothing but rotten veggies, Tye made friends with one of the ICY people. The officer said she wasn’t really ICY, just a bit COOL, and that – please don’t tell anyone – she loved cats and would try to help her. The COOL person smuggled in her IPad. Tye used it to contact Xe, asking her to come and help her escape from this awful detention center in Texas. Tye explained that cats, especially Siamese cats, had been targeted as something called “undesirables,” and were being framed as murderers and liars and thieves and were even taking jobs from American cats. Every day, cats were taking the fall for the Americans who had actually committed these crimes (except the spoiled and lazy American people didn’t really want the American cats’ jobs because it was hard work).

Xe was confused as to why Tye had come to visit without emailing her first. Then she was sad at what had happened. Then she was mad – outraged, actually – at the injustice of it all, and at what poor, innocent Tye was going through. Now was not the time to assign blame – that might come later. Xe’s first priority was freeing Tye from the bondage. Or at least from the cat detention center. She would be a Freedom Rider. “It’s a good thing I have some experience riding,” she thought, as she remembered her one – and only – time on a horse.

“Mom,” declared Xe, “I have to go help my cat friend, Tye. She’s found herself in a pooping-outside-the-litter-box load of trouble, and none of it is her fault. I have to free her from the ICY people. I’ll think of a plan on my way to Texas.”

“I can’t find the horse, I’d better take a bus. Yes, a bus. This is a job for Xe Schnauzer Warrior Princess.

To be continued…

Xena Writes a Story on Dr. Seuss Day

Lucy: Hi Xena. Whatcha doing? You look like you’re up to something.

Xena: I’m thinking. It’s Dr. Seuss Day. He wrote fun stories and poems. You know Angel Lexi was an author, too. She wrote a whole book about her life and adventures. I’m thinking maybe I could write a little story.

Lucy: You’ll never know unless you try. Like Dr. Seuss said, “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!” So, how are you going to do it?

Xena: I’m thinking maybe I’ll dogtate it into one of those dogtation machines. Then, if there’s a mistake, I can blame the machine.

Lucy: Sounds like a plan. Have you come up with a story?

Xena: Yep. Here goes: My name is Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess. Xena for short. Xe for shorter. I have two Siamese cat friends. Their names are Shoko and Tyebe. They live in a different country named Canada. Shoko is smart, and Tyebe is fun. They have their own blog. The end.

Lucy: Your dogtator seems to be working just fine. But there’s a couple of little things maybe that need changed.

Xena: Are you saying you don’t like my story, that my story stinks? Or don’t you like the Canadian cats?

Lucy: I love the Canadian cats, and your story doesn’t stink. Every good writer has someone called an editor, and since you’re such a good writer *toes crossed* you deserve a good editor like me. Now, first of all, all short stories are at least a few pages long. It would be great if you told more about everyone in the story and different things that you all do or like to do. And there is usually a plot.

Xena: But this is about cats, not plot hounds.

Lucy: Uh, ok, never mind that. The other thing is that you must not use your friends’ real names. You need to make up names, like Mary or Ann or Susan or Tammy or…

Xena’s story: A Dog and her Cat Friends, with no Plot Hounds, Part One

Xe was a beautiful miniature schnauzer with salt and pepper coloring. She had a very happy life with her dog sister Lu and her peeps, Mom and Dad. Xe went on a trip on a boat. It was a big boat, and it sailed all the way to the land of Siam. There was lots of dancing and food on the big boat, so Xe had many days and nights of fun. All the boy dogs wanted to dance with Xe because she was a very talented dancer, and pretty, too. At night, she always went back to her cabin alone and slept by herself. She missed cuddling up to Mom and Dad in the big bed back home, but then she remembered she wasn’t allowed to do that all night now, anyway. But that’s a story for another day.

After being at sea for several weeks and eating her fill of the fishies of the sea and dancing until she thought maybe her legs would fall off, Xe saw land. Before sunset that day, the big boat docked at that wonderful land called Siam. Everyone on the boat ran off and started to explore. While walking between shops, Xe met two Siamese cats. The older one was named Sho and she was very wise. The young one was named Tye and she was full of energy and very mischievous.

“Where are you from,” asked Tye, “and what is your name? I’m Tye.”

“I’m Xe, and I’m from the wonderful land of USA.”

“That’s Sho over there. She’s my big sister. Do you want to be our friend? Sho doesn’t like to play very much. Do you? What do you like to play?” Tye was full of questions, and kept jumping at the little schnauzer, who had never had a cat friend before.

When Tye stopped to catch her breath, Xe replied, “I love to play, especially chasing balls. I like to run with a friend, too, but I don’t like to be jumped at.”

“Look out little schnauzer named Xe!” exclaimed Sho. “You almost got trampled by the local traffic.”

So Xe and Tye went to the edge of the jungle where there wasn’t so much traffic and found some mangoes to play with that had not been stepped on by an elephant. Tye jumped at the fruit and batted them around with her front paws, while Xe ran and brought back the mangoes that Tye had hit further away. Sho sat and cleaned her lovely paws while keeping a watchful eye on the young ones. When one of the mangoes rolled into a nearby creek, Xe started after it.

“Stop!” meowed Sho in her loudest Siamese voice. “Little schnauzers have to be very careful about going near water where mean old crocodiles live. They have a reputation for wanting to eat all the schnauzers in the land.”

Are you a schnauzer treat? You would make a tasty morsel, a little snack before dinner.

Just as Xe heard Sho yell for her to come back quickly, she saw Mort the Siamese crocodile, who was camouflaged in the muddy water. That was enough to scare even a very brave little schnauzer warrior princess like Xe. She quickly turned and ran back to Sho and Tye as fast as she could. Xe collapsed in front of them, quivering with fear or maybe with adrenaline. Yep, it was probably with adrenaline. Realizing this magical land was actually full of danger, Xe was grateful for the Siamese cats’ offer for her to go home with them to spend the night in a safe place with comfy mats on the floor to sleep on. In Siam, everyone named their huts, and Sho, being the oldest, had named their hut Canada.

The next few days were spent with the three of them together, learning more about each other and becoming fast friends. Xe sat at Sho’s feet and listened to her talk about her life in Siam, soaking up her words of wisdom. Once Sho quoted Dr. Seuss, saying, “Only you can control your future.”

Sho taught Xe the song, “I am Siamese if you please, I am Siamese if you don’t please.” That song would run through the little schnauzers head for years to come, reminding her always of her good friends and the wonderful time they had together in Siam.

Sho would nap often, and during those times, Xe and Tye would play-wrestle and chase each other around the hut, being careful to stay out of the Siam elephant traffic and away from any creeks or pools of water. Every evening the three of them took walks in the lane that bordered the jungle, being careful not just of rampaging elephants and schnauzer-eating crocodiles, but also of wild boars, leopards and cobra snakes.

Xe: “Where’s Sho?” Ty: “She stopped for a potty break. She’ll catch up soon.”

Sometimes they brought mice that Tye and Xe had caught during the day to throw at the leopards if they came too near. The plan was that the mice would bounce off the leopard and then start running, causing the big, wild cat to chase after them. Out of Sho’s hearing, they whispered about trying to stuff a wiggling mouse down a cobra’s throat if they got the chance, but that chance never happened. Sometimes it misted a light rain during their evening strolls, and even Sho joined the youngsters in a joyful rain dance that included a lot of hopping and turning and yipping and chirping. After these happy dances, the three of them would run back to their hut Canada and wrap up in fluffy towels, while they sipped cups of warm, sweet tea before settling into their bed mats for the night. Always, while drifting off to sleep, young Tye would whisper something a wise “Dr.” once said, “Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”

The day finally came for the the big boat to blow it’s loud horn. Three times the horn sounded, signaling its imminent departure to all who wanted to sail home from Siam. With tearful hugs, Sho and Tye bid Xe goodbye and safe travels. Oh, and they exchanged email addresses so they could keep in touch and maybe even plan how to get together again. Xe dawdled so long, not wanting to leave her new – and only – cat friends that she almost missed the big boat, leaping astride the boarding ramp just as it was being pulled onto the ship. She jumped into the big boat and turned quickly toward shore, her ears flapping in the wind. She feared this would be the last time she would see Sho and Tye, and her eyes blurred as she blinked back schnauzer tears. And then it came to her: Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened. – Dr. Seuss

Xe’s fears were not to come true. The three best friends – or maybe just two of them – would find a way to see each other again soon. The End.

By Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

Siamese Visitor

Look who appeared on our front porch today.

I see you but I am ignoring you in the hopes you will go away and leave me in peace.

Why are you still here?

This cat has been a “stray” in the neighborhood for at least 3 years. I learned that one of our neighbors has been feeding him/her. Isn’t (s)he a beauty? I wonder if (s)he is related to Kali and Shoko up in Canada…