Tales from WannaBea Farm

The nest

“Mama, Mama, come see”, I was screaming, “Blackie has babies”.

Mama came out to see the new kitties where Blackie had made a nest under a bush. I had never seen such new kittens and was just fascinated. They looked like big grub worms with feet and ears. But they were so soft and cuddly that I couldn’t keep my hands off of them. Mama admonished me to not handle them too much or they would be sick so I put them back.

“Why don’t you find a box or something to make them a better nest”, she suggested.

That sounded like a good idea, so I hunted around and not finding a suitable box, I dumped the ironing out of the laundry basket onto the bedroom floor, and then started looking for something for bedding. “Moss”, I thought. That would be nice and soft, so out I went to gather moss and whatever else I could find. I was going to make them the best nest a kitten ever had.

“Pretty little kitties, y’all are gonna like this”, I crooned to the four tiny creatures as I lovingly placed them into the nest that I had made for them under the edge of the house. Then Blackie, the mama cat crawled into the nest with them and immediately started purring as she nursed her kittens. She seemed to like her new nest as much as the kittens. It was perfect, so soft and warm that I wanted to crawl in with them. I watched them for a while before going back in the house where Mama was visiting with her friend, Mae.

I listened to them talking for a while, but it was pretty boring so I went back outside, wandering around the yard, looking for something to do. Then the screaming started!

“Omigod, Omigod”, I could hear Mae screaming! “What on earth was wrong? Was something wrong with my mother?”

Running into the house where Mae was still screaming, I saw my mother trying to calm her down. “Calm down, we’ll find it”, my mother was saying but Mae just screamed some more. “I laid it right here, I know I did. Do you know how much it cost?” and a lot more that I couldn’t understand as she was so hysterical.

Finally Mama quieted her and turned to me. “Have you seen Mae’s coat?” she asked. “No”, I answered, “what did it look like?”

“It was fur”, yelled Mae.

“Uh oh”!

“I found some fur on the floor beside your bed, but I didn’t know it was a coat, it looked kind of ratty looking to me”, I answered.

“RATTY, ratty, I’ll have you know that’s a GENUINE squirrel fur coat”, Mae screamed even louder as she started towards me with death in her eyes. My death!

“Mae”, Mama clutched her arm, “just calm down, please.” And turning to me she asked where it was.

When I answered, “Under the house”, I thought Mae was going to faint.

Following me outside, I showed them the kittens nest that I had been so proud of only minutes before. Retrieving Mae’s coat, Mama asked me, “What on earth made you use her coat?”

“Well, I thought the kitties would feel more at home on it, ‘cause it looked like cat hair to me.”

Mae puffed up like an old toad and left, mumbling something unintelligible under her breath. I think I did catch the word “brat” though.