Cart Cat Makes News

Here is the whole story:

Cat Delivers Treats in her Handmade Cart

Tootie worked frantically pounding nails into her cart and attaching the wheels.  Bits of lumber and assorted tools lay scattered on the ground.  Shaking her long, striped fur to dislodge bits of wood, she mopped her brow and sat back to look with pride at her finished project as she laid the hammer down.  It wasn’t the best looking cart in the world.  The wood she had collected was weather-beaten and the wheels weren’t perfect either, but she decided it would serve the purpose.  After all they were all she could find in that old junkyard on the edge of town and dragging them back to her home about wore her out.  However, it was all worth it now.  Her whiskers twitched as a big smile burst across her face.

For a moment she allowed herself to daydream as visions of the finished project danced in her head.  It was time to pick up the tools and tidy the place up.  She would wash up and spruce the cart up a bit before she went into the village.  The hard work was done, now it was time for the fun part.

Tootie looked around at the buckets of paint she salvaged, purple, green, blue.  There was only a small amount of yellow but she would use it as an accent color.  She was so very excited to be chosen as the village cart cat.  She just knew her fresh baked treats would be a hit.  Although she was awfully tired and ready for a nap, she almost danced into her little hut.  She would take a small break first and have a cup of tea and a small treat as a reward for a job well done and then she would paint.

As she stepped inside she saw a flash of black and white disappear around the corner.  The crinkle of wrapping pricked at her ears and she looked over to the pile of treats and discovered they had been rummaged through and left topsy-turvy.

“How dare you!  Get out here this minute!”  Tootie demanded.  After she yelled out a second time with no response, she decided to investigate.  Perhaps the culprit escaped out of the window.

Stomping and twitching her tail, she walked around the corner only to be attacked by the black and white intruder who was s till licking her whiskers having devoured the delicious cake.

Tootie shook her off, her fur standing on end.  “What are doing sneaking in here and eating my treats?  You know how important this is to me!”

“Oh, I was just sampling them.  Please play with me?”

“You can see I’m kind of busy right now Koki.  They are expecting me in the village and I still have a lot to do to get ready.”  Tootie scolded her friend.  All Koki ever wanted to do was play.  That cat was never serious.  And how she managed to stay so slim Tootie would never know as she felt her own thickening waistline.  She even heard someone in the village call her Ms Wattles the other day.  Perhaps she was sampling too many of her own baked goods.

“Can I help?  It really looks like fun,” Koki did a jig and bounced around the room, shaking Tootie from her thoughts.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.  You get into too much mischief,” Tootie looked at her sideways.

“I’ll be good.  I promise.  Plus this painting looks fun!”  Koki’s green eyes gleamed, “Besides you can use an assistant can’t you?”

Tootie paced around the room and finally consented to Koki’s help, but only if she did exactly as she was told and at the first sign of mischief she was out of there.

As they passed the pile of treats on the way outside, Koki grabbed another.

“Put that back!”  Tootie yelled.  “Are you here to help or to eat?”

“I thought I might get hungry out there.”

Tootie sat thumping her tail on the floorboards and giving Koki the evil eye until she replaced the treat back in the pile.

“Now come on.  We have a lot of work to do,” Tootie pushed her through the door.  There was no way she was leaving that cat unattended.

And so the two cats got busy slathering paint onto the old wood and it wasn’t long until the broken down cart looked brand new.  It gleamed and was transformed from drab wood with flowers painted on the sides.  Even the splits and chips were hardly noticeable now.

They admired their artistic ability as they stood back and smiled.  But the sun was lowering in the

sky and it as time to get changed, load the cart and be off.

Tootie ran inside for a tablecloth she had put together from thrown away scraps and the two cats loaded all the goodies into the cart once that was in place.  Tootie attached a small, silver bell she had borrowed from a neighbor’s barn and they were ready to go.  She decided Koki could go along and help if she was good.  After all, she was already dressed in her tuxedo and would look fine as her assistant once she washed the paint spatters off.

It wasn’t long before they started down the dusty track.  Tootie wasn’t a young sprout anymore and was plum tuckered out, but her excitement pushed her on.  She gained momentum as the village cats could hear the little bell when the cart came over the hill and headed into town.  They scurried to find places along the road to watch this spectacle and ground breaking news.  It wasn’t often that one of their own was honored.  The TV news was even there to record the event.  Tootie felt her heart swell with pride as they all began to sing.

Here comes Tootie Toot, here comes Tootie Toot

Bringing her cart of treats

She has all the kittens running in the street

Making the rounds, down the paths and alleys and around the village square

Giving a treat to all the little paws, Tootie’s always fair

Here comes Tootie Toot, here comes Tootie Toot

A beret down over her brow

Little feet pounding, eyes a dancing

She stops the cart in the town square where all the carts are gathered there

With a swish of her tail, ready to make a sale, a cheery voice proclaims

“Treats and snacks of every sort are loaded on my cart.”

Shouts came from the crowd, some are soft and some are loud

“I’d like a roll!”  “I want chips!”  They shouted as they pursed their lips

“How about ice cream or a tart?  I have something for everyone on my cart.”

So they scattered round, furry faces and tails abound

As she dispensed the treats and sweets

Everyone purred happily at this merry meet

Meanwhile, Koki did cartwheels on the stack

Of wrapped treats in the back

Tootie looked at her in dismay

She was too old to act that way

The news cameras zoomed in and flashed

As Tootie darted and dashed

A beaming cart cat was making big news

Among the howling and the mews

The coins jingled merrily in her bag

As it began to sag

Tootie leaned back against the cart to bathe her face and straighten her hat

Preparing for the long journey back

Time to rest, to dream, to sleep

The rest of the treats would keep

Tomorrow is another day

When once again she’d come this way

Wearily she shuffled down the road

Pulling what was left of her load

There was time for more baking

With tomorrows waking

Happy faces grinned and waved and she heard a hoot

There goes Tootie Toot, there goes Tootie Toot

Wonder what she’ll have tomorrow

To quench all of our sorrow

For nary a rat can be found to keep the cats alive

Where mice and rats aplenty always used to thrive

Tootie looked over at her friend, together they stood to wave goodbye

With a grin and a sigh

Word of her fame would spread across the land

Perhaps Koki would lend her a hand

If she let her eat and play

For part of every day