There once was a cat named Gabriel who thought he might be part dog. when he was young he would run the house but later it became a jog. He shared his noble home with another. Her name was Kate and she truly loved her cat brother.
But 2 + 2 = 4. And that’s what the Cat Staff was for.
They fed them and they cleaned them and picked everything up. They provided a warm bed at night for Kate and Gabe, the pup.
And days would pass like they always do, from midday into night, then morning back to noon. The seasons would come. Gabe & Kate would watch them go. They would play with Spring flowers and bask in Summer sun glow. Autumn leaves would drop and fall to the playful paws of Gabe, who loved this game, so many memories he saved.
And Winter would come and the open-door wind would blow. But Gabe did not like that so at it he would howl. He thought something else should happen, something else now!
Like good Cat Staff, and his were the best, they warmed up the cozy home and played games like a quest. They would play boards, they played dice and cards, to Gabe all the same. But for him the best time was “The Shrinking Box Game”!
Out would it come to the table and open and spill. They called it a jigsaw puzzle and Gabriel would thrill. He knew this game, he knew it well. This game he could play, this one he could excel. The trick to the Shrinking Box was timing and speed and wait for the right moment before a cat should proceed.
And when the Cat Staff was focused, their thoughts all in, Gabe knew it was time, the time to begin. He sprung to the table top and sat there, he froze. And there was the Cat Staff with their puzzle fingers and their puzzle toes.
They laid down outer pieces to the sound of the grandfather clock. They did not notice but to Gabe they were building a box. And as every cat knows this and knows that, a box needs an owner, a box needs a cat.
Gabe walked in to center, he stepped into the game. He lay down in the box and the box he did claim. And the frustrated Cat Staff moaned and protested. But Gabe could not leave now as the staff had suggested.
He warmed up his tail with a wiggle to the left and then one to the right. Suddenly without warning he sent puzzle pieces into flight. The Cat Staff jumped up in their puzzle clothes. Over here were some of the pieces, over there were some of those. They complained to the dog-cat at how they disapproved. And while the whole time, Gabe planned his second move.
A young cat on his tummy can tease a puzzle piece between two paws. But a smart cat on his back can do it with applause.
Night after night Gabe watched the Shrinking Box get smaller. And he would play the same games. You can bet your bottom dollar. Gabe had hoped this game could go on and on, but one night he arrived to find the Shrinking Box nearly, nearly gone.
The Cat Staff had filled the box that is except for one. They thought that they were finished. They thought that they were done. But where was the last piece, where could it had gone. They could not declare victory. They could say they won.
All around the table and all around the grandfather clock, they were dumbfounded they both were in shock. And Gabriel did smile watching them in their puzzle socks. They looked everywhere, yes they did, except for the litter box.
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Great ending!
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