Alfie the Christmas Cat

‘Meow.’ Don’t worry, I had it all in paw.

My plan now ready, I stayed in the hall to wait for the right time. It felt like ages, but then I was impatient, so it probably wasn’t. I really wanted to get going with this, not only because I was a little nervous about making it work, but also because the more I thought about it the better it sounded to my ears. I shuffled around, unable to sit still, willing them to hurry up.

Eventually, the doorbell rang and I started to get ready. Aleksy and Connie walked in, gave me a quick fuss before following Claire into the kitchen. It was my cue. I managed to get the leaflet into my mouth on the third try – definite improvement – and I walked slowly to the kitchen with it in my mouth. I had to be careful not to drop it, and although it was a bit bigger than I would have liked and meant I could barely see over it, I finally made it. As I approached the table, I misjudged and banged into the table leg, and I nearly dropped the leaflet, but managed to keep hold of it. My poor head would have two bumps on it, possibly.

‘So, you haven’t got any ideas?’ Claire was asking, as I turned myself and got ready to jump up.

‘No, we’ve been thinking and thinking. We don’t want to do anything sponsored, as that’s normal, and we want to get people involved. Our aim is to raise money so they can have a nice Christmas dinner and get some warm clothes and sleeping bags maybe … We need something good to raise enough money and get many people involved.’ Poor Aleksy sounded dejected.

‘Yes, we want everyone at the shelter to have proper treats at Christmas, to give them something to look forward to, or as much as they can when they’re homeless,’ Connie added. ‘Also, we thought we could help raise awareness at the same time.’

‘Of course, it’s such a lovely idea. I feel terrible that I haven’t got a good idea for you, but I’ll keep thinking about it.’ Claire sounded a little upset now. It was my cue. I steadied myself and jumped on the table, nearly but not quite dropping the leaflet. When I reached the middle of the table, I let the leaflet go and it fluttered down looking a bit worse for wear. I hoped it would still work. The best thing was that finally I could feel my tongue again as I licked my lips, and rubbed my head with my paw.

‘What is this?’ Claire asked, picking it up. ‘The flyer for the pantomime? Why on earth have you brought this here, Alfie?’

‘Oh, maybe Alfie is trying to tell us something,’ Aleksy said, stroking me.

‘Meow.’ Of course I am. Even after all these years my humans could be a little slow on the uptake.

‘You want to go to the pantomime?’ Claire asked. See what I mean?

‘Yowl.’ No.

‘You want us to do a panto?’ Aleksy asked. I tried to move my head a bit, but it still smarted.

‘It would be far too hard,’ Connie said. ‘And anyway there’s loads of them around, so why would anyone come to ours?’

‘Meow, meow, meow.’ Honestly, I couldn’t spell it out any more than this. I did a spin on the table, not sure why but I was frustrated.

‘What about a show?’ Claire said.

‘Purr. Purr.’ Yes!

‘You mean a Christmas show?’ Aleksy said.

‘Purr.’ Now we were talking.

‘For the local community, with everyone involved?’ Connie added.

‘MEOW.’ Finally.

‘Oh what a fabulous idea,’ Claire said. ‘We could have Christmas songs …’

‘And what about a grown-up Nativity, that could be a good idea?’ Aleksy chipped in.

‘And maybe carols, and all the children can be involved, and we can ask at school …’ Connie sounded excited.

‘We could sell tickets, and make posters advertising it.’

‘I think it’s a brilliant idea. Of course it should be a Christmas show.’ Claire sounded excited. ‘It’s perfect, in fact.’

‘But where would we have it?’ Aleksy asked. ‘And what about the cost?’

‘Leave that to me,’ Claire said. I lay down, relieved. They had got the idea, they liked it and now it was going to hopefully come to life. I wondered what part I would play, and George and Snowball, too, of course. And maybe Hana would be involved. It would be a real family affair and I loved the idea that we’d get to all work together on it. After all, we were a big part of this community. I could see it bringing everyone together in the most wonderful way.

I listened with one ear open as they chatted around some ideas, it seemed they were really getting it now.

‘Yes there’s a lot to do,’ Aleksy said, after they’d chatted for a while. ‘But maybe if we make a list we can do it.’

‘How about you and Connie be the directors?’ Claire suggested. ‘And if you want to do the Nativity you could even write a script so it will be new and original?’

‘Good idea,’ Connie said.

‘We could ask the school to support us as well,’ Aleksy suggested.

‘Now that is a good idea,’ Claire said. I agreed.

‘And we could hold auditions, which would be really fun!’ Connie added, excitement audible in her voice.

I loved the way they were all thinking and coming up with ideas, and I was so proud of Aleksy and Connie. Teenagers get a bad rap (and yes I am guilty of that), but Aleksy and Connie were doing something good, rather than just worrying about themselves. They were being so unselfish, helping others. I had taught them well.

‘We’ll need to do lots of social media,’ Connie said. I climbed onto Aleksy and nuzzled into his neck. As they continued to chat away about the show, I could see it in my mind. I lay down in Aleksy’s lap. My work was done and yet another plan was now underway.

Chapter Nine

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