The Stray Cat That Ran Away
by Betsy Humphries

Way back along the country side lived a stray cat that loved to sit on the old porch where the sun was just warm enough to make him feel very comfortable.

In the old house lived a little boy and his Grandfather. Each day when the boy would go outside to play the cat would be perched outside upon the window sill.

He looked forward to playing and following the little boy around nearly everywhere he went.

One day while in a wooded area behind the house, the cat spotted a squirrel running along the ground, in and out of the bushes and up and down the trees.

His curiosity suddenly got the best of him so he began to follow the squirrel around until he found that he no longer knew exactly where he was or how to get back to the old house.

He began to wander around in hopes of finding his way back to the familiar porch he loved to lie on and to see if he could find the little boy who lived there.

Before long it began to get dark and now the little boy had begun to wonder just where the missing cat might be.

He suddenly remembered that he'd left his Grandfather's shovel by the old oak tree out back. He decided he'd better go get it before it got too late.

In the meantime the stray cat was still trying to find his way back to the house.

The little boy was getting closer to the area where he'd left the shovel by the tree when he heard a sound. Then he heard it again, meow, meow.

Just then he looked up and there in the tree was the cat and when it spotted the little boy he quickly came climbing down.

The boy was so happy to find him and the stray cat was equally happy to be found.

As the boy made his way back to the house, the stray cat followed closely behind and when he got back to the old porch found his favorite spot to lie down.

He was back safe and sound again and felt so comfortable that he didn't feel like a stray anymore but loved and befriended by the little boy who lived there and who found him when he'd gotten lost.

Never again would he wander off alone.

Copyright Betsy Humphries - 2009

Betsy lives in South Carolina, USA, and has four grown children. Read her other free kids' book, Jake and the Big Red Balloon.

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