A Cat Called Sassy

A Cat Called Sassy

Once upon a time there happened to be a little cat called Sassy. He had a beautiful fur-coat almost black but shot with gold, and a darling little red frill about his neck, and the most beautiful eyes you could imagine. They were thoughtful, grey-green eyes that reminded you of a deep lake. Yes, those liquid eyes would have melted a heart of stone, not to mention the hearts of little children. As I said before, he was called Sassy. More precisely he knew that his name had to be Sassy.

All day long, he waited in a shop window gazing at the passers-by, especially little girls looking up at him. (At night, he like the other toys there, were put to bed in little cardboard boxes all lined inside with cotton wool.) As for the little girls (and sometimes little boys too), they liked looking back at Sassy, and longing to have him for their own. They would tug at the hands of their Ammies and Thaththies, (not to mention Seeyas and Aachchies and Loku-Ammas or whoever had happened to accompany them,) and whisper to them, “Can you please buy that cat for me? Please!” But the grownups were either too busy to heed them or just did not have enough money that day to buy him. If they bought a toy at all, it was always another, and not Sassy.

So Sassy gazed at the little girls (and the little boys) and sighed. He wished that he too had an owner. He was indeed very, very lonely.

Then one fine day, (or perhaps it was rather wet after all,) a little girl called Aruni came walking by, holding on tightly to her own dear little Ammie; and Ammie fell in love with Sassy just as much as Aruni did. That was just as well, since it so happened that this Ammie had just enough money to buy Sassy, rather than a simply enormous Lion King that happened to be on display in the shop next-door. So this once was one of those happy occasions when both mother and daughter came out of a shop well content.

Once they were out of the shop, Ammie asked Aruni what she wanted to call her newfound pet. “Sassy,” replied Aruni promptly. “Sassy!” exclaimed Ammie in delight, “What a lovely name! I think it is exactly the right name for him. Why it is marvellous, how you came to think of it...” So thought Sassy too. It was simply marvellous, and what a wonderful girl his new owner was. A really clever, clever girl! “No,” thought he, “I shall never be lonely again.”

That evening, they went to visit Aruni’s Grand-Parents and Loku-Amma, who all lived together in one home. Once they also had had a real live cat called Se-Se as their pet; but Se-Se had gone to Heaven some time before, and Loku-Amma was all the time wishing that she had someone to replace Se-Se. Seeya too sometimes expressed similar thoughts, but Aachchie felt that no one could quite replace Se-Se. No one that is, until she saw Sassy. Like everybody else in the family, Aachchie fell in love with Sassy at first sight. It was a truly wonderful evening.

They had tinned-fish curry, a firm family favourite, for dinner that night. After dinner, there was ice cream for dessert. While they were enjoying that, Seeya asked Aruni, whether she had yet given Sassy his supper. “Yes,” replied Aruni promptly, “I cut out the two fish upon the label, and gave him that. He was very happy.” Sassy was indeed very happy. He would have been content with just one very small fish; and he had managed to get two whole quite big fish! It was a truly wonderful day indeed!

Now it was time for Aruni to go to bed. She chose to go to Seeya and Aachchie’s bed that night. Every day at night she would take a doll or other toy to accompany her to bed. Naturally, it was Sassy’s turn today. So Aruni held Sassy close to her breast, until that time they would both drift off to the Land of Dreams.

Bye and bye, Aruni fell asleep, with little Sassy cuddled in her arms. As she wandered in the Land of Dreams, Ammie came and carried her back to their own bed, and put Sassy in his own little bed (upon the lid of Aachchie’s piano), and covered him up with one of Aruni’s dolls’ blankets. (Little bits of leftover cloth, really.) Then Ammie and Thaththie too retired for the night. Lights were switched off, and now everybody was in the Land of Nod. Good Night, Little Aruni! Sleep Tight. Sweet Dreams. …

Priyanthi Wickramasuriya