Caesar Outside

Caesar was a big, yellow kitten with double paws. He lived with the Sweet family in a small town in New Hampshire.

Caesar loved his family. He loved Mother Sweet because she gave him wonderful things to eat if he asked politely. He would purr for her in contented drowsiness.

Caesar loved Father Sweet because he scratched his ears just right and ruffled his back in wonderful ways. Father Sweet always let him out of the cellar every morning before he went off to work.

Caesar loved to be petted. He liked the way Debbie Sweet stroked him. She was so gentle with him when he snoozed on her bed. He loved Debbie Sweet, too.

And Caesar liked little boys! Keith Sweet was in the second grade. Caesar loved to play with Keith. Sometimes they played with string! Sometimes they played with a ball! Sometimes they played with each other. And, Keith never got mad at Caesar if he accidentally scratched him when they played.

Caesar liked Mother Sweet's garden. He especially loved to play in the corn whenever Mother Sweet went out to weed. While she worked Caesar would pretend he was hunting. He would bat playfully at her hands as they busilly went about their work. Sometimes Mother Sweet would throw tufts of grass at him or swish it in his face. He would attack. Caesar loved to be outdoors with Mother Sweet!

Caesar's Mommy Kitty lived with them, too. Her name was Twinkle and she was a great hunter. She was proud of her hunting skills and showed Caesar how to do it, too. Sometimes she would wrestle with Caesar and stalk him in the tall grasses and they would roll over and over. Caesar loved to be outdoors with Momma Kitty.

One morning Twinkle decided to go hunting. When Caesar tried to go with her, Twinkle spit and growled at him. She knew Caesar was a big boy and must now learn to go by himself. Twinkle was a good Momma Kitty.

But, Caesar was afraid to go outside alone. The world was very big beyond his kitchen door. It seemed like all the other neighborhood cats were so much bigger than he was.

All morning Caesar lay on the back of the sofa.
He watched Father Sweet go out to work!.
He watched Debbie Sweet go out to Middle School.
He watched Keith go out to second grade!
Caesar put his nose down on his paws and sighed. "Meow!" he said.
Caesar wanted to go outside!

The sun was shining. the dew on the grasses sparkled. Twinkle came in from her morning hunt. She hissed at him as she walked by. She was disgusted with her son and went off to give herself a bath and have a nice refreshing nap. Caesar felt very bad.

Mother Sweet came in and sat on the sofa beside Caesar. He looked at her and said, "Meow! Me-ah?".
"Yes, Caesar," Mother Sweet said. "I know. You want to go out, but you are still afraid to go by yourself. Well, I'm going to the mailbox. Would you like to come with me?"
"Meow!" Caesar said.
"Good." Mother Sweet picked him up. "Come on then."
She put him on her shoulder and carried him down the long driveway. Caesar was nervous and he dug his claws in a little deeper than he meant to. Mother Sweet didn't say a word. She just got her mail and carried him the long way back to the house.
Carefully she placed Caesar on the steps.
"There! See?" she smiled at him. "It's not so very bad. Is it?" Mother Sweet opened the screen door to go inside.
Caesar took one longing look at outside, hesitated just a second, and then raced Mother Sweet for the kitchen door. Mother Sweet laughed, shook her head, and followed him into the house.

One day something happened to upset Caesar's whole world. Nikki came to live with the family. Nikki was the new family dog.

Nikki made Caesar very uncomfortable. He would go in to eat only to find that Nikki had already snuck in and ate his food.

Nikki didn't play like Keith Sweet. When she wanted to play she would take her great big paws and plant them on Caesar's back and knock him down. Caesar would hiss and try to scratch, but he was still a little small.

Nikki didn't stroke him like Debbie Sweet did. She would take her great wet nose and her wet pink tongue and lap Caesar's face and tummy. Caesar really did not like wet!

The next day in desperation Caesar went up to Mother Sweet and asked her to let him outside. Blinking in surprise she did.

Caesar sat all by himself on the back steps. The sun was shining down and warming his beautiful yellow coat of fur. He stretched. The airs smelled all the wonderful smells that make outside such a great place for a cat. Caesar stayed close to the back door lazing happily on the steps.

Suddenly Caesar saw a mysterious movement in the tall grasses at the edge of the lawn. At first he thought of going into the house. He started for the door. The grass swished again. Caesar's Tom Cat curiosity got the better of him. Cautiously he got off the back steps. He lay down on his belly at the bottom for a long time. The grass swished again. Slowly Caesar moved across the lawn keeping very low to the ground. When he reached the tall grass he lay very still. Then he punched his legs into the grass and shot into the air, leaping into the tall grass. In seconds he had vanished on his hunt, forgetting all the things he had been so afraid of, remembering only all the wonderful things his Mother had taught him.

Momma Kitty came out from under the porch. She hopped onto the steps, purring, and settled down to wait. She preened herself, lapping her feet to remove any dirt she might have picked up in her travels, and removing pieces of tall grass still clinging to her fur.

Mother Sweet came out and sat down beside her.

"Meow?" Twinkle asked her crawling into her lap.

"Yes, Twinkle, " Mother Sweet laughed. "I think you are a very clever Momma Kitty. Now he will hunt and he will learn that he is no longer a little kitten. In fact he has grown bigger than most of the other cats already. Caesar is a big boy now."

Mommy Kitty settled down in Mother Sweet's lap purring contentedly. She knew that Caesar still had much to learn. Nature was sure to test him many times in many ways. But, Twinkle knew she had taught him well and he would be a good Tom Cat.

Twinkle was very satisfied. Caesar was outside!