When I Woke Up...
Chapter I: A Day Like Any Other
It was a regular school Friday and I had just finished my algebra homework. I heard a meow and I ran to the back door. This was the best part of my day, the time when I get to take care of my cat. My cat is long-hired and is painted black, brown, orange, and white. I got her two years ago when I was in 5th grade.
I remember that Christmas so clearly. Since I was an only child I opened all my presents at once. I always open the biggest present first, ever since I was little. In this case I opened a big, yellow box and looked inside, there was a tiny little kitten in the box. At my first look at my new kitten I fell in love with her at once. I knew I had found a new friend. All the rest of the day I left my other presents under the tree, unopened. All I did was play with Boots the whole day. (I named her Boots because of the black fur she has on her paws).
Well, I guess I should introduce my self. My name is Christy Melcher (Christina Anne Melcher). I live in a small town called Calais, (it is in California) with my mother, stepfather (my dad died when I was a baby), and stepsister, Sarah, who is two years old. I am thirteen years old, but, as my friends say, my mom ‘babies’ me. My friends are Carla Flincher, Anna Crumsac, Clara Wioler, Amiee Cushing, Karen Opolistica, Beth Johnson, Monica Gockel, Mary Anne Spiesak, Kristy Chalaong, Cathy McKabe, and of course Stacey Steavens (my bestest best friend).
Ever since I started Junior High, at Clarence, Boots has been the highlight of my day.
"Oh, Boots," I said, "you’re so lucky to be a cat and have no cares in the world. I wish I was a cat, but no I have to be plain old Christy." I sighed. "Oh, my life is so boring. What wouldn’t I give to be a cat like you?"
Boots rolled over and I stroked him on his belly. After a few minutes I returned to my room and started my biology homework. When I was done I lay down and fell asleep.
Chapter II: Changing
When I woke up it was morning. Yes, I had slept twelve hours straight, (I am always very tired after a long week) but I felt a difference. I felt itchy all over. I was fully awake when I saw that my skin was turning all different colors (brown, orange, black, and white). I screamed! I was growing hair all over my body. I mean it. I’m not just joking. It was dense, thick, long, multi-colored hair. Then it stopped. The hair was about two inches long and very thick. I turned around and looked in the mirror on my closet door. I gasped at what I saw. It was like I was wearing a skin-tight body suit that was made out of fur except for one thing, it was everywhere, even on my face, everywhere.
Now, just to let you know I am not one of those girls that faints all the time, but I was pretty freaked. Then my human ears melted and disappeared and I grew new cat-like ears. Then slowly my nose and mouth started shrinking. My eyes shrunk a half-minute after that. Then my sight and smell improved. It looked like my room was open and the sun was pouring in. After I got used to my eye change I realized that I was shrinking. Not just one part of me was shrinking, my whole body was. Pretty soon I didn’t even fit my clothes; they were in a pile next to me. I was the size of a normal house cat. I felt weird, really weird. How would you feel if you were a cat?
Now that I am a cat I have one thing to say. Why me? Why now? I know that yesterday I said that I would like to be like Boots but I didn’t mean it that way. As I was thinking my mind sort of shrunk. I don’t know why, but I think it was the cat brain had to fit in. Yes, the brain of boots. The only thing is that her brain had to shrink too, so neither of us had many memories. All that I remembered was the important stuff.
As I walked around my room for a while. When I was doing this I looked around, everything was so huge. I walked over to my bed and looked up. Suddenly I had a burst of energy. My strong leg muscles flexed and I sprung. Plop! I landed in the middle of my bed. I crawled under the unmade sheets and curled up. The cat part of me was tired, and even if I wasn’t I didn’t know how to control it.
Chapter III: The dog
After I had slept for about one hour, I got up. Yawn! I stretched then realized I was hungry. I walked to the door of my room and found it was shut. I was trapped!
But wait, I felt a breeze blowing and ruffling my fur. I glanced at the window. Yes! It was open, just enough for me to fit through. I bounded over to the open window, and onto the roof. Whoa! (The roof looks a lot higher when you are a cat.) The cat brain was causing me to back up. It was time for me to take control.
I was determined to find some food and I think that also helped me take control, but all I know is that I jumped. Thankfully to the gracefulness of cats I was able to land on all four feet… or paws. After I had landed I quickly scurried under the porch. I sensed something unusual, something that kinda gave me the creeps. Then I heard it; it was a low growl. The kind of growl that comes from a dog. I knew right then that I had to get out of my backyard.
You are probably wondering what a dog is doing in my backyard. Well, it is a long story. But to make it short my dad got it as a gift, yesterday. I guess I was so wrapped up with my being a cat that I forgot about Holter, my dad’s German Shepherd. Well, you are now probably wondering what I did to get away from him. I guess I did what any cat would have done in my situation. I panicked. It was only a little while until I saw the fence. Hey, I thought, dogs can’t jump fences. So, up and over I went, and it wasn’t until I was on the other side that I realized what a big mistake I had made.
Holter is a German Shepherd, and most likely a trained police one (my dad is a cop, and he trains the dogs for undercover investigation). That would mean one thing… he could jump the fence!
I dodged him when he jumped over the fence. The question is; can I out run him? Unfortunately the answer would probably be no! Uh-Oh! Unless… Yes, maybe that would work. Right then I saw a garage with an open window. A window big enough for a cat, but too small for a dog. I bounded over to the open window and crawled in. It was dark and had a mossy, old, dusty odor. Well, I knew I would have to stay until Holter left, so I tried to make the best of it. I found an old rag in a corner and decided to curl up on it. I was starving!
Chapter IV: The Mouse
Titer, Tap, Titer, Tap. That was the sound that I woke up to. I smelled something. It was food. Then Boots’ senses kicked in, and I could tell it was alive. I hoped up, stretched, and got ready to pounce. With out even moving I sensed that it was to my right and that it was a small gray mouse. I slowly turned my head. Then one of my paws went forward. Then another.
I was almost wondering what I was doing, and then I caught myself. How could I be so mean to this little helpless creature? I was hungry but that was no excuse. I’d rather eat dirt then to eat the mouse. I slowly tiptoed out the window, trying not to scare the mouse. I wished that I could stop animals from killing each other. But unfortunately I was a cat, and until I was a human I could not do any thing to help the mouse or any other animals.
Yuck, I thought. I felt awful. I was losing my appetite, but I knew it would be dangerous to not eat anything. While I was walking I felt a prickling feeling on my side. When I looked I saw a burr tangled in my fur. Oh well, I thought, I’ll get that out later. So, I slowly made my way over lawns and fences until I came to my house. I popped my head inside the kitty-door. I was so hungry! As I made my way over to the cat food I thought about what happened that day. I vaguely remembered something Stacey told me. It was about…
I was at my dish and had to stop my concentration to eat. It felt weird to eat off the floor in a bowl, without using hands or silverware. Boy, did I feel sorry for cats and dogs. What an uncomfortable way to eat. This probably sounds really weird, but I think that the cat food didn’t taste that bad, but it was probably because I hadn’t eaten for quite a while.
Now back to Stacey. What did she tell me? It was about a dog… her… and sleeping. Well, it doesn’t make sense, but I know it was something. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. As I was walking around the house, I found it was very boring to be a cat. About all that you do is eat and sleep. Well, I had just eaten so I guess it was time for me to sleep.
I went over to the couch and curled up. Soon I was fast asleep. I had a very weird dream. It was about…
Chapter V: The dream
I woke up feeling very weird. I sat up and looked at myself in the mirror. I was human. I was surprised. A lot of questions were going through my head: What Happened? How? Why?
I wondered if it was all a dream. I got up suddenly, half expecting to turn into a cat again. After I had walked around the house, I had convinced myself it was a dream. I mean really, who could turn into a cat. When I went to the kitchen to get some pudding, I felt a sharp pain in my side. When I looked I found a burr tangled in my shirt. Maybe it wasn’t a dream, maybe it was real.
I decided to talk to Stacey and my other friends about it. Just hopefully they wouldn’t think I was crazy. It was then that I remembered something that Stacey told me one day. Something like this had happened to her, except she turned into a dog.
The next day when I brought it up and told my story, I was shocked at my friends’ reactions. All that I heard was a murmur of "That happened to me, except I was a…"
After I heard all the stories. My friends and I decided to write stories about what had happened. You just finished reading my story.
©Rachel Jones, 1998