Cats at the Beach

It was a sizzling hot August day, the kind that makes you want to tear off your fur coat and lie, Sphynx-like in the shade, but, as that was not possible, we settled instead for vying for position in front of the humums' oscillating fan. The others, of course, were trying to push in as always but with Bonnie's weight (all 6.5kg of it) and Dani's leech-like qualities we held them off. "Oh", we muttered, as we drifted off into a fitful, damp sleep, "wouldn't it be wonderful to be on the beach just now, listening to the waves gently washing the shore, lying under a huge parasol ..............."

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"Come on, lazybones," said Bonnie, roughly washing her sister's face with her rough tongue, "Wake up. You are going to miss the best of the day. The tide's in and I am going for swim!"

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Dani slowly stirred, stretching sleepily, squinting at the sun which continued to blaze down upon them. What! The beach she had been dreaming of. They were actually there! How? By what miracle? But she hesitated no longer in her deliberations, they were there and that was enough! She jumped to her feet and tore after her sister to the waters edge where tiny wavelets whispered enticingly to her. She paused then tentatively dipped a paw into the water. It was deliciously cold and she took the plunge, treading warily at first then swimming confidently as the water became deeper. Bonnie was ahead of her, swimming strongly, Bonnie did everything strongly Dani mused as she watched her big sister adoringly whilst gradually catching up with her.

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The sisters trod water for a while then turned over and floated, half asleep, on their backs, luxuriating in the combination of cool water and scorching sunshine until suddenly Bonnie said, "Did you hear that?". Dani listened then replied, "Yes. It sounds like a kitten in trouble. Where is it coming from?" They listened intently, whiskers quivering then, as one, turned and swam to the source of the noise, a few hundred yards from the shore, at a point where the sea bed fell away suddenly and without warning. A small black & white kitten was bobbing up and down, now visible, now disappearing beneath the waves, gasping for air and mewing plaintively and growing progressively weaker. It had obviously been paddling at the edge of the submarine precipice, blissfully unaware of the danger ahead until, suddenly, it had reached the point of no return.

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"Please," it gasped as it came up for air. "Please help me, I can't swim". And it sank again beneath the hungry, grasping surface of the sea.

 

The sisters sprang into action. Dani, being the smaller and more agile and lithe of the two dived down and grabbed the kitten by the scruff. She surfaced and Bonnie, the stronger, expertly took the kitten from her and struck out for the shore where they could see the kittens mother frantically crying for her baby. In no time the kitten was lying on the sand, being anxiously licked by her mother, who cried again and again, "Oh, I can't thank you enough, my baby, my precious baby."

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Bonnie and Dancer gave mother and kitten a farewell lick then quietly walked back across the sand to their parasol, where they flopped to the ground, exhausted but overjoyed that they had been able to save the small life. Soon they drifted back off to sleep.

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It was cooler when we awoke, as we usually do, both at exactly the same time. We yawned and stretched then looked around the familiar room, felt our fur ruffling in the breeze from the fan, turned and stared at each other. "Wow," we said in unison, "I have just had the most amazing experience!" We stopped and laughed. "Just a dream", we agreed, then started to lick the dried salt water off each others fur.

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©C Walker 2004