The tail became the afternoon entertainment.
A Splendid Performer
Pip had found a splendid performer.
The performer was attached to Mama.
Its long white fur lay across the marble table, with the very tip resting beside Dot’s paws. When Dot touched it, the tip moved. She touched it again. It moved again.
“Did you see that?” Pip asked.
“I felt it,” Mama Pearl said, without lifting her head.
Papa Cloud sat behind her, watching the three kittens. Mallow was washing one paw; Pip was examining the tail; Dot had both paws raised, ready for another appearance.
“We could put on a show,” Pip said. “The tail can be the star.”
“And I can introduce it,” Mallow said.
Dot touched the tip once more. It slipped away beneath a fold of cloth.
“Our star has gone backstage,” Mallow announced.
Waiting for the Tail
The kittens waited. Pip marked out a stage between two folds in the cloth. Mallow sat at one end, ready to introduce the performance. Dot crouched at the other, watching the place where the tail had disappeared.
Pip raised one paw.
“Now!”
Nothing happened.
He raised both paws. “Now!”
The cloth remained still.
“Perhaps it didn’t see the signal,” Mallow said. She moved closer and spoke towards the fold. “The audience is ready.”
A whisker twitched on Mama’s face, but the tail did not appear.
Papa Cloud leaned down. “Have you asked the performer?”
“We asked the tail,” Pip said.
“Have you asked Mama?”
The three kittens looked at her. Mama opened one eye.
“Would you like to be in our show?” Dot asked.
“For a little while,” Mama said. “Then I’d like to finish my rest.”
The First Performance
The tip of Mama’s tail slipped out from beneath the cloth. Dot followed it with her eyes. It moved to the left; she placed one paw beside it. It moved to the right; she followed with the other.
“Presenting,” Mallow declared, “the wonderful, wandering tail!”
Pip frowned at his stage. “It was supposed to go the other way first.”
“I didn’t know,” Mama said.
Pip considered this. He moved one fold of cloth. “Now it has room in either direction.”
The tail gave a slow sweep. Dot patted the cloth where it had been. Mallow announced a second appearance, then a third. On the fourth, the tail curled gently around Dot’s paw.
Dot looked at Mama. “Did it catch me?”
“Only for a moment.” Mama uncurled it. “And now the performer needs a rest.”
She settled her head on her paws. The tail came to rest beside her, and this time all three kittens left it there.
And the Winner Is…
“We still have a stage,” Pip said.
“And three more tails,” Mallow added.
Dot chased her own in a small circle. Pip tried to make his sweep from side to side like Mama’s, but it curled around his leg. Mallow announced each movement until she became distracted by her own tail and forgot which part came next.
Papa Cloud watched from his seat.
“Which was the best?” Pip asked.
Papa considered the three hopeful faces. “Dot’s turn was lively. Pip’s had an unexpected ending. And Mallow’s was very well announced.”
“But who is the winner?”
“And the winner is…” Papa began.
His tail moved beside him.
Three little heads turned together.
Papa looked down. “I believe the next performance has already been arranged.”
Mama kept her eyes closed, though the tip of one ear lifted as the kittens hurried towards him.
Livora Gracely ♥
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