Super Cat Jack Flash
Jack is our tawny Maine Coon cat, big and fluffy, soft as silk, who loves to sleep, eat, and snuggle.
“Grass would grow around him, he’s so lazy,” said my Poppa.
“Hmm,” purred Jack in his cat-like dream. “If only they knew what I know. They make fun of me, but I have to save my energy for my work at night.”
“Jack,” said Poppa when he came home from work. “Are you still sleeping? I work entire day and he’s home doing what he does best… sleeping. Cats have the life, don’t they?”
Then Poppa swooped down to pick up us up – my sister Maria, my brother Max, and me – Carlos. We rolled on the floor to snuggle with Jack,
First thing every morning, with a patter and plop of fast little paws, Jack would scurry to the feeding bowl.
“Strange thing,” said Maria. “He eats like he’s famished, and then he sleeps all day. You would think he’d been working a double shift!” She patted his belly. “ We love you, Jack, but you’re getting fat. Maybe you need some exercise.”
“Exercise? Ha!” mumbled Jack in his cat-like dreams. “My fat tummy is my secret fuel storage for emergencies. If only they knew how hard I work to keep them safe at night.”
“He isn’t fat or lazy,” I said. I saw him last night, and he isn’t just any old cat. He’s Super Cat Jack Flash!”
“Carlos, who is Super Cat Jack Flash,” asked Marie.
“Didn’t you see him last night? He is the most awesome super cat in the world!”
Poppa laughed and said, “Carlos that is a wonderful story! When did you make it up?”
“It’s a true story about our Jack,” I exclaimed. “Super Cat Jack Flash is the most fearless cat of all the cats in the world. When the clock strikes midnight, the Wizard of Mischief comes out to play. He is a sorcerer who commands the gremlins of the night. The gremlins are called Who, Done, and Did, and they whisper to us in our dreams: “Is your work done? Did you do it right? Who done did it better?”
“What are gremlins?” asked Max.
“Gremlins are the scariest creatures of the night, but the scariest of them all is the Wizard of Mischief, who rides down on a ship made from moonbeam..”
“Wizards and gremlins? The next thing I know, you’ll be talking about pirates!” exclaimed Maria.
“Yes, there are pirates, too, but last night there were only the Wizard and the three gremlins: Who, Done, and Did,” I explained. “Let me tell you what happened last night.”
Last night, when the Wizard of Mischief and the gremlins of the night, Who, Done, and Did, sailed to our house on a buttercup-yellow moonbeam of dreams, Who leaped off the main deck with a sword made from a toothpick. He wore black, shiny leather boots and a pirate’s hat made from a thimble. With a cackling laugh, he exclaimed, “Whoever you are, I am Who, the question you never seem to answer. When you say ‘Who?’ I will appear.”
Done was the next to appear. He was dressed in a purple satin coat with lace borrowed from a tablecloth, a shiny silver hat made from a bottle cap, and tap shoes that seemed to move on their own, as he danced the do-diddly-do-do-done dance.
“Are you worried about the Who?” asked Who like an owl. “Whooo, whooo, whoo.”
“There’s much work to be done here,” said Done.
Who leaped to the top of the counter with a flip of a spoon, where he teetered and tottered on a tower of dishes.
“Yes, I remember now,” said Max. “I awoke for a moment last night. The moon was as light as yellow buttercups, and three little creatures were dancing and singing Mischief Tonight.
Who!
Done!
Did!
Mischief tonight.
Who will we do?
What will be done?
When we did what we do,
Will it be done enough?
“Ha!” said Super Cat Jack Flash who wore a cape made of a kitchen towel, and a hat made of a tin teapot. With a spry leap he said, “No mischief or games while I’m on the watch! No questions of who, no trouble of done or did while I am on the watch!”
The gremlin Who leaped jumped to whisper in Poppa’s ear as he slept, but Super Jack jumped on a pillow, landing as softly as a falling feather, and chased that old Who away.
“Bah!” said Who to Jack. “You’ll never catch me! I am the buzzing bee of all the questions from here to there.”
“Who, who to you,” Who called out as he ran away to hide while Done and Did came near.
Done said, “All this mischief of work still to be done!” Then he gave a push on the tower of dishes that tottered and started to fall.
Super Cat Jack Flash flew over the counter and, with one paw, he pushed back the falling dishes, landing lightly with a swoosh of his cape.
“What happened next?” asked Maria with her eyes wide.
“Tell me more!” said Max.
“There was no time to rest! Before you could say ‘did,’ the gremlin Did raced to Momma’s bed and began to sing, his Did-did song as he swung from the lampshade on Momma’s nightstand.
Did, did, did you do it?
Did, did, did you do it?
Did you forget?
Did you almost?
After a long day of work, as you sleep, these questions start to arise in your dreams, and you wonder if you did all the dids you were supposed to do. Momma tossed and turned as she remembered all the things she forgot to do that day. Did was dancing and swinging gleefully from the lampshade.
Super Cat Jack Flash raced around the corner, leaped onto a curtain sash, and swung there like Tarzan. He did a double back flip and, with a tumbling twist, he gave old Did the boot. Yes, the tip of his paw met the bottom of Did, and, before he could he say one more did, he was gone.
Momma sighed as all her restless dreams of did and did not do disappeared, and she fell into a peaceful sleep.
Though grownups can’t see Who, Done, or Did, they can hear those words at night:
Who am I supposed to meet tomorrow?
Was it done right?
Did I do it?
Who done did what I was supposed to do?”
Last night I called out to Super Cat Jack Flash, but he didn’t hear me. He was too busy giving Did the boot, scaring the who out of Mr. Who, and preventing Done from tormenting Mom and Dad with all the questions about who, what, or where. Super Jack has been protecting us from all the mischief at night that we never even knew about.
Though I never knew before that Jack could speak, last night he spoke to me: “Carlos,” he said, “I am the true of what you truly might be.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Too many times we’re afraid to be who we really are,” said Jack.
“Like when I feel afraid of the dark?” I asked.
“Exactly!” said Super Cat Jack Flash. “You don’t need to be afraid of the dark because you really are brave.”
As we were talking, a smoke alarm started to beep.
“I wish I could chat some more, but with Who, Done, and Did running about, I can’t stop!” Super Cat Jack Flash ran down the stairs, leaped high into the air, and slapped the smoke alarm with his paw. It started to fall, but he caught it with his other paw and put it firmly back in place.
The hallway clock struck 5:00 a.m., and when the last moonbeam fell through the kitchen window, the Wizard of Mischief reappeared. He was a figure made of shadows and fears. He called out, “Up, Who! Up, Done! Up, Did! We’re off until tomorrow when the mischief begins again.”
As the slender pink whisper of morning appeared, the Wizard and his three gremlins of the night leaped onto their ship made of moonbeams and dreams, and, before you could say, “Who, Done, Did,” the ship rose through the ghostly veil of light that comes between night and dawn.
Max and Marie looked at me and said almost together, “It almost seems true!”
“Of course it is,” I said. “Remember last night when you turned and almost woke up? That was Who, Done, or Did disturbing your sleep, remember?”
There on the couch, in a deep snoring sleep, was Jack. The house was quiet now as we snuggled next to Jack, and we knew that everyone was safe because of our hero– Super Cat Jack Flash.
Namaya
namaya copywrite 2012
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