Kitty Plays Fetch
A Sheepy and Bunny are Friends Story
Sheepy sat in the cool grass with his hooves tucked under his forearms letting the sunlight fall on his face and ears. His heavy wool glowed in the sunshine, and his pink nose peaked out from under his fleece. He twitched his ears occasionally as he watched his special friend Bunny playing in the grass with the little kitty from the farmhouse.
The little kitty was new to the farm; she had only been around for a few weeks and was growing fast. Everyone loved Kitty. She was a little ginger kitty with orange and white stripes. Bunny petted and tickled her and she rolled on her back and played with Bunny’s floppy ears. Sheepy wasn’t jealous. He loved Kitty too. Sometimes she would jump on his neck along with Bunny and ride around on his back.
In this story, Kitty and Bunny play fetch with Kitty’s favorite toy, her little yellow ball, until Bunny throws it too far and it lands in the stream. Kitty falls in and is swept into the deep end of the pond. Who will save Kitty! Find more stories about Sheepy and Bunny at https://ceh3167.wordpress.com/sheepy-and-bunny-are-friends/
Today, Bunny and Kitty were playing fetch with her favorite toy, the little yellow ball Bunny had found out in the meadow.
When Bunny first found the ball he showed it to Bessie the cow. She said she hadn’t seen it in years.
“Bad Farmer’s kids used to play with that ball,” she told Bunny. “They would bounce that ball off my side when I was grazing.” Those kids were all grown up and moved away. “I had to moo at them and threaten to charge at them to get those brats to leave me alone. They were such ill-behaved children,” said Bessie as she snorted in disapproval.
The elder rams and ewes agreed, nodding their heads. They remembered the children too. They were mean to the sheep.
“They lost their ball,” said one of the elder rams. “We found it in the meadow and hid it so they would stop pestering us with it.”
“They even tried sticking it in our rumps!” said one of the ewes. She shivered with her head and ears. “That was a long time ago. I never thought I would see it again.”
Bunny hid the little yellow ball in a safe place in the barn where Bad Farmer wouldn’t find it. The little yellow ball lay hidden until Bunny gave it to Kitty to play fetch with.
The Housewife first brought Kitty when she was a little baby. Housewife sat on the back porch holding the little Kitty in her lap rocking and petting her. Sheepdog laid on the stoop with his muzzle on his paws and his tail tucked under him so it didn’t get pinched under the rocking chair. Sometimes Housewife would let the little kitty play in the soil and tumble over green leaves as she gardened. The sheep would sneak down to the garden and watch the little kitty play among the growing fruits and vegetables. When Housewife saw the sheep peering at Kitty from behind the tomato stalks, she would snatch up Kitty and flee back indoors.
Like all kitties, she liked to nap and lick herself, eat the yummy treats that Housewife gave her, and purr when Housewife petted her. If Bad Farmer got to close to Kitty or tried to strike her, she would hiss. Sometimes Bad Farmer would get drunk and knock Kitty off the furniture. Housewife would scold him.
When Kitty was big enough to wonder off on her own, she would come to the barn and play with her new animal friends.
One day, Kitty came bouncing through the grass that the sheep had neatly trimmed with their grazing. She hunkered down as if crouching in tall grass and pounce on any insect trying to catch it before it flew away. She bounced over to Sheepy and Bunny laying in the shade and gave them a sad look.
“What’s wrong Kitty?” asked Sheepy.
“I’m bored, and I want to play,” she said. She smiled and arched her back and swooshed her kitty tail around.
“What do you like to play?” asked Bunny.
“I don’t know, something fun!”
“You like chasing the insects in the grass,” said Sheepy.
“Yeah, but I can’t catch them. They get away.”
“I have a little yellow ball you can play with,” said Bunny.
“Will you throw it up in the air for me so I can catch it?” asked Kitty.
“I will throw it up in the air with one ear and whack it with my other ear,” said Bunny.
“Yeah, I love to play with Bunny,” Kitty said. She clapped her paws together in happiness.
Bunny and Kitty bounced off to the barn to get the little yellow ball from its hiding place and play their new game.
Whenever Kitty wanted to play, she came bouncing through the grass and would tell Bunny: “I want to play fetch with my little yellow ball you gave me. It’s my favorite of all my toys.” Bunny would go get the little yellow ball from the safe hiding place in the barn where Bad Farmer couldn’t find it and throw it away.
Sheepy smiled as he watched Bunny and Kitty play and bleated encouragement to Kitty. Bunny tossed the little yellow ball into the air with one ear and whacked it with his other ear. The ball flew through the air and land in the grass. Kitty ran and pounced on it with her front paws, then flopped to the ground, and batted it around with her paws, before grabbing it in her teeth and running back to Bunny. She would drop the ball between Bunny’s front paws.
“Kitty loves playing fetch with her little yellow ball,” said Bunny.
Kitty purred and giggled, and rolled around on the grass playing with Bunny’s ears.
Then Bunny tossed it into the air again, and Kitty went chasing after it.
Sheepy felt happy watching his little friends playing. He looked around to see what his other animals friends were doing. The Silkies pranced around fluffing up their feathers looking for a secluded place to lay their eggs where Bad Farmer couldn’t find them. The pregnant ewes with their little lambs growing inside them took long drinks of cool fresh water from the edge of the pond that swelled with spring rainwater. They carefully planted their front hooves in the turf before bending their heads down because the water was running high and the current flowed swift into the pond. Even Sheepdog, who was lying in the warm sunshine nearby watched with fascination Kitty playing with her little yellow ball.
Bunny and Kitty weren’t the only ones playing in the sunshine. Sheepy watched Chippy and Chilly scamper about playing their nose/tail game. Sheepy couldn’t tell them apart. They both had matching white and black stripes running from their faces and eyes on their backs and down their tails. Sheepy loved their little pointy noses and ears and their little hand-like paws.
Chippy and Chilly hopped from branch to branch in the birch trees. They scurried up and down the white bark. One ran up to the other and bonked him on the nose then ran away. The other chased his friend and bonked him back on the nose. They played their little game in the trees, and they played it scurrying around in the grass. Sometimes they would climb on Sheepy’s back and one would say, “I’m Bunny,” and bonk the other’s nose, who would then declare, “No, I’m Bunny,” and bonk the other’s nose back.
Sheepy watched Chippy and Chilly hopping about with their fluffy stripped tails sticking up out of the grass.
Sheepy called to them and asked, “Why do you two play your little nose/tail game?”
Chippy and Chilly ran over to Sheepy, bouncing through the grass. They put their little hand-like paws on their chins and tilted their heads.
“Well, one day we were gathering nuts,” said Chippy.
“And he was trying to impress me,” said Chilly.
“I was not, we didn’t know each other then,” said Chippy.
“You were trying to impress me with how many nuts you could stuff into your mouth,” said Chilly.
“I did get five nuts into my mouth,” said Chippy.
“They were five little nuts. I got three big ones into mine,” said Chilly.
“Don’t be a show-off,” said Chippy, and bonked Chilly on the nose with is tail.
“You are the show-off,” said Chilly, and bonked Chippy back on his nose.
The two of them giggled and fell into each other’s arms.
Sheepy let out a happy bleat because he loved the chipmunks too.
“But why do you bonk each other on the nose with your tails?” asked Sheepy.
“We started bonking each other on the nose because it was fun,” said Chippy.
“We keep bonking each other on the nose because that is how we show we love each other,” said Chilly.
Both chipmunks blushed. The inside of their ears turned red. They twitched their striped tails and pressed their noses together.
While the chipmunks hugged, Sheepy heard a cry for help: “Help me, help me, Bunny, help.”
It was Kitty calling. Sheepy jumped up and looked for Kitty and Bunny. He saw Bunny hopping toward the creek.
“What’s wrong, what’s wrong!” called Sheepy.
“Kitty fell in the creek while chasing her little yellow ball,” called Bunny.
And it was true. While Bunny and Kitty were playing fetch, Bunny accidentally hit the little yellow ball too hard with his ear. It landed on the bank of the stream that feeds the little sheep pond and rolled into the water.
Kitty loved her little yellow ball and didn’t want to lose it. She loved her little yellow ball more than any of the toys Housewife gave her, (more than the ball of yarn, more than the feathers on the string, even more than the little rubber mouse that squeaks). Kitty loved her little yellow ball so much, she didn’t even think about how fast the water was running before she jumped into the creek to fetch it.
It was springtime and had been raining a lot. The creek was running high. The current was too strong for Kitty, and it whisked her away downstream toward the deep end of the pond.
Poor Kitty couldn’t swim.
Kitty cried out: “Bunny Bunny, help me,” and Bunny came hopping as fast as he could, which was fast on Bunny’s strong hind legs. The other animals heard her cries and came running too. Chippy and Chilly arrived next. They could move quick through the grass. Then came Sheepy running behind. Some Silkies came trotting along to see what was happing. They clucked among themselves: “How are they going to save Kitty?” Kitty liked chasing the Silkies around. They were her playmates too.
Kitty saw her little yellow ball whisked downstream by the current. She ran along the creek a few feet then pounced on her favorite toy. She missed and tumbled into the cold water. Kitty tried to grab hold of a rock or a branch in the stream but couldn’t find one. She pawed at the water, but it carried her closer to the pond. She kept calling out, getting water in her mouth and nose.
“We have to make a plan,” said Bunny. “We have to rescue Kitty.”
“What are we going to do?” bleated Sheepy.
He was scared for Kitty. He wanted to run right into the water and save her. But he was too heavy with all his winter wool still on, and he was afraid of water.
“Here’s what we will do,” said Bunny. “We will make a rope from the tall, strong grasses in the meadow, lasso Kitty, and catch her before she gets too far out into the pond.”
“That a good idea,” said Chippy, “Bunny has the fastest paws to tie the rope together.”
“We’re fast too,” said Chilly, “we can run the rope out to the stream bank.”
“And Sheepy can toss the rope out and catch Kitty around her belly. We can all pull her out of the water together,” said Sheepy.
“She’s in the pond; she’s in the deep end of the pond!” the Silkies cackled.
While her friends made their plan, poor Kitty was swept into the deep end of the pond.
“Help,” cried Kitty, “I can’t swim. I’m sinking.”
At that moment, there was a big splash in the pond as Sheepdog dived head first into the chilly water.
“It’s Sheepdog, it’s Sheepdog!” cried Sheepy. “He knows how to swim. Sheepdog will save Kitty!”
Sheepdog swam to the deep-end of the pond and grabbed Kitty by the scruff of her neck. He lifted her up out of the water with his teeth. She hung limb in his mouth. Sheepdog paddled to the bank and climbed out of the water. He carefully placed Kitty in the grass and shook the water out of his coat, splashing water drops all over the other animals.
Bunny hopped over and patted Kitty on the back with his paw. He blew air into her nose and pressed on her chest with his ears. Sheepdog watched Bunny closely with a worried look on his face. Finally, Kitty coughed up water from her mouth and rolled around. She was exhausted and lay there shivering. Sheepdog licked Kitty to get her warm.
One of the ducks that live on the pond, found Kitty’s little yellow ball. She picked it up in her bill and waddled into the grass. The duck placed the little yellow ball near Kitty and then swam back onto the pond.
All the animals were so relieved that Kitty was saved and her little yellow ball was retrieved.
Sheepy bleated out a happy sheep song: “Happy happy Sheepy, so happy for Kitty and her little yellow ball!” Sheepy did a little sheep dance, lifting his front hooves up and down while bobbing his head back and forth and dropping little poops out his rump.
Bunny did binkies, jumping up in the air and kicking his legs out behind him and shaking his ears.
Chippy and Chilly snuggled their cheeks and noses together. Then Chippy bonked Chilly on the nose and giggled. Chilly bonked him back on his nose, and they both hugged and cuddled.
The Silkies clucked and fluffed their feathers in happiness for Kitty.
Kitty sat up and shook her paws and head. She groomed her face and tail to get them dry and fluffy again.
Sheepdog lay on the ground with his muzzle on his front paws. He kept a close eye on Kitty while she licked her fur.
“Sheepdog, We didn’t know you cared so much about Kitty,” said Sheepy.
Sheepdog laid his ears back and blushed. He pulled Kitty’s little yellow ball between his front paws.
“This sheepdog is getting old and has arthritis,” said Sheepdog. “He can’t do much anymore.”
Sheepdog rolled the little yellow ball between his paws.
“I remember this little yellow ball. I used to play fetch with it when I was a puppy with Bad Farmer’s kids.”
He nuzzled Kitty with his nose.
“It hurts for me to walk sometimes, but I couldn’t let anything bad happen to Kitty. She is the only young one left in the farmhouse.”
Kitty started to purr. Sheepdog gave her a few licks.
“I miss all the little puppies; they are all gone now, but I like to watch Kitty play.”
“He growls at Bad Farmer if he gets too close to me,” said Kitty. “I don’t like Bad Farmer. He makes me play with corncobs.”
“I wouldn’t let Bad Farmer hurt Kitty,” said Sheepdog.
Kitty stood up, stretched herself and fluffed up her tail. She gave Sheepdog a hug on his muzzle; then turned around and bonked Sheepdog on the nose with her tail.
All the other animals laughed. They were so happy for Kitty and Sheepdog. Kitty jumped up on Sheepdog’s back, and Sheepdog wagged his tail that he hadn’t lifted in a long time. The other animals formed a ring around them, and sang and danced for Kitty and Sheepdog. Everyone had a joyous time.
If you liked this story, come meet all the animals of the farm. Find more stories about Sheepy and Bunny and all their friends at https://ceh3167.wordpress.com/2018/02/28/meet-the-animals-of-the-farm/
