(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Caturday Pootie Diary: Three ducks [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-12-10
I sat on the ground in front of the tree and crossed my legs. “I think I preferred it when you ignored the tree,” I said.
“The tree is great,” he gushed. “There are things hanging from it that move when I shake the branch.”
“Don’t shake the branch, please.”
“There are all these boxes to sleep on top of.”
“Those are presents and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t smush them.”
“And I think I can climb up to the top,” he said, staring up into the tree.
“Nope, you can’t do that.”
“I think I can,” he said, slowly.
“This tree is old,” I explained. “The base is crooked. You would tip the tree over if you tried to climb it.”
He thought about it. “That could be fun,” he said finally.
“Don’t make me ban you from the living room,” I threatened.
He continued to stare up into the tree. “Did I ever tell you the story of Scrooge?” I asked, desperate to distract him.
His eyes focused on me. “That’s not a duck, is it?”
I thought about the old Disney cartoon and decided to pretend it didn’t exist. “Nope, not a duck.”
“You may tell me,” he said, imperiously.
“Very kind of you,” I laughed. “Okay, let’s see. Once upon a time there was a rotten, miserly old rich guy named Ebenezer.”
“He should be a cat,” Freddie sniffed.
“Okay, he was a mean old cat. And he, uh, ruled over the junkyard.”
“He didn’t live in a house?”
“No, but he had a steady source of food and ruled over the junkyard with an iron fist.”
“So he was a cat,” Freddie nodded.
“He was very mean to his assistant, a skinny cat named Cratchet. Cratchet had a mate and a litter of kittens to take care of, including the runt of the litter, a tiny little kitten named Tiny Tomcat.”
"Why was he mean to Cratchet?” Freddie asked.
“Because he was mean to everyone,” I said. “And no one could challenge him because he was the biggest, strongest cat.”
“Like me,” he said.
I nodded. “But you aren’t mean,” I said. “Anyway, Ebenezer really hated Christmas. He thought the tree was a waste of space.”
Freddie gasped. “He didn’t want to climb it?”
“He climbed it and knocked it over!” I said. “And broke all the ornaments!”
“Did he have a great time?” Freddie asked, wide eyed.
“Absolutely not!”
“On Christmas eve, Ebenezer was running around the broken ornaments when he heard a strange sound.”
“What was it?” Freddie asked.
“It was a ghost!” I announced. “The ghost of the last junkyard boss cat! And he was wrapped and tangled up in yarn!”
“Oh no!”
“’Marley!’ Ebenezer called. ‘Aren’t you dead?’ Marley responded: ‘Yes! But I’ve come back to warn you!’”
“About the ducks?” Freddie asked.
I made a quick decision. The Victorians like a little scary with their Christmas stories, after all. “Yes! ‘You will be visited by three ducks!’ he shouted.”
“No!” Freddie said.
“’Expect the first as the clock strikes midnight!’ Ebenezer was confused. ‘Why ducks?’ he asked.
“’There is still time to save you from my fate,’ the ghost told him.
“’You mean the yarn?’
“’I mean the yarn. I treated others poorly in life and all that has tangled around me in death.’
“’But you were a strong ruler!’ Ebenezer insisted, still confused.
“’KINDNESS SHOULD HAVE BEEN MY RULE!’ the ghost intoned. ‘CHARITY SHOULD HAVE BEEN MY RULE!’
“’Ridiculous,’ Ebenezer said. ‘Bah humbug!’
“’And I should have left the tree alone,’ the ghost added.”
“’That was a weird dream,’ Ebenezer said to himself after Marley left. ‘But surely just a dream?’ he added, looking around nervously for ducks.”
“I always look around for ducks,” Freddie said, eyes wide and glued to my face.
“Suddenly he heard it!”
“What?” Freddie gasped.
“A junked clock in the yard struck midnight!”
“I don’t know what that means!”
“’Quack!’ came a call from deep in the junk.”
“Oh no! The ducks!”
“Just one for now,” I said. “’I am the Duck of Christmas Past!’ the duck announced.”
“I don’t like it,” Freddie whispered.
“It’s okay,” I soothed. “The ducks aren’t mean. They are trying to help.”
“What did it do?”
“It just showed Ebenezer his past so he could understand where his meanness came from. And so he can see how the choices he made when he was young meant that he was very successful in the present, but also very alone.”
“And then the duck went away, never to return?”
“Yes,” I said, trying to keep him from being too scared. “But then the Duck of Christmas Present showed up.”
Freddie looked at the wrapped gifts.
“Not that kind of present,” I said, trying not to giggle.
“What did the duck do?”
“The Duck of Christmas Present showed Ebenezer how he was seen by the people around him and how his actions made things a lot harder for Cratchet and Tiny Tomcat. Ebenezer felt very ashamed.”
“I don’t think cats can feel shame,” Freddie said, dubiously.
“Before he left for good, the Duck of Christmas Present warned Ebenezer, ‘Next to arrive is the duck that all smart cats fear the most’.”
“The big duck,” Freddie said, ears flat.
“The Duck of Christmas Future!” I said, lifting my arms to the ceiling.
“What’s so scary about that?” Freddie asked.
“Well, because Ebenezer was messing things up and the Future is where he must face the consequences. The duck showed him how his meanness and tree vandalism meant that Tiny Tomcat didn’t make it.”
Freddie gasped.
“And Ebenezer was all alone. No one wanted anything to do with him.”
“I don’t like being alone,” Freddie observed.
“And you won't be!” I assured him. “But Ebenezer had done everything wrong. This vision made him see the error of his ways. ‘I want to live!’ he cried.”
“And did he?”
“He did! He woke up and it was still before midnight. So he set about fixing the tree. In the morning, when Cratchet arrived with his mate and the litter, everything was shiny and bright. ‘God bless us, everyone,’ Tiny Tomcat said, and Ebenezer knew everything would be different.”
"And they all ate tuna and were happy! And there were no ducks!”
“That’s right!” I agreed. “Ebenezer gave a young cat a coin and sent him for the biggest tuna the store had. And Tiny Tomcat was able to walk without limping.”
Freddie stood and stretched, his arched back brushing the plastic needles of the plastic tree. “That was a good story,” he said. “But you should make it ghosts instead of ducks.”
Happy Caturday, Peeps! Me and Freddie are having a good time getting ready for the holiday and we hope everything is going smoothly for all of you.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/10/2141066/-Caturday-Pootie-Diary-Three-ducks
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
