So something strange happened the other day.
Actually, it started a few months ago when I had a little idea for a cute story about the kitten we had recently adopted. Now, I'm not a creative writer in any stretch of the imagination, but I thought it would be a fun little project to write it up. So I did.
I shared the final story with my wife and expected the usual eye-roll I receive when I do one of my "Hey, let me try this thing I've never done before" things. Except I did get an eye-roll. I got a chuckle and a smile.
Flash forward a few months later and a friend of mine Brett Fish Anderson (who has an AMAZING blog, btw) decided to start a Youtube Channel of children's stories read by different actors. It's a great channel, and if you are looking for some wholesome stories to distract the kiddos, you should check it out.
Anyway, I thought I should send the story I wrote to him, with the caveat that it would be totally fine if no one liked it or wanted to read it. That wasn't the case, and yesterday the video of "Sally Thimball" reading my story "Luna Petunia's Big Adventure" went live!
You can watch the video here:
So I'm not published (yet?), but there was something very exciting about doing something I NEVER expected I would do: write a children's story. Has that happened to you recently?
Also...here's the story written out. Would love to hear what you think!
Luna Petunia's Big Adventure
Luna Petunia was a kitty cat.
Everyone knew she was a kitty cat because she purred like a kitty cat, she streeeeettttched like a kitty cat, she ate food that was especially made for kitty cats, and, most importantly, she looked like a kitty cat.
Everyone knew she was a kitty cat...except Luna Petunia.
Luna Petunia thought that she was a fierce tiger. After all, she had sharp claws and teeth just like a tiger, and would pounce on her prey just like a tiger. It didn’t matter that her prey was actually a little toy bird or a piece of string that the Little People would drag on the floor - when she pounced, it was a tiger pounce.
Which was why Luna thought it was very strange that Big People made her stay inside. She tried to dart out whenever they opened the door, but somehow they always managed to stop her. This was beginning to make Luna VERY annoyed. What kind of tiger doesn’t get to go outside?
Her older brother, Oscar, didn’t understand.
“Why would you want to go outside?” he said as he stretched on his favourite pillow. “It’s horrible out there - and it is so nice and warm in here. Our food is right there...AND we get all the cuddles and petting we want here.”
“Tigers don’t get petted,” Luna said. She was waiting just behind the curtain near the door. “Tigers get to roam outside and hunt and be fierce”.
“Luna, for the last time, you are not a tiger.” Oscar yawned, then asked, “What are you doing behind the curtain?”
“I have a plan to get out.” said Luna
“Luna, you really don’t want to go out there…”
Just as Oscar started to protest, the front door opened. The Big Person came in with a bunch of grocery bags and mail and keys. He didn’t notice the blur of ginger dashing out from the behind the curtain and out the door.
“I’m free!” shouted Luna. She was outside! In the big wide world! Now she could be the tiger she knew she was meant to be.
“Hmmm...what should I do first? I know, I’ll find some prey to hunt!”
Just then she heard tweeting. She saw some birds pecking at some bread crumbs on the ground.
“Puuurrrrfect” she thought. She pushed her body low to the ground, crawled slowly to birds, wiggled her behind twice, and leapt!
But when she landed, all the birds were gone. They had flown away - and their squawking sounded like laughter to Luna.
“Fine, maybe my hunting is a bit rusty, but I can still run like a tiger!” She started to run, but then a loud noise gave her such a fright she darted behind a nearby tree. When she felt brave again, she poked her head out and saw big thing with lots of round things at the bottom moving down the road. It left a lot of smoke behind and was VERY scary.
“Well, tigers are better at hiding than running anyway”. Just then, a drop of water landed on her nose.
“Huh? Where did THAT come from?” she wondered.
Just then, a bunch of water fell from the grey sky. Luna did NOT like the feeling of water on her soft fur, but no matter which way Luna ran, the water kept falling on her!
Eventually, she found a tiny space where the water couldn’t get to her. She was wet and cold and miserable. Luna felt very sad. She definitely didn’t feel like a tiger.
Just then, the Big Person’s face appeared!
“Luna, there you are my girl! How did you get under my car? You are so wet and cold!”
The Big Person picked Luna up and brought her inside. He made a nice fire, and dried Luna off with a towel. He also gave Luna some of her favourite kitty treats.
Luna curled into a ball by the fire, right next to her brother.
He opened one eye, “How was the grand adventure, miss-big-fierce-tiger?”
“You know, I think that even tigers like to be comfortable.” She purred...just like a tiger.
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