The Sweet Steve Series

Sweet Steve's Fourth of July

Hi everyone! It's your favorite Orange. I'm so sorry that I've been gone for so long, but don't blame me, blame Mother. I have tiny little paws and no opposable thumbs, so I can't type on my own. I rely on Mother to take down all of my stories as I pass them along to her, but she has had a lot going on in her life. She says it is what happens when you become an adult and grow older. I figured out how old she is in cat years, but she says I'm not allowed to share that in my story.

Instead, I thought I would tell you all about the holiday that humans call The Fourth of July. It sounds like just another day to me, but I soon found out that wasn't the case. American humans get really excited about this date, because it is the day that The Declaration of Independence was signed and the day that The United States of America was founded. I don't care about any of that, because I'm a cat. But I do like living here, so I go along with it.

My day started off just like any other day. I awoke, wandered around the house and judged things and then took my first nap while waiting for Mother to get up and feed me. As soon as I heard her door open, I rushed down the hallway and waited at my bowl. Never mind that I have food available to me at all times, I want the special canned food that Mother gives me twice a day. Soon enough, I was fed, I was happy and I was preparing for a long day of playing with my bird toys and taking more naps. (Naps are my favorite!) I was going to celebrate this holiday my own way!

As it started to get dark, I silently prepared myself for my favorite time of the day. Mother gives me treats at exactly nine pm or else I scream my little lungs out, and then I lay in wait for the humans to start snoring. (Mother says she does not do this, but do not believe it. It is a lie.) Once the humans go to sleep, I spend several hours racing about the house and being as silly as possible. That was not meant to be, because this special holiday changed everything.

Once darkness fell, there were terrible sounds that Mother calls "The Boomies," but she says they're actually called fireworks. People set them off and they light up the sky in different colors, but I don't care about the colors. The sound scares me! I raced under my grandmother's bed and hid, while all the other puppies and kitties came in to comfort me and tell me that it was okay. I started plotting my revenge, but I'm nine pounds and a cat, so I was unable to exact it.

I started to remember the time when I was outside and I had nowhere to go to get away from The Boomies. I am so grateful to have a home and somewhere to hide, and that feeling helped me to calm down. I would never be unsafe or alone now that I had a home! It didn't take long for Grandmother to turn on some fans. They made enough noise that I could barely hear The Boomies, but still I stayed beneath the bed and waited.

Finally, the sounds stopped. Now that it was safe, I crawled out from under the bed to find the coast clear and my brothers and sisters waiting patiently for me so that we could play. Thus began our own holiday party that we call The Meow-Meow Party. We did everything from running up and down the cat tree, to jumping on and off the ironing board - something we aren't supposed to do when the humans are awake. We had ourselves a grand celebration and a great night's sleep! I'm already preparing for next year's celebration, but this time I won't be so afraid, because I know that, like other awful things in life, The Boomies will stop soon enough and everything will be okay again.