The Land of Meow Short Story Series

Chapter One: "The School Holidays."

Chapter One: "The School Holidays."

Jonathon was pleased that the school holidays had arrived. He still had to attend the Out of School Hours Care programme, because his mother, Natalya was a single mother and had to work, but the OHSC was far more relaxed than school. It was two weeks of fun and games and playing on the playground without the rest of the school population competing with them for the equipment.

Teela attended the OHSC as well and Jonathon saw more of his sister during the school holidays than the term. Having a big sister in the service was a good thing and a bad thing. It meant the bigger kids would allow him into their games and that afternoon the older children were playing skipping rope.

Two of the tallest children were each holding an end of a long rope, while other children were taking turns skipping in the middle. Jonathon was agile and light on his feet, so he was good at skipping. As they skipped, the children chanted a tune and the skipper was required to perform the actions named by the song.

"Teddy bear, Teddy bear, go upstairs," the children chanted and Jonathon pretended to be stepping up some steep steps.

"Teddy bear, teddy bear turn around," the children sang and Jonathon tried to perform a one hundred and eighty-degree turn without missing a skip.

Each time the children sang the song, the tempo became faster, or another challenge was added until even the best skipper was caught out by getting tangled with the rope. Then the spinning came to a halt and another child had a turn. It was one of their favourite games during fine weather.

Jonathon skipped faster and faster until he was tired, tripped and had to sit down. A few exchanges later, it was Teela's turn to skip, and Jonathon was asked to hold one end of the rope. It is much harder to perform a smooth turn of the rope if the person at one end is short, but Jonathon did his best for an eight-year-old. At least he was not as short as some of the six year olds!

Teela did not last long in the middle as the skipper, and she complained that Jonathon had not turned the rope smoothly. Jonathon asserted that he had done his best, but his arm ached from trying to keep up with the big loops the older child had been making. After that, the rope had to be packed away because it was time for an afternoon snack, and when they had finished the snack, they watched a short DVD. Finally, the bus arrived to take them home.

Jonathon and Teela jumped off the bus and ran into the house chattering loudly. Mother had returned from work and a glorious smell was coming out of the kitchenette. Jonathon threw himself down on the sofa in front of the television and his cat, Ginger-Fluff came running up to him. Jonathon picked Ginger-Fluff up and noticed that his fur was warm from sleeping in the sun.

"You have been on the window sill again," Jonathon murmured, hugging the cat. "I wish I could sleep all day too!"

Jonathon had a secret. When he went to sleep with his pet in his arms, he dreamed about being a cat. The dreams were so real, that they became adventures, where Jonathon and Ginger roamed the neighbourhood having fun and getting into mischief.