There once was a litter of Turkish Van cats. They had blue eyes, orange tails and orange spots above the eyes. All the cats were like this except one. This cat was all white with amber eyes. The other cats in her littler didn’t like her very much because she was different from them. She was always the odd one out. Her own mother preferred the other cats. She would climb up a tree and watch as her sister and brothers played in the back yard.
During the same time period there was also another set of cats born. They were orange. They all looked the same except one. He looked like the cartoon character Garfield. His brothers and sisters teased him about it all the time. They weren’t as mean as the white cats in the other litter but they had there moments. The mother of this litter decided to take them all on a stroll to see the outside world. For these cats had been staying inside an abandon farm house.
They orange family of cats walked out of the barn. The Garfield looking cat overheard one of his brothers telling the other cats that Garfield was too fat to make it the whole stroll and that they would have to carry him back. Hurt by these words the cat ran the opposite direction his family was going. He ran and ran and ran. He eventually stopped when a tree got in his path. He was in somebody’s yard. He looked up the tree and saw a flash of white. He blinked. He then heard a voice.
“I would be very grateful if you could help me get down.” A voice in the tree said.
“Who said that?” The orange cat asked.
“Me,” said the white cat. The cat moved her head to where she could see the orange cat.
“Oh, well just jump,” The orange cat said.
“I can’t,” She said.
“Why not? All cats land on their feet. Or at least that is what my mother told me,” The orange cat said thoughtfully. “And if you did fall on your back or stomach we have nine lives so you should be okay.”
“My mom said the nine lives thing is just a myth,” The white cat said looking uncertainly at the ground.
“Well you won’t be able to get down unless you jump,” The orange cat said.
The white cat looked down at the ground and gulped. She closed her eyes and jumped. When she finally hit the ground she opened her eyes. The ground was softer then she remembered.
“I jumped!” The cat said.
“Great now get off of me!” The orange cat shouted.
“Oh sorry,” She said getting off of the cat. “I guess that explains the soft landing.”
“Yep,” He said. “So what is your name?”
“I don’t know.” She said.
“Oh that is good because I don’t know mine either. My mom didn’t give me or my brothers and sisters names.”
“My mom didn’t either. Maybe we should make are own.”
Both cats sat and thought of a name to pick. There were so many to choose from.
“I got it!” The white cat yelled. “My name will be Amber because my eyes are amber.”
“That is a pretty name. My name can be…uh”
“Garfield,” Amber said. “I like that name and it fits you perfectly.”
The orange cat wasn’t sure to take that as a compliment or an insult. He thought for a while and decided that it was an okay name.
“Alright I guess my name is Garfield now.” He smiled then a thought came to his mind. “Do you really think the nine lives thing is a myth?”

***


Garfield and Amber soon became the best of friends. They left their families and explored the world. They chased mice and squirrels. Today they were traveling through a neighbor hood when something gold rushed towards them. The gold thing went straight for their behinds and started sniffing. The cat’ eyes widen. Their behinds were never sniffed before. They turned around to see who there gold thing was.

The gold thing turned out to be a dog; a golden retriever dog to be exact. The dog stared at them and licked their faces. This annoyed the cats greatly for they had just cleaned themselves before their walk.

“Hi! Hi! Hi!” The dog said wagging his tail. “Are you guys’ cats? I have never seen a cat before. My sister dog says that cats are evil and want to hit you but I don’t believe her. Do you want to be my friend? I’ve never had a cat as a friend before but that could be because you are the first cats I have ever met.” The dog said with a thoughtful expression. “My name is Rusty by the way what is yours? Oh I am so excited! My owners fed me this morning. I hope they feed me soon I am so hungry. My sister dog caught a bird the other day. My owners weren’t too happy about that though. I can’t see why I mean it is really hard to catch a bird.”

The two cats stared at each other overwhelmed. They had met a few dogs before. Normally they ended up a tree and had to wait till the dog’s owners brought the dog inside but this dog was insane. It was like he was excited to see anybody.

“My name is Amber and this is Garfield,” Amber said.

“Those are nice names. It could be worse. I was stuck with Rusty and my sister dog is called Goldie. Between you and me she is a spoiled brat. When my owners decide to take us to this fenced in place with other dogs she goes to all the other owners. I wonder if they make places like that for cats. I don’t think they do. Do you guys like playing with other cats? It is kind of weird if you think of it. Hey! Do you like sticking your head out the window when you are in a car? It is the best experience and sometimes you are lucky and get a snack!”

“Well—“Garfield started but Rusty cut him off.

“You know I always wondered what it would feel like to be on an airplane. Do you know what those are? They are these big machines that take people up in the air for rides. Actually now that I think of it maybe I don’t want to ride an airplane. I might get air sick and puke. Puking isn’t fun. Nope. My owners keep talking about going to New York. Do you know where New York is? It is up north. Apparently there are grand parents up there. Do you know what a grand parent is? It sounds like something grand and presents. Oh! Oh! Do you think they are going to give me a present?! I hope they give me a big cow bone. Those are the best. Do you think they are the best?”

Before they could answer there was a voice calling Rusty.

“Oh there is my owner calling. I have to go. It was nice meeting you. Wait till Goldie hears I met two cats!” The dog ran off with his tail going 90 miles a minute.

“Well that dog was…how shall I put it?” Garfield started.

“Strange,” Amber suggested.

“Yeah strange, he wouldn’t even let us talk.”

“Dogs are just weird like that and did you see his tail going? Somebody could be killed by being hit with it.”

“Did you here where he was going? He said New York. Maybe we can hitch a ride,” Garfield said.

“Sounds like a plan.”
***
Garfield and Amber waited until the owners packed all of their items. One of them told a girl to get the dogs. The same girl came from another direction with different clothes on. This confused the cats. Maybe humans had the power of being in two places at once. Anyway the cats jumped into the car and hid behind some suitcases as the girl let the dogs in. Rusty imediently saw the cats and started talking again.
“Hi Garfield and Amber, what are you two doing here?! Oh this is going to be so much fun! Were all having a road trip! Look Goldie I told you I was talking to two cats and now they are taking a ride with us to New York. This is going to be so much fun!”
The two cats groaned inwardly. This was going to be a long ride.
***
When the trip was finally over the two cats knew a lot of things about dogs. Rusty thought it was fit to tell them ever detail of a dog’s life. In vivid detail. Goldie didn’t really care much for the two cats. As long as they stood there distance away from her then they were fine. They watched as the family and the two dogs entered this house. There was a swing set in the back yard.
The cats were surprised when a few minutes later they heard screaming and Rusty being tied up and sent outside. They regretfully walked over.
“I decide to give the grand parents a present but apparently they don’t like it when you do your business on the floor. They seemed really ticked. Goldie was laughing at me as I was sent outside. I don’t get why I have the worst of the luck. Oh! I met another cat! His name is Tiger. He looks kind of like you Garfield except a lot grumpier, like the grand parent guy I met. The guy seemed really mad at me for my gift. Anyway the cat told me that his brother died a couple weeks ago. Isn’t that sad? His name was Pumpkin. I wonder if the cat looked like a pumpkin. Anyway Tiger wasn’t very nice. He hit me on the nose.”

“You manage to do all that in five minutes,” Amber asked.

“Yep,” Rusty said.


The cats looked surprise. It was the shortest sentence they ever heard Rusty say.

“You amaze me sometimes,” Garfield said.

“Really I amaze you? I amaze a cat. Wow that is the first time I ever amazed a cat. I’m so proud of myself.”

“Rusty!” A lady called. “Rusty its time to come in! Were not angry with you anymore!” The lady came around the bend and saw Rusty and the two cats.

“Rusty who are these fellows?” The lady asked.

Rusty waved his tail. “They are these two cats I met the other day. They are named Garfield and Amber. They hitchhiked a ride in are car. They are my new best friends!”

The lady could not speak dog and did not hear what Rusty said. The lady looked at Amber. Amber looked at the lady really sweetly. It was like love at first sight except without the love part. The lady picked up Amber. Amber snuggled into the lady and purred. Garfield stared at the lady feeling left out.

“Come on Rusty lets go inside.” Rusty and the lady started to walk away. The lady still had Amber in her arms. Garfield meowed at them. The lady turned. “I guess you can come too.”

So Garfield and Amber became the lady’s pets. The man who lived with the lady instantly took a liking to Garfield. All was fine and Rusty never did his business on the carpet in that house ever again.
THE END!