The Story Game with Gandalf, Grayson and Whitey, too!

When Alfie first came to the shelter, he spent the first few days after his hoohaectomy crying and pacing at the door to go Outside, since that’s all he had ever known. Even though Outside meant he never knew where he would find his next meal or where he would take his naps, Alfie thought that’s where he needed to be again.

Alfie didn’t remember exactly when it happened, but one day he realized that he enjoyed being Inside! Alfie discovered that Inside meant that people gave him scritches and fed him delicious food! He had comfy beds, toys and hidey holes! But best of all, Alfie realized that he loved it when someone sat down so he could be cuddled in their lap! Snuggling was simply wonderful!

What Alfie was really waiting for was the day that his very own Special Someone would walk into the shelter to take him to his very own Forever Home!

One lovely afternoon Alfie was stretched out in his Condo watching some of the other cats when the door to the shelter opened. In walked a lovely young couple, hopefully looking to adopt a kitty. Try as he might, Alfie simply could not get their attention. Finally, after five frustrating attempts, Alfie suddenly got a bright idea! He picked a toy mousie up in his mouth and trotted over to them and dropped it at their feet.

They hadn’t been planning on getting a spotted boy kitty, but something about Alfie suddenly grabbed their heart. There was something in his eyes that made them think that Alfie just might be the kitty for them. The lovely lady picked up the mousie and wiggled it in front of Alfie’s nose, while giving him ear scritches. Alfie gracefully took the mouse in his mouth while giving out a soft loving purr.

The lovely lady immediately fell in love with Alfie and decided to sit down with the rest of the family to discuss whether he would be the right addition to their family. The nice lady said “You know, if we adopt Alfie, it must be a lifetime commitment. Are we sure about this?”

During this discussion, Alfie was holding his breath in anticipation and excitement. He might have a Forever Home at last! Finally, the couple decided that Alfie was the one special kitty they would open their heart to. Alfie was so excited that he dropped the toy mousie and ran to the family. He rubbed against their legs, he purred, he trilled and felt his heart get very, very warm. What was this emotion he was feeling? He’d never felt this before! It felt wonderful! Alfie rolled over onto his back and offered his wonderful spotty belly up for scritches, purring loudly all the time. That did it and Alfie was able to go home with them that very day!

The journey was long but the time passed quickly for Alfie who watched the lovely lady from his carrier in bliss. But when they eventually arrived and went into the house, there was a really big surprise waiting. The Big Man put the carrier down in a small room where Alfie smelled food and a litter box. The door of the carrier opened, but Alfie did not come out. A scent wafted through the air, one he’d smelled before. That smell meant danger! And running! And hiding! There was a dog in the house! Alfie backed up into the carrier as far as his little body would go, trembling. What had he done? Why did he not detect that scent on the people’s clothes? He peered out of the carrier’s side looking for the dog, hoping it didn’t scent him.

A voice came from above him and said, “Alfie, its okay. Come on out.”

Alfie only recalled that dogs were bad, all they did was chase him when he was alone Outside. He crouched further back in his carrier hoping he would be invisible. Just then the smell got closer. And the dog stuck her nose right into the carrier to smell Alfie. The dog gave Alfie a great big lick with her tongue and laid down outside the carrier, wagging her tail and acting very friendly.

Alfie was staring out of the carrier directly into the eyes of a huge woofie! The woofie wasn’t growling though, only playfully whimpering at him. Alfie still crouched further back. Then, to his amazement, the woofie stepped back, and walked away into another room. Alfie then thought to himself “Maybe woofies aren’t so bad?” After all, Alfie had changed his mind about what Inside was like. Maybe he could change his mind about woofies.

Then he heard the nice lady call out, “Come here, Jenny! We brought you home a new kitty brother!”

“Oh no!”, Alfie thought. “I don’t know if I am ready for this.” Still, he slowly reached out his paw and carefully placed it on the floor outside the carrier. He swallowed hard, took a deep breath and poked his head out.

The lady person reached down and touched Alfie’s head and said “It’s okay, Alfie honey. Jenny is very friendly and she LOVES kitties. You will find out soon enough that she is safe”.

Alfie started to purr and stepped out further from the carrier. Just then the huge woofie rolled over on her back and grinned at him. She said to him, “It’s okay, I love kitties and you are going to love it here.”

So Alfie approached his new woofie sister and Jenny came back in the room holding a big round ball in her mouth. The ball jingled. Alfie had never heard such a pretty sound before! Jenny dropped the ball on the floor rolled it gently toward Alfie with her nose.

Alfie swatted the ball back towards the woofie! Pretty soon the two were playing like old friends, but Alfie still wasn’t sure if he could trust Jenny. He remembered a time when he lived Outside that he came across a woofie. He tried to be friends with that woofie and, at first, it seemed like they could be friends. But then the woofie’s friends started to taunt him.

“You’re friends with a cat”.

“No, I’m not”, he’d said, and walked away from them. This broke Alfie’s heart.

Alfie decided to be cautious with Jenny because he didn’t want to get hurt again. He really liked this new house and he wanted to stay but he wondered if his new people would be mad at him if he didn’t make friends with the woofie.

Alfie went over to the window and looked Outside, thinking about what to do about the whole situation. He noticed that the man person had taken Jenny out for a walk and the door was partway open. He had just started to peek his head out the door and sniff the Outside, when he saw a lizard on the front porch and darted after it. Just as this happened, the door blew shut, locking him Outside again. The lizard scurried away into some shrubs, but this was no longer Alfie’s concern. Now that he was Outside, he realized just how much he liked Inside.

“What am I going to do now?” he thought. Alfie decided he may as well explore the garden as he could not get back inside. Suddenly his fur stood on end as he heard ferocious barking coming towards him. Trembling, he slunk under a bush. Just as a huge dog came running into the garden, he took off, heading for the nearest tree, to climb to safety.

Then he heard Jenny say, “Wait, Rufus! Chill out! That’s my new little brother.” Then Alfie chortled with laughter – he understood that Jenny was worried about him and he knew he could use this knowledge to his advantage. He realized too that Jenny would never let a mere dog hurt him and in one supremely feline moment, he mustered all of the disdain he could and stared coolly at Jenny before jumping down from the tree and landing on Rufus’ exposed back.

“Mwa ha ha” chuckled Alfie, digging in his claws as Rufus jumped around trying to offload his burden. Jenny was sure she could see a glint in Alfie’s eye but convinced herself it was fear. Just then, Rufus stopped short and Alfie went tumbling over Rufus’ head and somersaulted onto the lawn. Rufus started to laugh but Jenny shushed him and ran over to Alfie. She nudged Alfie and asked if he was okay and he just shook his head. Jenny told Rufus that Alfie would be okay and Rufus ran off home.

Jenny licked Alfie and nudged him gently again. “Don’t worry,” she said, “nobody’s going to hurt you while I’m around!”

“But Jenny, we’re locked Outside. There are all sorts of dangers in the Great Outside!”

“Silly, sweet Alfie, we’re never locked out. There’s a pet door for us to go through. Look, I’ll show you! Don’t worry about being stuck Outside. Mom will come hunting for you. She loves us and wants us to be safe!”

As if on cue, Mom showed up at the door. “Alfie! There you are! Jenny, I see you’re looking out for your new brother! So, are you two ready for supper?”

THE END

Thanks to all our Contributing Authors!

1. Faith Boo
2. Lux
3. Camie’s Kitties
4. Karen Jo
5. Criz Lai
6. Daisy
7. Abby
8. Parker
9. Sen and Tom
10. Angus Mhor
11. Shadow and Molly
12. Socks, Scylla & Charybdis
13. My Bellavia
14. Tybalt
15. The Meezers
16. PB&J
17. Mr. Hendrix
18. Cheysuli and Gemini
19. The Island Cats
20. Ariel
21. Friends FurEver
22. Jasper McKitten-Cat
23. Eric and Flynn
24. Chairman Mao
25. HRH Yao-Lin
26. Black Cat
27. Mickey
28. Gandalf and Grayson
29. WillThink4Wine
30. This could have been you! Join us next week!

We sure hope you enjoyed The Story Game this week! And we sure do hope the real-life Alfie finds his Forever Home soon!

Click here to read the previous Stories we have written so far!

We hope that you will join us once again next Tuesday when together we will write another wonderful story!

The Story Game Participants

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