Monday 26 March 2012

Minnie Moo's a Hero

Unlike the glum walk out to the 3rd tree on the left home of the Hawk family, our return journey to Little Village was filled with fun and laughter. Arriving safely home we all rushed to get out from under our boxes to begin our victory celebrations.

The air was buzzing with excitement as paws collided in hi-paw congratulations! Soon the anipals broke into a loud boisterous chorus that traveled happily along the early evening airwaves, 
“Give me an M – M! 
Give me an innie-innie! 
Give me an M – M! 
Give me an oo-oo! 
What’ve we got? Minnie Moo!”

Even the crickets traded their usual summer chirp to join in the chant. 

Feeling puffed up with pride the three of us jumped up on top of our hawk-pecked box and looked out as the awesome anipals continued to cheer. Basking in the glory of the happy occasion Mayor Thumper slowly raised her paw to silence the crowd.

“We’ll all remember this day for the rest of our lives and no doubt our adventurous story will be enjoyed by generations to come. Today you all showed the world the true meaning of community spirit and now thanks to you Little Village is once again, our safe little haven. Our home has been returned. 

"Mr T and Minnie Moo came from all the way over there to warn us of the Hawk Family danger. Casting their own fears aside, they did it because they cared and wanted to do the right thing for Little Village, in doing so they taught us all a valuable lesson, it's always ok to do the right thing. So let's do the right thing by giving them the biggest ever thank you, ready 1,2,3 THANK YOU!” 

When Mr T stepped forward the cheering could be heard twice, it was so loud it bounced off the nearby hills to be sound again. 

“Thank you, thank you, we're honoured and love your appreciation but please stop, it’s too much!” Slowly but surely the cheers silenced and Mr T continued, 

“Before we set off on our journey Minnie Moo confided he suffered terribly from a severe case of Hawk-o-phobia, the mere mention of the bird sent him into a shaky and shivering mess. Yet he successfully faced his fear and confronted his worse nightmare and we all know how the story ended! But another challenge was awaiting, as you can see my neck cone makes it impossible for me to look in any direction other than straight ahead, Minnie Moo was tasked with the very important job of being my seeing-eye cat and let's just say he's a champion, his vision is perfect, it's 20/20!

Pawsing Mr T, went on,

“Mr Hawk was a bully because he thought that’s the way for a mighty Hawk to behave. He believed this was the only way to show off his menacing power. Now not only is he a powerful fantastical bird, he has our respect too. So let's put our paws together to give ourselves and our brave courageous Minnie Moo a round of appawse!"

So loud was the appawse I was later told it could be heard as far away as the Pussy Foot Inn. 

Looking over all the cute-as-a-button faces I was overcome with pride and while holding back the water-works threatening to burst from my eyes I yelled out three simple words; “We did it!” 

“Without you and our congo line of bravery we would have never succeeded! Now go home get some sleep for tomorrow’s a busy day, there’s boxes to return and a pawty to plan!” 

The anipals erupted in unison, Pawty! Pawty! Pawty!

It wasn’t long before tired yawns and shuffling paws could be heard. Bedtime was calling. Even Mayor Thumper burrowed in for a good nights sleep.

Crawling back under our box Mr T and I let out a long exhausted sigh it wasn’t long before a wave of sleepiness swept over us and sent us drifting off towards Catnap Island.

Your in friskies Minnie Moo
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Wednesday 21 March 2012

HAWK PECKS MINNIE MOO!


Mmmmm I bet you’re going to look tantalisingly delicious on the buffet table. Did you know, I’ve never tried to eat a Minnie Moo cat before, I wonder if you’ll taste a little like a mouse and a lot like a cow? Boy I can’t wait to find out. 

Slightly offended I muttered, "look Mr Hawk, I’m sorry to disappoint but there’s just no way I’m going to taste like a mouse or a cow, I’m strictly 100% pure cat and that’s that. But you and I both know this is not going to go according to your plan I’m never going to end up as a delicacy on the famed buffet table."

Looking out the corner of my eye I was relieved to see my secret weapon, Mrs Hawk, still watching in disbelief as Mr Hawk continued to unravel right before her very eyes.

"I’m so sick and tired of hearing you babble on about wanting all of us to live together in peace and harmony. I for one can say this will never happen, not on my watch anyway. Besides I didn’t want you out from under the box so we could have a polite cat-chat or for me to sweetly accept your invitation to the silly party, no, quite the opposite, I simply wanted to get a closer look at you, my next meal!" 

This isn’t a game I bellowed and in a frenzied display of fury I flapped my wings ferociously causing a minor dust storm that soon settled all over Minnie Moo. Blinking like mad and covered in dust from top to paw he didn't flinch but stood proudly while spluttering – "it’s lame to think we’re playing a game when there’s so many little anipals so worried and in pain. All we want to do is to live alongside each other in peace and harmony and be free from the fear you reign." 

"Well that's just too bad" and in one swift motion I pecked a piece from Minnie’s paw then another from his right leg. Just as I was going in for a taste of his left paw a screeching cry pierced through the air. 

"Stop! Stop! cried Mrs Hawk, what do you think you’re doing? Stop being such a bully bird. Look even our little bird babies are crying they’re so scared and can’t understand why you’re hurting poor brave Minnie Moo. What sort of example are you setting, didn't you know that it’s not ok to be mean? Besides we’ve always got enough to eat without ever having to touch any of the little anipals. Today I've seen enough to last me a lifetime now you either change or I'm going to ask you to leave this tree forever. The choice is yours. 

Dancing from one sore paw to my another pecked leg and grimacing through my pain - "Mrs Hawk is right, it’s never ok to be mean and you're much better than the bird you were just a few moments ago. Besides it’d be crazy for you to loose your family because of your horrible behaviour. All we want is to share our little village, surely in your heart of hearts you want that too?" 

My head was hanging so low with shame it almost swept the ground. Filled with horror at the realisation my family had witnessed me be so mean and nasty I almost passed out from the burden of guilt and my heart weighed heavy at the thought I made my bird babies cry little terrified tears. I'd never shed a tear before in my life but now one promised to leak right out of my left eye. What had I done? 

Without any bravado I slowly lifted my head to look up towards Mrs Hawk and then down to Minnie Moo and in a small shaky voice I managed "I feel so terrible for the things I said and for pecking you. I'm sorry I was so mean and incredibly foolish to name but a few. My family means the world to me and the thought of loosing them makes me all sad and blue. I’m willing to take the first step towards change and that's a promise Minnie Moo.

A muffled YIPPEE erupted from all the little anipals huddled underneath their boxes. 

Continuing on, "What I'd like to suggest is I hold a meeting tonight inviting all the Hawks to join in to plan how we can come together to live to peace and harmony. Hopefully even the weather will remain quite balmy. As they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but don’t worry we'll soon change our ways. So go ahead plan the party, we’re coming along we'll party for days! 

One more thing, at this stage its better to be safe than sorry and until we've had our meeting to ensure everyone has accepted to change I think it best for you all to return to Little Village under the protection of your boxes. This way no one will be tempted to have take-away for dinner.

Looking up I said in a voice full of pride "Mr Hawk I’m enormously proud of you for taking this first step towards a better life for us all. It’s a new beginning and we're can't wait to party with you, I'm sure we'll have a ball! How about we meet first thing tomorrow morning so you can update us on your meeting? Would you like to fly over to see us or should we meet half way?" 

"I'll fly over to see you all but before you go I’ve one more question that may sound a little strange, where on earth did you find so many boxes for the congo line?" 

"All the boxes, that’s easy! Every week a pellet is delivered to Little Village loaded with boxes full of delicious anipal food. All the empty boxes are recycled and stored in a small shed carved out in the side of a small hill. They're free for anyone to use." 

So for now it's good-bye and good luck with your meeting. Before slinking under my box I looked up to Mrs Hawk and mouthed a silent but grateful “thank you”. 

As we turned to lead the happy and victorious congo line back home I casually mentioned to Mr T and Mayor Thumper "I had more to say but decided to leave well enough alone for I knew Mrs Hawk would have more words to say than me and I'm sure they'll all be delivered in just the right tone!" 

Yours in friskies Minnie Moo
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Monday 19 March 2012

Minnie Moo tastes delicious!


Through the pecked holes I could see six eyes staring at me and I couldn’t help but do a little happy dance on the inside, boy oh boy our buffet table would soon be groaning under the weight of little ones. Looking around I did a quick count; two cats and one rabbit under the box I’m standing on plus with a couple of anipals under all the other boxes, we'll be feasting for days! It was like Easter, Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one. All I had to do was come up with a plan to entice those tasty morsels out. Putting my smart thinking cap on after a few moments I knew exactly what to do. Treat them like woolly sheep; tempt one out and the rest would follow. Staring right back at the three pairs of eyes I thought I’m going to start with you lot.

While Mr Hawk was doing his inside happy dance Minnie Moo was doing a sad little two step as he knew his time had come to be a brave cat not only in words but in actions. So many from Little Village were depending on him fueled by this and with a steely determination in his eye he turned to Mayor Thumper and Mr T to whisper, "it’s not going to be easy but we will win! Let’s lie low and wait for him to make the first move." Both nodded in silent agreement.

Right on cue and dripping in a syrup sweet honey Mr Hawk’s sugar coated voice dribbled through the box “Hello my visitor welcome to the trunk of my home, the 3rd tree on the left. I must apologise for my pecking madness and damaging your box I'm a little over-protective of my young family it was done to ensure they'd come to no harm. I'm sure you understand and, don’t worry about the mess I can easily cover the holes later with a little duct-tape."

Sounding like a slice of warm, sweet nice as pie yet every single word I spoke was just a big whopper; a giant lie told to create a false sense of security in the hope that eventually one or all would feel reassured and safe enough to venture out into the dangerous clasp of my claws. I couldn’t wait to see them quiver with fright and the knowledge their destiny lay in the upside down part of my claw.

Not being able to resist I sweetly added "now you must all be very hot, hungry and thirsty. Why not come out and I’ll prepare some food for you and get you all something to drink? Besides it really is way to nice to spend the day indoors, or in your case under a box." After jumping down from the top I even managed, for sound effect, to rustle a few leaves together and for a moment I was fooled to believe I was opening a box of crackers.

Letting the leaves fall I heard a voice say "Thank you for such a warm introduction it’s most unexpected especially after the pecking fiasco we really thought you’d lost your mind. But we understand your reasoning and accept your apology. You’re absolutely right we’re parched for thirst and are so hungry the mere mention of food has us drooling."

All I could see was a vision of the buffet table overweight from top to toe with layer upon layer of tasty little ones.

Rudely interrupted the voice under the box continued, "But I don’t think you know who we are, I’m Minnie Moo the group's Fearless Leader and with me is Thumper, Mayor of Little Village and the awesome Mr T who needs no introduction. Underneath all the other boxes are the Little Village anipals who are all under strict instructions not to do anything unless I give the order. We might be extremely cute but we’re definitely not stupid, you’re just putting on the I’m really a nice Hawk routine, but you can’t fool us, we know the truth you’re just a mean-as Hawk who sees us all as tempting dishes for your buffet table."

Following a tense moment of silence a round of apawse broke out as the anipals stomped their paws in approval.

Feeling confident I went on, "we’re here today because we want Little Village restored to it’s former glory, a village where everyone lived in peace and harmony and not under the constant fear of being nothing more than a dish waiting to be swooped upon. We want you and all the other Hawks to be more inclusive rather than aggressive and exclusive that way we can all live happily together and share our community. All we're asking is that you have a change of cattitude".

As the King of the Hawks nobody had ever dared speak to me like that and my inside happy dance changed to a repeated flap of wing fury. "So Minnie Moo you must be one brave cat to even think you can talk to me let alone tell me I need a new cattitude. But as you say in the spirit of trying not to get too angry I’ll be cordial to say as sweet as it sounds its not going to happen, you of all cats should know we’ve been eating little anipals for millions of years after-all I’m from the dinosaur family we're not known for our pleasantries or for trying to be cute and cuddly we’ve got a mean streak, even the vegetarians in the family can be a little hard to handle."

Well Mr Hawk I’m not here to pluck any leaves from your family tree but you should know all birds are from the dinosaurs not just the mean ones. Even the pretty blue budgie “Bluey” who lives four doors down from me is somehow related to you. Anyway family history is no excuse to be mean and terrifying besides we’ll always make sure you have enough to eat. I can’t remember a day when any of us anipals went hungry.

So getting back to the spirit of living in peace and harmony we want to invite you, your family and, all the Hawks to our local village fête, a party tomorrow night held at the village green. You’re all welcome but only if you all embrace our community spirit and stop seeing us as your free food ticket."

Little did Mr Hawk know that a few minutes earlier Mrs Hawk and her little feathery baby birds had all poked their heads up and out of the nest to see what the commotion was all about and they all had a birds-eye view of the action. Mrs Hawk looked most concerned.

"Oh really Minnie Moo so you expect me to change just like that, ok that’s just fine, now here's a plan why don’t you invite me again but this time tell it to my face, let’s do this like real Hawks do or do you always need a box to protect you"?

Minnie Moo whispered to Mayor Thumper and Mr T, "I’m going out, don’t worry I’ll be brave. If he attacks me stay put and send the command for everyone else not to come out. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Besides I’m ready to face my hawk-o-phobia", and without saying a word and wearing nothing more than a brave heart he left the box.

Face to face with Mr Hawk, Minnie Moo took a few steps closer before going to sit down. "Not so fast, how do you know I’m not going to eat you all up. If you listen hard enough you can hear my tummy grumbling. For you that's a double-edged sword to fall on one end's angry the other hungry. It’s not looking good for you Minnie Moo let's just say it’s just a pity you didn’t bring along the salt and pepper."

Staring directly into those hawkish eyes I tried to fake a - look at me I"m having one last thought look - the thought went something like this..I just can’t deny it Mr Hawk does hold my destiny in his claw. With my diet of friskies, pet milk and special treats from the Pussy Foot Inn I'm destined to be the star of the buffet table. Or, was it that Mrs Hawk who would soon tell him of his destiny?

Yours in never to be seen on the buffet table friskies Minnie Moo
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Friday 16 March 2012

Minnie Moo A St Patricks Day Limerick


To all Irish Cats Happy St Patricks Day

A limerick about a wee little Minnie-Moo
Who tought he was Irish through & through
He liked to wear a big green hat
On his head it sat
While eating Friskies he did chew & chew

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Minnie Moo Fearless Leader of the Anipals


It was mission time but before I got under the box with Mr T and Mayor Thumper I turned around to see just how long the box congo line stretched. Wow! it went for miles upon miles, well maybe at least the length of two football fields, three basketball courts and four lengths of an Olympic size swimming pool. I knew all the sizes from watching sport on the telly. 

Squinting into the distance I saw loads of little boxes and heard the muffled sounds of the anipals chatting excitedly under their boxes. Judging by the high pitch squeals everyone was anxious to get our Hawk mission show on the road.

Right I thought, as their fearless leader I really should send a motivating message but with the line so long it was going to be impossible for everyone to hear me and where was a megaphone when I needed one? Thinking outside the box I knew all the box sides had little air holes, the best way for my message to travel was for us all to play pass the message.

I briefly told Mr T and Mayor Thumper of my plans and all they said was, brilliant! Making my way to the first box I thought about how defining my message would be and thinking of the great cat Mr Churchill I knew they would look to me for strength, guidance and reassurance our box congo line plan would work.  

In my clear made for radio voice I spoke through the holes of the first box, “We're ready to go. I’m going to say this message once and then I ask you to repeat it to the box behind you, they will in turn to the same and so on and so on.”

“Always keep your eye on the box in front of you. No over-taking. Please keep quiet. Unless I give the order, do not get out from under your box. When my box stops under the 3rd tree to the left, your box is to stop to the right of the front box. Our goal is to form a large circle around the group of trees. Be brave, be strong. Now pass this message to the box behind you.”

As I walked back to my box I had a sneaky suspicion that by the time the message reached the last box it’d be completely muddled, “Pass the box behind you and also keep your eyes to the front when over-taking. Do not keep quiet and when I give the order get out from under your box. When we reach the 3rd tree to the right stop in front of the left box. Get out and form a large circle around the tree. Be brave and sing a song.” 

With Mayor Thumper as our navigator we set off. There were quite a few obstacles to overcome and we all had to take extra care not to stub our paws on the little rocks. It got tricky around the cluster of low-lying bushes. With only the tiniest of a gap between each bush it made it impossible for us to squeeze through we had no option but to take the long way round before dropping down quite a steep hillside to reach the lush flat grassy field of the village green.

After a while I checked-in with Mr T and he admitted to being nervous as to what I was going to say to Mr Hawk and really concerned I’d be so pumped up on courage I'd step out of the box right into the claws of danger.

No way, I reassured him, I'm going to avoid all danger and I've thought long and hard about what I'm going to say, please, believe in me. 

Crossing the village green, Mayor Thumper checked in, "another five minutes and we're there." At those words my heart started beating so loudly I thought it was going to beat right out of my chest, but as the leader I had to keep it together. By taking a few deep breaths and thinking of my friskie happy place my mind snapped back to the task at hand.

"Thank you Mayor Thumper can you please give us a one-minute countdown?" Right you are Minnie Moo, actually we're a lot closer than I thought in fact, I better start counting now here we go 60,59,58,57,56,55. For every second my heart skipped a beat 53,51,49,47, thankfully it returned to normal for the last ten seconds. We had reached our destination.

Sitting quietly under our box time passed slowly as we waited for all the anipals to form their protective box circle. Phew I let out a sigh of relief my pass the message plan had worked. 

As the circle of anipals settled an eerie calm descended even the crickets stopped chirping. For a few long moments the sound of silence filled the air. Crouching down low between Mr T and Mayor Thumper I whispered "this is the calm before our storm, don’t worry and trust in my plan."

In the blink of an eye everything changed as the threatening sounds of swooshing wings cut through the air and screeching menacing cries of ark, ark, ark pierced like shards of glass through our tiny box holes. After what seemed like an awfully long time the madness hushed but yet a dark shadow lingered in the silence. It was then I knew our moment of truth was sitting on top of our box.

Fancy that a box right under my tree with a landing pad clearly marked  HAWKS LAND HERE and judging by where I'm currently perched it looks like I haven't lost my touch in perfecting the perfect landing. But, this isn't right there's something going on why on earth are there so many boxes circling the trees? As my beady eyes glistened I could smell a little anipal perhaps a rat, no make that a cat and a bunny rabbit.

Shattering the silence I began to peck like an over-worked jackhammer creating a few holes for me to see into the box. Confirming my smelling-suspicion, I screeched, hello, what do we have here, two cats and one very large rabbit. The mere sight had my tummy doing the grumbling dance and my my wasn't the buffet table going to look tasty tonight?

Yours in friskies Minnie Moo

Monday 12 March 2012

Minnie Moo Brave-Cat Brave-Heart



The three of us sat huddled together planning our visit to the Hawk family lucky for me I was sitting down as my little legs were overcome with nerves and got a bad case of the trembles. If I'd been standing I would've toppled over by now.

It was at that moment I had my one and only fleeting dark thought, hmmmm it’s ok for you Mr T your collar cone will keep you safe. Look at it! It's so wide there’s just no way Hawk claws can stretch all the way to grab hold before plucking you away to never to be seen again land. As for Mayor Thumper, well at the first sign of danger no doubt she’ll just dig herself a hole and bolt into the safety of one of the many underground tunnels.

Well as for me, I’ll be the one left all alone and exposed, just me, Minnie Moo against a low flying hungry Hawk. I didn’t even have a song and dance routine up my sleeve to use as a distraction. What chance did I have? I could see it now if worse came to worse I would definitely be the main course on the Hawk tasting platter.

Oh boy we needed a full proof plan.

Once again, Mayor Thumper took control after all she knew the village like the back of her big floppy ears and this knowledge was vital in our planning of what route to take.

“Right she said, at least we don’t have to worry about planning the village fête tomorrow night, the little village pawty planning committee has that side all under control. In celebration of our community spirit our mission is to invite the currently disruptive Hawk’s to the party and convert them to friends instead of them seeing us as yummy treats for the buffet table.”

Looking to us, she said, “So any ideas anyone? No, Minnie Moo, I can read your mind, we can’t back out now, all the little village anipals are counting on us to return them to their homes and their beloved village to it’s pre-Hawk glory days.”

Hey I might be a scaredy cat but I’m not a chicken!

Mr T what do you think? “Well first up I think we all need to wear protective clothing or be under some sort of shelter. If we leave ourselves exposed we’ve got no chance of surviving this mission, in fact we’ll be on the buffet like it or not!”

Feeling a little miffed about the chicken thing, I piped up, “yes my thinking exactly, I couldn’t agree more we need to get under a box!” 

“Mmmmm said Mayor Thumper, that’s an excellent idea. If we all travel under a giant box together and poke seeing-eye holes through the sides that might do the trick. The only problem is I hop and you both walk so we’d need a box that’s going to be just the right size to make room for my jumping." 

Feeling unlike a chicken I bravely ventured, Look to the left there’s a giant box! It looks light enough for us to easily crawl under and even better, how about we get one of the anipals to jump on top of the box and draw a big landing circle and in the middle write in big letters “HAWKS LAND HERE? Then when the Hawk lands we’ll be able to talk through the safety of our little holes."

I finished by confidently adding, “there’s no chance even a monster sized Hawk with a super large claw span would be able to pick up that box. It’s so big it’s like a box mountain!”

In unison Mr T and Mayor Thumper said, “terrific Minnie Moo we like your thinking! So all things going to plan when the Hawk is on of the box what do we say?

"Just leave it to me, I said with my best thinking cap on, I’m going to put on my best diplomat voice and just like the United Nations ask for peace.”

“Ok Minnie Moo that sounds like a fool-proof plan we’ll back you up every step of the way, or in my case, said Mayor Thumper, every hop of the way."

The little anipal grapevine was working overtime as before we could say "Peter Rabbit" two bunny rabbits with a marker pen each were on top of the box drawing a landing pad circle and writing out in neat paw-writing “HAWKS LAND HERE.”

As if that wasn’t enough, just like in the movie BRAVE-CAT, all the other little village anipals went two by two under their own boxes to form one long box congo line behind our gi-normous box. Together they squeaked and miaowed at the top of their voices "there’s safety in numbers!" 

Under the expert guide of their fearless leader and with Mayor Thumper giving directions we walked and hopped in our box congo line towards our destination, the third tree from the left, home of the family Hawk.

By letting go of my fear but keeping hold of my brave heart I quickly cat-a-pult-ed through the ranks from Seeing-Eye Cat to me, Minnie Moo Fearless Leader of the anipals from Little Village.  

Yours in Friskies Minnie Moo

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Minnie Moo & Mr T meets the Anipals of Little Village



For the first few moments we didn't say anything as after-all we were in the presence of a rather large rabbit with a really impressive title, Mayor Thumper.  Ever the professional Mr T found his words to say, “yes, we’d really like to help you put together a plan to stop the Hawk family menacing Little Village and scaring all the little anipals out from the safety of their own homes. Before I go on perhaps we should introduce ourselves?”

“Excellent idea,” said Mayor Thumper as she thumped her tail in agreement.

“Well I’m Mr Tuxedo or Mr T for short and this is my cat buddy Minnie Moo, we live in two separate houses way over there down the gully and up the hill. Don’t let my rather large collar fool you, it’s not part of my coat. My really brainy anipal doctor has told me I have to wear it to help me heal and stop me scratching.”

“That’s ok Mr T said Mayor Thumper I’ve seen plenty of collars and from what I hear they’re itchy and the only choice is to look straight ahead! Oh boy I’m getting off track, now about the Hawk family?”

We all hung our heads and pondered this very delicate yet incredibly dangerous situation. Silence hung as we were lost in our thoughts about what to do and what was best for everyone who lived in Little Village. Word soon spread that something was going on as before we could say “Peter Rabbit” a menagerie of little anipals surrounded us.

They’d all come out of hiding to show their support and to let us know how protective they all were of their Little Village. From where I was sitting it looked like one of those flash mobs I’ve seen on you tube except without the dancing. Here we were having a flash meeting. Mayor Thumper soon called us all to order with a thump of her tail.

“Anipals of Little Village we’re honoured to have with us Mr T and Minnie Moo from all the way, way over there. They’ve come a long way to warn us of their belief a Hawk family has moved into the third tree from the left.”

Together they all sing-songed, "Yes! That’s right! I’ve seen them with my very own eyes fly high in the sky."

“Now as we all know this to be true we’re now working on a plan in the hope we might all be able return to living in peace and harmony above ground instead of hiding in the damp dark underground.”

Once again I heard the collective voice chorus “Yes! that’s right we want peace and harmony!”

“Mr T and Minnie Moo have come up with a plan of the top three things we could do. Now all we need to do is decide on the one thing.”

1.  We create a no-fly zone over Little Village meaning the Hawks are only allowed to fly around the outside of the outskirts of the village.
2.   We move our little village and build again in the tiny field just behind the Pussy Foot Inn.
3.   We invite the Hawk Family to join our local village fête and welcome them as part of our community.

In a loud clear voice only slightly muffled by the cone Mr T said “we’d like YOU as villagers to decide on what should be done!”

After what seemed like one really long hour filled with loads of hearty debate Mayor Thumper had listened to what everyone had to say and after a while brought the meeting back to order, saying confidently, “Villagers you have chosen well, imagine if we had of chosen number one we'd forever be prisoners in our Little Village and worse still, if we did cross the border over to the other side a Hawk could very well then legally swoop down to take us to never-be-seen-again land."  

She went on, “we’ve all said NO! to packing up our lives and building again in a place we don’t know or love. Little Village is our home, it’s where we have our roots and eat roots too.”

“Number 3 it is! Everyone loves a party, after this meeting I’m going with Mr T and Minnie Moo to visit the Hawk family home and invite them to our local village fête tomorrow night.”

Gulp, was that my name I just heard? Are you sure you want me to come? You know two’s company three’s a crowd and all that? My thoughts must have echoed into Mr T’s collar cone as he said “Minnie Moo remember this mission was to also help you let go of your hawk-o-phobia. Now it’s your time to raise to the occasion, feel the fear and do it anyway!”

I remembered reading that line in a book somewhere and also of the time a wise old cat once said to me, F.E.A.R is Failure Emerging As Reality. Right then and there I wished it meant Friskies Emerging As Reality!

Yours in friskies Minnie Moo
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Monday 5 March 2012

Minnie Moo Mr T meet Thumper

Papa can you hear me....Papa Hawk in action
Without stopping we continued on our adventure to warn all the anipals living in the little village of our suspicions of a menacing Hawk family that had recently moved in and made a nesting home in the trees around the edge of the village green.

It’s a well-known fact (all those letters spell fat cat) that I suffer from hawk-o-phobia. From the ancient greek-cat language it means a fear of Hawks, those birds that shared the same gene pool as dinosaurs once did. They're from the same family tree. O just means o-no is that Hawk and phobia is the official way of saying fear, scaredy cat or deathly afraid if you get my drift.

With each step Mr T continued to grumble about having to wear his cone collar, it limited his vision to looking straight ahead only. Earlier on in the day he’d given me the job of “seeing eye” cat I was Mr T’s spare eyes to look left, right, up and down. We were a team on a mission and just as we passed the half way point I noticed a dark shadow blotch an otherwise picture perfect bright blue summer sky.

Not wanting to alarm Mr T, I cautiously said, “it’s time for us to get out of this open exposed space and hurry to shelter under those bushes up there on that hillside ledge.”

Sensing my worried tone and without asking any questions Mr T followed me to the left as we criss-crossed our way up the hill to the safety of a cluster of bushy bushes. Due to the width of Mr T's cone we both reversed into the bushes backside first squashing the leaves and twigs making enough room for us both to crouch down low.

I whispered to Mr T, “I saw a shadow hovering above in the sky and not wanting to take any chances I thought it best for us to lay low until we’re certain all we can see is the blue light of day.”

“Phew, he said, I thought danger was close by as my darn whiskers were twitching like mad, that’s a sure sign of trouble with a capital T.” Catching a sneaky side-ways look sure enough Mr T’s whiskers were furiously twitching causing his cone to tremble too.

After a while I bravely took a few steps out to check the coast was clear and yes with the sky an unblemished radiant blue we both quickened our pace to reach the village before Trouble could find us.

Remembering my task to look left, right, up and as I looked down I got the surprise of my life. A little bunny-rabbit’s head popped up from a teeny tiny hole in the ground to half-shout half-squeak, “What’s up, what are you two cats doing in our village?”

Not messing about with his words, Mr T didn’t even draw a breath before spilling out “look little bunny rabbit we don’t have much time, we’ve walked for miles from the top of that hill way back there to warn you all we believe a Hawk family has moved into those trees over there.” Amazingly Mr T lifted his front right paw and without losing his balance pointed perfectly towards the trees.

“Wow, your suspicions are bang-on! Living in the third from the left tree is Papa Hawk, he’s so big and proud and Mama Hawk who is still sitting in her nest looking after her two fluffy feathery little but soon to be big ones.” Taking a deep breath and letting out a weary or is that wary sigh the bunny rabbit went on to say, “our little village is dead quiet now, most of us are in hiding here underground or under the bushes, between rocks and in-between all the clumps of grass.”

I don’t know if I was being a tad over-sensitive but I swore the bunny rabbit was looking directly at me before saying “I’d invite you to visit but I can see someone’s been eating too many friskies and won’t fit down the hole!”

Not wanting to make light of the situation Mr T turned serious “so you’re all living in fear of the Hawks? It’s outrageous that many of you have are too scared to even stay in your own homes. I guess too you’re all sneaking out at night to get food and supplies, am I right?”

“Yes we’re all terrified we’ll be swooped upon and plucked up to be eaten for breakfast. Now we only come out at night to find our food.”

“Right then, said Mr T, we need to take action please take me to the office of the village Mayor.” Without answering the bunny rabbit disappeared down the hole and left us standing there. Just as we were turning to leave a rather large rabbit squeezed up and out of the hole.

First the ears plopped out, then the eyes, a twitchy nose and two long front teeth, followed by two paws and a jump, there in front of us stood a magnificent rabbit saying, What’s up? I’m Mayor Thumper, I hear you’re here to help us with our Hawk situation. I must add here without knowing you I must commend you for being such good cat-izens coming all this way to warn us and help us take action.”

And together we sat hatching a plan and slowly but surely more little anipals joined in all keen to do anything to all live happily in their village again.

Yours in down-sized friskies Minnie Moo