A short story by Dorothy Parry

Hello Little Reader.

Once upon a time there was a kitten called Prince Tinderbox. He lived with his mother Queen Snowflake; she was as white as driven snow. His father was King Garfield; he was as blue as the summer sky. Tinderbox was bright red with stripes on him; he had the most gorgeous golden eyes that shone so bright.

Tinderbox had a playmate called Crystal; her home was next to his. Crystal was blue cream. She looked like the sky in the evening when is streaked with pink. She was soft and fluffy and her fur smelled of the lovely plants in the garden, a lovely flowery smell. Tinderbox and Crystal were allowed to play anywhere in the beautiful sunny garden; they could rub themselves on the nice smelling plants. But they were not allowed behind the sheds because behind the sheds lived the wicked spell casting Thor. In the past some naughty kittens had gone behind the sheds and never been seen again.

One day Crystal, because she was so inquisitive, went behind the sheds…and disappeared! Tinderbox called for her but she never answered. An ugly, grey smelly, mouse came out, from behind the sheds. Tinderbox was so upset because he could not find his beautiful friend Crystal, he decided he would trap, torment and kill the mouse. King Garfield said to his son,

‘You have no playmate now, why don’t you love and play with this mouse instead? Bring it in the house where it can sit with you beside the fire.’

‘No, No, No’ cried Tinderbox, ‘the mouse is not pretty like Crystal, it doesn’t smell like Crystal, it is not sitting in her place in front of the fire. Where is my beautiful Crystal?’

Tinderbox was feeling really sorry for himself; he shed a few tears for his beloved Crystal. He had heard of a cat named ‘Noodle’ a magic no 7 cat, who wore boots, a hat and had a wispy beard. He lived down the lane.

‘Noodle, Noodle, Noodle, please will you help me? My darling, Crystal, went under the shed and disappeared. This mouse came out instead of her’.

Noodle took one look at where the mouse had come from and he said,

‘I bet that evil Thor has put a magic spell on Crystal.’ Noodle held the mouse’s paw and told Tinderbox to look into the small grey eyes of the mouse, they were not gorgeous golden eyes like Crystal’s. Noodle uttered the magic words

‘Hocus, pocus, merry mocus, please focus on the eye.’ Then in a puff of magic smoke that appeared from nowhere, Tinderbox was now looking into the beautiful golden eyes of Crystal.

Tinderbox was so pleased he had listened to King Garfield, he really did want to kill the mouse. He thought it was ugly, gray, and smelly, nothing like his beloved Crystal. He thought its eyes were the colour of mud. Not gorgeous and golden like hers. If he had killed the mouse he would have lost Crystal forever. Tinderbox will be able to be with Crystal forever now, get married and raise lots of kittens. One of the most important things he must do is teach his kittens not to go behind the sheds, or they could be spellbound forever, and ever, and ever.