BLACKIE & THE CAT WITH THE ZIPPER
Topic: - blackie

The morning after the new baby arrived, so did Blackie.

Mother tried to push open the side door of the new house, but the door was stuck. She went out front and around the side to see what was blocking things up.

There curled up in the sun in the shelter of the door frame was a tiny black puppy. As it lay in her hand, its warm tummy rising and falling against her palm, Mother knew she would keep him.

Mother's two babies grew together, learning to walk and play in the shade of the big silver maple tree in the tiny back yard.

Blackie looked a bit like a Scottie dog. But he didn't act much like a Scottie dog. Or any other dog.

Blackie didn't chase cats or chew bones or bark at other dogs. Blackie liked to sit in the sun and lick his fur clean. He liked to play ball, but wouldn't bring it back. His favourite treat was a dish of milk and bowl of kibble with tuna.

In time Mother and Father brought home two more babies. The little girls grew up with their brother and Blackie in the shade of the silver maple tree in Hungry Hollow. Until Mother and Father decided the little house was just too small for the six of them any more.

One day a big moving truck with a picture of a piano on the side arrived. The movers picked up all their toys and furniture and books and Blackie's doghouse and loaded them on the truck. They all drove to a bigger house in Hungry Hollow and took everything out of the truck again.

The new house was fun. There were train tracks running right through the yard. The children had a wonderful time running up the little hill out back and waving to the train engineers until they waved back.

Blackie's house took up a corner of the yard near the whirlygig, where the big wooden fence slightly muted the sound of the 20 trains a day.

Not long after the move, the children went out in the morning to feed Blackie his kibble and tuna and milk and wave at trains. But they couldn't find Blackie anywhere. Instead a big ginger cat seemed to have moved into the doghouse.

It was an unusual cat because it had a zipper down its tummy. No, not just a zigzag marking. A real zipper with a silver pull and silver teeth. But it didn't unzip. All the children could do was talk about it and show it off to their friends.

Although they were sad that Blackie never did return, they were very happy with their new family member. They called her Zipper.

It turned out Zipper was not at all like other cats. She loved to play fetch and return with a small ball. She loved to run and give a cat-like yip at passing trains.

She loved brisk walks and, outfitted with a leash, she was a fine companion for Mother on her evening walks. Zip's above average size, and the fact she was a cat with a bright flashing zipper, caused people to keep their distance on dark winter nights.

As well Zip turned up her nose at kibble and tuna, preferring to work on a small meaty bone in the doorway of her house.

Stories grew and multiplied. Suddenly the youngest, Mother and Father's baby, was ready for an apartment of her own. Moving day morning, she burst into Mother and Father's room and jumped up on the bed.

"I had the strangest dream," she gushed. "I dreamed Zipper came out of her house in the night. She pulled down the zipper on her tummy, and stepped out of her ginger coat. Underneath was Blackie. He hung the ginger coat on the whirlygig, lay down in the doorway of the doghouse, licked his paws and went to sleep. Then the sun rose, and Blackie took down the ginger coat, zipped it back on and ran after a passing train. It scared me a bit. What do you think it means?"

Father thought about it carefully. He said, "I think it means Blackie wanted to try on a ginger coat."

"Oh, I see," said the youngest.

The day after Mother and Father returned to their very quiet home after the youngest moved away, they couldn't find Zipper anywhere. Several days later they admitted, with great sadness, that Zipper had probably pushed on. She had giving the family many fine years. What more could they expect?

However a fat blue jay seemed to have moved in to a tree up by the tracks. The enormous bird was almost tame with Mother and Father, hopping up on the deck rail for stale ends of hot dog buns. They called him Big Blue, and treated him as one of the family.

Except they didn't like the way he looked at those tiny wild canaries.