Mews and Moms

by Ashlynn Elliott

  Maria dropped me into the pit of water. Then came Mewin’ and Mewa. I was hot and boiling! It was terrible.

  Maria sprayed a liquid on us. She called it “Shower gel” I got rubbed with a purple shower gel, and she said it was grape and sugar plum flavored. I didn’t like it. It smelled way too girly. Mewa got rubbed by an orange one. Maria said it was peach mango and tangerine swirl. I honestly liked hers better. Mewin’ got rubbed with a pink one. I’m glad I’m not her. It was strawberry cotton candy scented.

  Then, she poured hot, bubbly water on us. OWW....... Mewa screamed at her, “MROW!”It was hilarious!

  Then, Mewin’ jumped out of the tub. “Mew me mew me mew mew!” She laughed. It means, “Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah!”

  We all decided to jump out of the tub, too! I jumped out before Mewa and made a run for it! No more shower gel, please! Maria pounced after me, and missed. “Dang, that’s a fast cat!”

  I laughed. I turned around to see Mewin’ and Mewa right behind me. We ran into a hot pink room with a zebra print bed and “MARIA” painted on the wall.

  “Mew-meow!” Mewin’ said. Translation: “Uh, oh!”

  “I got you now!” Maria growled. She locked the door on us so we couldn’t get out. She picked us up and put us on her shelf. She took a deep breath. “Look, kitties, I’m sorry I was mean, I just want to clean you up. Now, I’m going to brush you.” She took the comb out and yanked clumps of dirty cat food and hair.

  “Now for the bows!” she grabbed a bunch of bows out of her drawer.

  Uh, oh! I thought. Not bows! They’re too girly!

  “First, Mewin’, You can have my favorite pink sparkly bow!” Maria fastened a pretty pink bow in her fur.

  “Mewa, I’ll give you my flower clip!” She put a yellow rose clip onto Mewa’s ear. Mewa smiled.

  Lastly, she put a PURPLE BOW in my hair. I swatted it out. “Ok, ok!” Maria giggled as she put a cap on my head. I liked that MUCH better!

  Chapter 11: Maria

  Beep! Beep! Beep! Rang my alarm clock. I couldn’t believe it! I was on my way to Caroline’s party! I placed Mewa in the box and told her, “Good luck!” I burst out of the door and ran down the road.

  There it was. Caroline’s mansion! Knock, Knock, Knock! I unsteadily knocked on the door. The door opened!

  “Oh, um, hi, Maria?” Caroline stuttered.

  “Hi, happy birthday!”

  “Thanks! I’m so glad you could come!”

  My happiness was ruined when Cara pushed Caroline back and said, “Hey there newbie, what’s in the box?” She said as I glanced down at the pink and blue present box. “A baby doll?!”

  I wanted to cry until Caroline told me, “Don’t mind them. Please come in!”

  “Hey, guess what?!” Caroline yelled at the guests. “Maria’s here!”

  Everything fell silent. I wanted to cry again. I had the lump in my throat. The silence was dreadful, until a guest cried out, “Aw, man!”

  I spun around! No, I thought. No one could hate me that much! “Who said that?” I choked back my tears.

  “Me.” The guest with the long black hair and crisp blue eyes stepped out of the crowd. I couldn’t believe it. Caroline had invited VALERIE!

  I was in shock! I dropped Mewa’s box, had a meltdown, and ran back home. I didn’t care if I left Mewa! I had just become the world’s biggest embarrassment!

  I ran down the road in tears, passed in front of the house, and thought if Mercy saw me crying or back early, she’d ask why. I decided to go through my window in the back of the house. As I climbed through, I said, “Hey, Mewin’. Hey, Mewi. My life is gone!”

  Mewin’ mewed, “Mew...” as if she felt my pain, too.

  Then, as if by magic, a voice told me, “It’s okay; I’ve felt like that before, too.” I quickly spun around as soon as I heard a big thump and thousands of mews, so I looked over to the cats’ side of the room, and they were gone!

  Chapter 12: Mewa

  It was the day of the party. Maria put me in the box and told me, “Good luck!” She sealed the box and wrapped it up. She’s lucky I wasn’t claustrophobic! Then, the box began to rumble, and I could tell she was running down the road.

  I heard Maria and Caroline talking, it was muffled, though. Then, I felt her walking again. After a few more muffled voices, everything was quiet! It could tell something was wrong.

  To my surprise, somebody screamed, “AW, MAN!” A few seconds later, I felt myself drop, and that’s the last thing I remembered at that moment.

  Pretty soon, maybe ten minutes later, I woke up, and everything was still quiet. I heard a voice, and then a few more. It got louder and louder, and there were more voices. I heard one of them whisper, “Look, it’s that girl, Maria’s, gift.”

  I think it was Caroline that laughed, “I’m glad Valerie went home! I wish Maria was still here, though! Valerie’s such a jerk! Who invited her anyway?!”

  A girl named Lily said, “Me! I heard that she’s the most popular fourth-grader around!”

  Caroline growled, “No! The only reason she’s popular is because she spreads untrue gossip about Maria!”

  “Oh,” Lily sighed. “Do you wanna open Maria’s gift now?”

  “Sure.” Caroline slowly opened my box. When she ripped it open, she gasped, “Oh….my…..gosh…….”

  “What is it?” A girl in the background asked.

  “It’s-It-It’s” Caroline stuttered. “IT’s a CAT!”

  “She got you a WHAT?!?!?!”

  “She got me a cat! She really is a good kid!”

  Lily yelled, “WHY DID I HAVE TO INVITE VALERIE?!?!?!?!”

  I was in shock! I just realized MARIA GAVE ME AWAY! She did it after I had been so nice to her!, unlike my sisters!

  I made my mark. I meant to say, “Mew-mew-mew-me-mew!” and it means, “She wasn’t supposed to give me to you!”

  Instead, I yelled, “She wasn’t supposed to give me to you!” I had used human language! I freaked!

  Caroline had her jaw dropped open, along with every other kid at the party. After a little bit of silence, Caroline screamed, “AHHHH!!!! TALKING CAT IN MY HOUSE!” And she was right. And I was proud of it.

  Chapter 13: Mewin’

  I watched Maria leave the house, and she took Mewa with her. When she left, Mewi and I went hang with Mercy. We trotted down the stairs, and jumped on Mercy’s lap.

  “Hi, guys!” Mercy smiled. “Want to go down to the pet salon?”

  My face brightened, but Mewi’s face was unbelievably hilarious! It looked like she had eaten something worse than the cat food at the pet shop! So, we went there, Mewi got a massage, and I got a pedicure, and Mercy just went to the back and bought us about 200 cat toys!

  As we headed back home, Mewi fiddled with a stupid stuffed hamster, and I tried my hardest to get my paw out of the seat crack. Mewi didn’t help at all when she jumped on my back and made it go down deeper.

  Mercy’s car pulled in the garage, and she finally helped me out of the crack, and gave me a tuna treat for trying to get it out.

  We scampered into Maria’s room, and hopped onto the window sill. We stayed for maybe ten minutes, and then we saw Maria running towards the window, so we went sit on her beanbag.

  “Hi, Mewi, Hi Mewin’” she cried. “My life is gone!”

  I noticed Mewa wasn’t with her so I mewed sympathetically, “Mew?

  My jaw dropped open when Mewi told Maria, “It’s okay; I’ve felt like that before, too!”

  I didn’t freak out because she was talking about the pet store. I freaked out because she used ENGLISH! Not cat language! I grabbed her by the neck and slammed her onto the ground behind the beanbag.

  “MEW-MEOW-MEW-MEW-MEW!!!!!!!” I growled. Translation: “What the heck?!”

  “Mrow-mew-mow-mew-meow-meow!” She said, “I don’t know how it happened!”

  “MEW-MEW-MEW-MOW-MEW-MO-MEOW-MEW?!” I basically said, “Why’d you have to do it here?!�
�

  Then, it got worse. Maria stepped over to us. “Who-who-who said that?” she whimpered.

  Then, it got even worse. “Definitely not me!” Mewi said.

  DANG IT! I thought.

  It got EVEN WORSE. “I’m calling 911!” Maria screamed.

  Chapter 14: Mercy

  “News flash! Eleven-year-old girl’s birthday party is ruined by insane talking cat!” The TV glared.

  “Huh,” I sighed. “That cat looks just like Mewa! And Maria was bringing Mewa to eleven-year-old Caroline’s party!” I thought about the odds. That couldn’t mean…….

  “MERCY!!!!! THE MEWS ARE TALKING!!! CALL 911!!!!!!!” Maria came running down the stairs with the phone in her hand.

  “Oh my gosh!”

  I bounced up from my pink and blue recliner. “Before you call 911, let me go check it out.”

  I walked upstairs to Maria’s room. I paused. “Wait. Who’s the Mews?”

  “Oh, that’s the cat group’s nickname. We’re the moms.”

  “It’s not gonna work like that. I’m tellin’ you right now, because after this, there probably won’t be any mews!”

  I creaked open the door. I saw Mewi’s head pop up from behind the beanbag. “Who’s there?!” Mewi yelled.

  My mouth dropped open. Mewi talked. MY MEWI TALKED! I glanced at Maria. “Call them, now.” I whispered.

  We dashed down the stairs to find a knocking on our door. “Uhhh, I’m a little busy right now!” I hollered at the person at the door.

  “It won’t take long!” the person yelled back. I groaned. I walked over to the door to find flashing cameras, film cameras, and a microphone in my face.

  “The world wants to know, are you Mercy and Maria, the people that gave Caroline the talking cat?”

  I wanted to get this over with. “Yes, world. We are. We didn’t know the cats talked and we’re about to call 911.”

  The news reporter replied. “You don’t have to! The cops are here investigating the talking cat!”

  Then, Mewi and Mewin’ suddenly appeared. “Hi people.” Mewi trotted and put her head against my leg.

  “Ew! What are you doing, insane talking cat?!” I kicked Mewi in the face.

  “What was that for?!” Mewi yelled back at me.

  Someone in the crowd yelled, “They really do talk!”

  Chapter 15: Maria

  “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!!!!!” I pushed Mercy back into the house and slammed the door on all of the news reporters. Then, I noticed Mewa in the corner. “When did you get in here, you freaky cat?!” I yelled at her.

  “I walked in when you slammed the door.” She replied.

  I turned to Mercy. “You know, it might actually be cool to have talking cats.”

  “You know, you’re absolutely right.”

  Mewi looked at us. “Just call us ‘The Mews’!”

  We all laughed. After a few cat naps, I asked, “Has Mewin’ ever talked?”

  Mewa replied, “No, she just mews.”

  I groan. “Great. I have the cute cat, but I also have the cat that doesn’t talk?!”

  Mewa looked at me. “First of all, HEY!! Watch what you say about cuteness. Second, you can have me. I talk!”

  “Whatever.” I replied. “Oh, Mercy, I have the five mile fun-run for tomorrow. Can I join?”

  Mercy glared back. “Sure. You have to pay all of the expenses, and sign me up, too.”

  “It’s free!”

  “And what do you get if you win?”

  “You go to the county run, then regionals, state, and so on.”

  I grab a pen and the sign-up sheet. Maria Mur I signed. Mewi jumped off the sofa and trotted to her little bed that Mercy bought at the store. I didn’t know why, but she watched me the whole time.

  I asked Mewa, “Can you understand Mewin’ when she mews?”

  “Yeah, I can be your translator!” Mewa replied. Mewin’ mewed.

  “What’d she say this time?”

  “She said, ‘Can I take a nap?”

  “Sure.” I glanced at her. “Go ahead.” Mewin’ smiled and laid her head down on the bed.

  Chapter 16: Mewi

  I bounced up the minute Maria and Mercy left. “What are you doing?!” Mewa asked me.

  “Mew!” Mewin’ added. “Yeah! What are you doing?” Is what that means.

  “I’m going to enter that race!”

  “Why?”

  “Just wait and you will see!” I said that because I knew what was going to happen. I mean, I’m not telling YOU, but I know.

  I put the pen in my mouth and made scribble scratch. Then, I asked Mercy to come here.

  “What?” Mercy asked.

  “Can you show me what my name looks like?” I pointed to the sign-up sheet. She didn’t know it was one, though. I covered it with extra paper.

  She put the name, Mewi Mur. She had a good handwriting.

  The minute she put my name, I thought, I’m going to be famous! But that wasn’t the only reason I signed up. I was going to do something completely different.

  The next day, I took the sheet and told Maria, “Hey. Want me to drop off your fun run paper?”

  “Sure! Thanks, Mewi!” I trotted down the road.

  I saw the lady at the city hall desk. “Uh .... Mam?” I asked.

  “Oh, so you must be one of those talking cats people are talking about! What would you like, dear?”

  I replied, “Um, Maria, my owner, she wanted me to drop this off.”

  “Oh, okay. The fun run! You’re signing up, too?”

  “Yeah!”

  “Well, see you tomorrow in the race, you cutie!” she smiled again.

  I trotted back down the road. On the way back, I found a pair of cat sneakers on the side of the road. I put them on. They fit perfect!

  Chapter 17: Maria

  I checked my clock. 4:00 AM. I closed my eyes. 4:10. Again and again, not time to wake up. Although we had church, most Sundays I usually sleep through-out the night. For some reason, I felt jinxed. Something was going to go wrong during this race. I had felt it in my gut.

  I think I dosed off a little bit, and then finally, I woke myself up. Checked the clock, and hooray! It was 6:00 AM! I threw my new ruffled turquoise top and my white tights on. Mercy in her orange one-shoulder dress jumped in the car and we rode to church.

  After mass, we rushed home. I threw on my Fun-Run theme shirt and my pink shorts with peace signs on the front side and “Super-star” on the backside. On the way to Mercy’s car, I passed by Mewa and Mewin’.

  “Are y’all coming?” I asked.

  “Sure. Whatever.” Mewa sighed as she trudged to the car. Mewin’ nodded her head and trotted behind Mewa. I was going to invite Mewi, but I guess she was too busy sneaking out of the house and trying to play baseball with the big-kids, like she did yesterday after she dropped of my Fun-Run paper.

  At the start of the race, the guy on the big screen shouted, “Thank you, everyone who decided to race today, and even if you didn’t, thanks for coming to watch! We have fifteen racers today, and they are, Lily Martinez, Chrissy Landry, Cara McGruder, Caroline Harris,”

  At that moment, I stopped. Caroline had joined the race! This could have been the chance to show Caroline that I WASN’T an embarrassment! The man continued, “Joshua Carter, Valerie Prescott, Elisabeth Dugs, Kendra Augustine, Gracie Fontenot, Mercy Mur, Maria Mur, Carson Reilly, William Howard, Sebastian Romero, and........”

  I did not expect the last one. “And Mewi Mur!”

  I froze. They couldn’t have let CATS join the race! “And I bet your thinking, ‘What? How can a cat race?’ Well, the board says that anything that can walk and talk can race!” I saw Mercy, Caroline, Cara, Lily, and Chrissy’s face change.

  “On your marks, get set, GO! RUN LIKE THE WND!” The guy yelled.

  The race started and Joshua, Elisabeth, Kendra, Carson, Sebastian, Valerie and Mewi took off. They stared at Mercy, Caroline, Chrissy, Lily, Caroline and me, who
stayed put.

  Chapter 18: Mewi

  He said “GO!” I took off, and glanced at Mercy, Maria, Caroline, and a few other girls that stayed at the starting line.

  No problem, I thought. She doesn’t have to win. The problem was, I did. I was in last place, besides the kids that stayed at the starting line. So far, Valerie was first, Kendra was second; Sebastian was third, and so on.

  Pretty soon I realized that my plan wouldn’t work if I didn’t go faster, so I broke out of my kitty-trot and sped up.

  Pretty soon I passed up Carson. Slow poke, I thought, since the other racers felt like a mile away. Then I realized that I was one of those slow-pokes, too. I glanced ahead and saw that Valerie had just finished her first lap. She was way ahead of everyone else.

  I soon found myself running with the others, while Carson stopped to catch his breath. I passed up Elisabeth and Joshua. Pretty soon, I was in fourth place. I had just three people ahead of me.

  Sebastian was in front of me. “You’ll never catch me, you freaky cat.” He growled.

  “Yes I will!” I jumped on his shoulder, leaped over him, and landed with all my feet on the ground. “That’s what rocks about being a cat!”

  Kendra was next and stopped. “Go ahead. I can tell that this race is important.”

  That was easy, I thought.

  Finally, on the last lap, I approached Valerie. I dreaded that moment. I sprinted ahead of her and she came back ahead of me.

  “I’m not letting you win this race!” She growled at me.

  “Why?!” I started to tear up. “All your life you’ve been torturing Maria! Why don’t you just let me win this race so she can have a chance of having friends?!”

  “Because I don’t like her. She’s pretty, sweet, nice, smart, and I don’t like that. I want to be that and I’m not. Maria is. She stole my popularity, my reputation, my friends, my fame, and I will never stop trying to get revenge!”

  I kept going. “Just give her a chance! Be her friend! It will all change!”

  “No!” She screamed. She hit me in the leg and I fell down. Everyone rushed ahead.

  Chapter 19: Mewin’

  I saw Mewi fall. I couldn’t believe that Valerie had done that. “Mew-Me!” I yelled. It was cat language for “MEWI!!!”

  Mewa and I jumped out of the bleachers and ran toward the track. We lifted Mewi up.

  “Alright everybody!” The man on the big screen yells. “Our third place winner is Sebastian Romero, second place goes to Kendra Augustine, and first place is our very own, VALERIE PRESCOTT!!!!”

  Mewa, Mewi, Mercy, and Maria and I started crying. We had come so close. Then, Mewi got up. She shook her leg and stood up in front of the crowd.