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Jefferson
Xmas Story
Xmas Saved

Jefferson was afraid of giants. His brothers and sisters were afraid of giants. When the giants came, they would run to his mother. His mother was afraid of giants too. They would all huddle together until the giants went away.

Jefferson was born in a warehouse at a school. He did not know he was in a school. He did not even know he was a kitten. He was so little he was like a mouse, but he did not have a tail like a mouse. He only had a stubby furry tail, but he did not know that either. He was born with his eyes closed and they stayed closed for a whole week. He could not see and the only things he knew about were things he could feel, or smell, or taste.

His mother took good care of him. She kept him warm and fed him milk. She licked him a lot and sang purr songs for him. Sometimes she would go away, but she always came back before he got too cold. When his eyes finally opened, Jefferson was surprised at all the amazing things he could see.

He could see that his brothers and sisters were furry little balls with big eyes and stubby tails. He could see his mother towering over him when she sat up. He could see her long tail flick at the end. He could see his feet. He could see all kinds of things near and far away.

Jefferson with his brothers and sisters and his mom spent all of their time in the little place where he was born, although sometimes his mom would jump over the tall edges and go away. She always came back in time to give them milk to drink. She would jump over the edges into their place and lie down on her side singing purr songs. He and his brothers and sisters would run over to find a place on her tummy to suckle her milk.

Although it was usually quiet in this place, there were all kinds of noises he could hear in the distance. He could not see over the edge of his place so he did not know what made the noises. He did not even think about the noises very much until one day the noises came closer, and then he saw the giants for the first time.

The giants came and made noises. The giants were so big they reached high up into the sky. He could see the giants towering over his place. They made noises. His mother worried and called all the kittens together. She huddled them close to her with her paws. The giants did not come into the place where he lived. They just came close, made noises, and then went away.

His mother worried that the giants would come back and a kitten would disappear or maybe even be killed. That night she decided they would all have to move away. When darkness came she picked up a kitten next to Jefferson by the back of the neck and carried it away. He could not see her carry that kitten outside and across a field to a place underneath an old building where some rags were piled. When she came back, she grabbed him by the back of his neck and carried him across the field into the night.

Cats have very good eyes for seeing by starlight, but that night it was dark even for cats. Jefferson could only see vague shapes in the distance. When his mother carried him across the field, he was startled by all the open spaces with no boxes and no roof. Then his mother took him inside another place with a low roof and and rags on the floor. His mother set him down on the rags and then hurried away to get another kitten.

He followed her, stumbling over things he could not see, on ground that was not smooth like the wood floor of the place where he was born. His mother did not see him follow her and she ran quickly across the field. She knew there were things in the night that worried her and she wasted no time trotting across the field for another kitten.

Jefferson tried to trot after her but his little legs kept getting tangled in the grass of the field and stumbling over rocks. Soon he could not see his mother anymore so he stopped and looked around in the darkness. He could not see very well, but he could still see many amazing things. Sometimes places in the sky would light up and for a moment he could see all around him.

He looked at the sky, looking for a roof that was not there. He began to get a little worried. Somewhere, his mother was around here. He called for her and scampered around but only a loud rumble sound came from the sky lasting for a few seconds and echoing away. He looked around and looked everywhere. She always found him when he wandered off before. He kept looking but he could not see her.

He felt hungry and cold. Little kittens eat almost every hour. They nurse milk from their mother and then take a warm nap with their brothers and sisters. But he did not know where his mother was at. He did not know where his brothers and sisters were at. He only knew he was all alone in the cold dark night.

He could hear the wind rustling the leaves of a tree but he could not see them. Sometimes when the sky momentarily lit up he could see the strange puffy towering shapes of trees. There was even one gigantic tree across the field from him but he did not even know what a tree was. He did not know about leaves or the noises they made in the wind. In the darkness he did not know what was making the noise. It scared him and made his fur prickle.

He could not see the Great Horned Owl in the gigantic tree across the field either, but the owl did not have to see him. The large meat eating Great Horned Owl had very good hearing and could pounce on small animals in the night simply by listening to them rustling the leaves on the ground.

There were a lot of things Jefferson could not see and did not know about. He did not see the snake moving across the field. He did not see the field mouse almost as big as Jefferson scurrying by only a few feet away. He was too little, he could hardly see over the grass. He called out "Mew, Mew" over and over but the wind and the tree leaves made too much noise. Then, out of the night a shriek erupted and the white spreading wings of a Great Horned owl exploded right in front of him. He froze, hissing at the owl, his back arched and his fur standing straight up.

The owl looked at him momentarily, the two wide circles of feathers around its eys only inches away from him. The owl had a large hooked beak in the middle of its face. Standing there in front of Jefferson, the owl was taller than his mother. The owl blinked coldly at him and then jumped up into the air over Jefferson. The owl's wings spread wide over the frightened little kitten and they pounded the air around him, swirling the grass and leaves. The owl rose upward with each wing beat and Jefferson saw his first field mouse, almost as big as he, dangling from the claws of the owl. The owl and mouse glided away silently into the night.

Only a few seconds after the owl had left him he felt something hit him in the side. He turned quickly to look, but nothing was there. Something hit him on the back and almost knocked him down. He turned in a circle trying to see what it was that hit him. He saw nothing but a burst of dust inches in front of him that spattered his fur. Something hit him right on the head. It was cold and stuck to his fur. It dripped over his mouth and tasted plain. He had never seen water, and certainly never water falling out of the sky.

"Slishishfish - KA-BLAM-whappa-rumble" the sound seemed to hit him almost as hard as the raindrops. It was a sound like he had never heard, too large, too loud, too long as it rumbled around the sky, fading away. The water falling from the sky hit him again and again. Big drops of something he had never seen before. He was just a little kitten, hungry and cold in the dark, and did not know about owls and rain or thunder and lightning.

He was just a scared little kitten with short little legs with his belly almost touching the ground and the sky drops kept hitting him harder and harder. The big drops that hit next to him splashed mud onto his fur. It began raining hard and the water formed puddles around him. The water made his feet squish into the ground and made him slip when he walked.

He was all alone. He did not know where he was. He did not know where his mother was. He did not know where his brothers and sisters were. He was cold and tired and wet and getting colder and wetter and weaker as the wind whipped the water against him and splashed mud over him and sent leaves tumbling into him. The storm got stronger with rain pouring down hard, knocking him down into the mud and puddling water. His little body was shaking from the cold.

He kept calling "Meww" but it was only a weak quiet "mew" now. He was a little lost kitten in a storm that slashed and shook the sky, rumbled the air, and roiled the dirt of the field into splattering sloshing mud that trapped him in its grasp. He was scared of owls, he was scared of thunder and lightning, he was scared that maybe he would never see his mother and his brothers and sisters again. A big leaf whirling through the air knocked him on his side in the mud. The mud stuck to his side so he could not even stand up any more.

He tried to "mew" but the storm splashed mud in his nose and eyes and it was getting hard to breath. He shivered and shivered for a long time lying on his side in the mud. And then, after the wind and rain snarled for a long time, the rain stopped. The wind blew softer, and the sky showed a glimmer of light on the edges. He was too weak to get up, but at least the storm had stopped. He was all alone and the storm had washed away his tracks and smell so his mother could not find him now. He did not know what to do. He just sat there wet and muddy, barely able to see. He had not eaten for many hours now and the cold had made him very weak.

After a while when the sun came up, he heard noises again. He tried to look around but he was so cold and weak he could barely turn his head. The noises grew louder and he crawled to turn and see what he already knew the noises meant. It was the giants. They made noises that were different than other noises. He turned his whole body so he could see where the noises came from and then he saw a giant coming right at him. With all his strength he tried to jump up and run but he barely stood up and fell after a step. Still, with the giant standing right over him, he had to run, and he scrambled a few steps but fell down again.

The giant made loud noises and other giants came running. The giant's hand scooped him up into the air, high into the air, right up to the giant's mouth. The giant looked right into his muddy face, holding him just above the giant's two rows of white teeth. Jefferson was too weak to squirm. He just dangled from the giant's hand. The other giants circled around him and some poked at his side. Then they started all together toward a building across the field, holding him high above the ground, over the mud puddles and grass.

The giants opened a door and took him inside, the giants' noises echoed in the building. One giant held a cloth rag over him like the kind he used to sleep on where he was born. The giant put the cloth over him so he could not see anything, and then the giant began to squeeze him.

The giant pushed him around under the cloth and rolled him over. Sometimes they took him and put more water on him and then covered him with the cloth again. He was too weak to fight back. The giants rubbed him and poked him all over his body until even after all the water they poured on him, he felt dry and there was no mud on his fur. Jefferson was surprised to find he was dry. With all the cold water gone, his fur started to make him feel warm again.

Then suddenly a giant poked him in the nose. Right in the nose! One of the giants had reached out with a finger to poke him in the nose. And now there was something on his nose. He licked it off. It tasted sweet. It tasted good. It tasted a little like his mother's milk. The giant put another drop on his nose. He licked it off.

The giant put him on the floor next to a strange squat thing. It was like a small round box but it had short sides that curved underneath it. It had a funny smell, like the stuff they put on his nose. He looked over the edge of the strange thing and saw a white puddle that smelled like the stuff on his nose. He smelled it closer, then licked a little. He licked a little more. It tasted good. It made his belly feel good. He licked a whole lot and began to feel better. He even forgot about the giants for a minute while he licked and licked until all the white stuff was gone.

He felt a lot better now that his tummy was full. Maybe these giants weren't so bad after all. Nobody had hurt him. They scared him, but they did not really hurt him. He remembered the cold dark night and being wet in the mud. It was much better in the warm room all dried off and clean.

When one of the giants picked him up again he was not really scared anymore, he just wondered what would happen next. He decided he would just have to wait and see. The giant carried him into the air and then put him on her lap. The giant who had poked him in the nose said "He's lucky we found him out in the storm." The giant who had him on her lap said: "He's too little to be out by himself. I bet he got lost in the storm. He probably wandered off just like the time I found him in the warehouse."

"We will have to take care of him." said the first giant, "He is just a little kitten."

The second giant nodded as she petted Jefferson on her lap and said, "but then we have to find his mother and put him back with his brothers and sisters. I looked around the warehouse but I couldn't find any of the kittens."

"I think his mother moved all of them," said the first giant, "but we can probably find them."

"Maybe we should give him a name," offered the second giant. "he needs a name."

"I think we should call him Jefferson," said the first giant. The second giant looked puzzled and asked "Why Jefferson? That's a funny name for a cat."

"Because he is so independent," said the first giant.

"But why should we call him Jefferson?" said the second giant.

The first giant smiled, "Don't you remember Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence? So if we call him Jefferson we will always remember how he got lost."

The second giant looked at Jefferson all curled up on her lap. "He was independent, and so we will call him Jefferson." agreed the second giant.

Jefferson did not even know he had a name. He was sound asleep in a giant's lap. When he awoke the giants took him outside and put him back where they had found his brothers and sisters. Then the giants went away. His brothers and sisters were very amazed to see him again. Their mom thought the owl had got Jefferson. They could smell the giants on Jefferson. Everybody was amazed except Jefferson. He just ran over to his mom to find a place to suckle. She lay down on her side and sang him purr songs. He did not worry about the giants at all.

The End.

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Copyright © 1993 by Michael T. Martin.
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