Siberian Tiger Saturday

 

      Tony and Tommy were brothers, two Siberian or Amur Tigers that lived in a town with other kitties near some humans, as a matter of fact.  How can a bunch of big and small cats live near humans?  Well, that’s simple enough humans are self-absorbed, arrogant and only think of themselves.  They have no concept of what’s around them.  In other words, they have no imagination.  In a way, that’s a good thing, if humans knew that so many cats were near, they’d probably be dead.  Anyway, you could find Amur Tigers, Malayan Tigers, Amur and African Leopards, and any other cat you can think of in the neighborhood.  That was a good thing- everybody, generally, got along and it was actually a great life for any cat that needed a nice, safe place to live.  These cats also had one thing in common-

          They loved holidays and they especially loved Halloween.

          Tony and Tommy were giddy at the thought of Halloween.  Every year, they tried to do something to do something to scare themselves.  Last year, they went exploring and pawed through a creepy cemetery that was in the middle of nowhere.  This year the debate was what were they going to do to scare themselves now?

          “We could always find another cemetery,” Tony said to his brother, after lunch.  “That was cool finding it last year down by the river.”

          “Who are you kidding?”  Tommy asked.  “We need something new.  You can’t go out with a specific plan.  You need to be surprised.”

          Right when he said that their pal, Frankie the Fishing Cat pawed in.  Frankie, as you probably guessed was a world-class Fishing Cat and he just happened to paw in bepaws he had some treats for the boys for later.  Tony and Tommy perked-up right away at this fact.  There was nothing like fresh fish to top off a yummy lunch.  “What are you guys talking about?”  asked Frankie.

          “We’re trying to figure out what to do for Halloween,” Tony answered.

          Frankie perked up at this.  Halloween always interested him just for the simple fact that swimming on a spooky night was just purry cool.  “Didn’t you two find that cool cemetery last year?”

          Tony chuckled at that.  Yeah, tigers chuckle and it’s a pawsome sound.  “Yeah. It was great, huh?”  He was speaking about the fact that many of the cats ended up joining them through the creepy cemetery pawing.  Like I said, all wild cats knew how to a-purr-ciate Halloween.

          “I might be able to help you about the Halloween pawing,” Frankie said.

          Tony and Tommy just stared at Frankie with amazement/confusion.  Tommy was extremely amused.  “What would you know about being scared?”  he asked.  “You’re always underwater!”

          Then Tony and Tommy preceded to laugh hysterically like Tommy just made the biggest joke in the history of comedy.  Frankie though was actually a good-natured cat and figured that the boys were a couple of goofs anyway- so who cared if they were amused.  Pawing right along though- he waited until they calmed down and said, “I know a haunted swamp.”

          The boys stopped laughing and looked at Frankie with surprise.  Frankie was rather pleased with himself because he could see that they were genuinely shocked.  “Did you hear what I said?  I know a haunted swamp.”

          “Where is it?”  asked Tony who was literally stunned by this news.  After all, tigers always prided themselves on knowing everything around them.

          “Well, what are you looking so mad for?”  he asked.

          “I can’t believe we never ran across it,” Tommy said, tail swishing.

          “Well, you boys don’t know everything,” Frankie answered.  “Remember how you found the haunted cemetery.”

          There was a friendly growl recollection of the fun they had last year.  All of the cats in town did join them, how could they not?  When all of the other cats found out the boys found a haunted cemetery, they were all interested.  I’m telling ya- animals know how to appreciate Halloween more than humans.

          “You have to take us to it,” Tommy informed Frankie.

          That’s when Frankie gave that mysterious, fishy smile.  “Pal, I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

 

       So, what happened?  Where did Frankie take the boys?  Well, surprisingly, it wasn’t as far as it seemed.  Remember pals, Amur tigers take to water just as good as our Fishing Cat buddy, except they couldn’t do the overall smooth strokes.  Point being that a 10 mile is actually a short swim with a large stride.  Anyway, they had to come to land bepaws they had reached it…

          The haunted swamp!

          Cue the scary music people…

          “Meee-wow!”  Tony exclaimed as they pawed onto the shore which, of course was meowy slushy.  “This is pawsome.”

          Tommy and Frankie were looking at him like he grew another head.  “What are you staring at?”  he asked. 

          “Why did you meow?”  Tommy asked.

          “Yeah,” Frankie through in, “you’re not a cat.”

          “Well, I’m reconnecting with my inner kitten,” Tony answered feeling annoyed by the whole deal.  “How big is this place?”  he asked Frankie.

          “About 20 miles,” Frankie replied.  “How do you like the trees?”       

          Tommy and Tony eyed trees with awe.  It was actually hard to differentiate bepaws, naturally, it was dark and it was just so damned creepy.  “Wow,” Tony said, “Those things are really big.”

          “I know,” Frankie answered.  “Let’s just head  west here and I’ll show you the deep sides of the swamp.”

          Tony and Tommy had no problem with that but all of a sudden a couple owls started hooting.

          “Wha- what is that?”  Tommy asked.

          “An owl,” Frankie answered calmly.  “Hey guys!  Guys wait!  Where are you going?”

           Where were they going?  Nowhere.  The boys were just pawing away.  Now, everyone knows that tigers have the reputation for being really tough and the boys are no exception.  However, the did have one secret- they were really afraid of owls.

          Meee-uhoh- hey wait a second…

          Tigers are afraid of owls?  How is that pawsible?  Tigers are huge and they have teeth that could give any animal nightmares. How is it pawsible that they’re afraid of owls?

          The answer- I have no meowing ideas.  Both Tony and Tommy were afraid of owls and it was one of the best kept secrets in the land of cat-dom.  At the sound of the owl, the boys took off.

          “Can you still hear it?”  asked Tony stopping.  He was panting.  “Is it still around?”

          Tommy stopped and listened- nothing but silence. He sunk to the ground in relief.  “It’s gone,” he replied. 

          Tony sat down and surveyed the swamp.  It sunk into him that Frankie was nowhere in sight.  “Where’s Frankie?”  he asked.

          Tommy’s eyes popped open.  “You mean he’s not around?”

          “Nope.”

          Tommy sat up.  “Uh-oh.  How are we going to get out of here without him?”

 

          Tony wasn’t sure how to answer this.  Number one, what kind of tiger would he be to admit that he needed the help of a Fishing Cat.  Secondly, no tiger was going to admit that he was scared.  How could he?  He had a reputation to uphold, after all.  Tommy was trying to look calm but not doing a good job.  Tony, being the oldest, knew that he had to take care of his little brother.

          “We don’t need him,” he answered, taking a look at the creepy scenery and that’s exactly what it was creepy- with the tall trees, the long branches- the leaves that looked thick in some parts, thin in others.  There was nothing put darkness with a tiny pit of the moon reflected off the swampy water.  It was horror-movie type scary.  Tony didn’t like it, especially when every direction looked like a dead end.  He looked at Tommy.  “Don’t worry, we’ll get out of here.  Just keep pawing along.”

          Tommy followed, reluctantly.  He, of course, didn’t like the looks of this either.  “It stinks in here,” he said.

          “Well, what do you expect?”  Tony answered.  “It’s a swamp.”

          “Don’t you think we should just try calling Frankie once?”  he asked.

          Tony did think that was a good idea but didn’t want to admit it.  “Go ahead, if you want,” he answered.

          He stopped, licked his lips and roared, “FRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANKIE!!!!!!!!  FRAAAAAAAAAAAAANKIE!!!”  Poor Tommy sounded like he used all his air.  He was panting by this point.

          Well, did it work?  Did Frankie pop up?  No- there was silence, nothing but silence.

          And Tony and Tommy didn’t like it…

          “This silence is weird,” Tommy whispered.

          “Why are you whispering?”  asked Tony.

          Tommy looked from side to side, looking panicked.  “I think somebody’s watching.”

          Now, Tony was concerned about being stuck in the swamp, but he wasn’t to the point of thinking that anyone was watching.  “Why do you think somebody’s watching?”

          It was amazing how scared Tommy looked.  “There are eyes all around here,” he said.  “Can’t you feel it?”

          Tony was dumbstruck.  What in the growl had happened to him in the last couple of minutes?  “What’s the matter with you?”  he asked.  “Why do you seem so scared?”

          Tommy didn’t answer- instead he took off into the night, leaving Tony all alone.

          What in the growl was going on?

          Tony didn’t like it.  As a meow of fact, the idea of being alone in a swamp had him scared.  He’d never admit it though.  After all, he was an Amur Tiger and Amur Tigers weren’t allowed to be scared.  He looked around and Tommy was indeed gone.  There was no sight or even any smell of him.

          Tony gulped and started pawing slowly though the swamp and took note of the frogs and the soft swirling of the water.  There was something odd though, like some kind of presence was next to him.  He started pawing faster but it didn’t seem like he was getting anywhere.  He started doing that tiger run/jump thing but it still seemed he was getting nowhere.  Finally, he jumped towards a tree but an alligator leapt out of the water to grab his back legs!!!

  Holy meows!  Was Tony going to get eaten by an alligator?  Was that really going to happen?  Well, you’re never going to believe this but there was a huge roar in the east and the alligator didn’t get a chance to chomp Tony down.  The roar, paw-viously, was a lion’s roar and while, stunned at the fact that a lion was somewhere in the swamp, Tony managed to run…

          …faster…

          …faster…

          Until he finally found himself in the middle of a forest.  Wait a meow-minute?  A forest?  Tony looked around hoping to see Tommy hiding somewhere, anywhere but he knew he was alone and probably miles from anywhere and well-

          He was in big trouble.

          To top it all off, the roaring wouldn’t stop.  It felt closer and Tony, for the very first time in his life felt scared.  Who wouldn’t really?  A roaring lion chasing you would scare the fur off of anyone.  He leapt onto one of the old trees and couldn’t believe who he was sitting next to…

 

          It was Frankie!!!  Frankie the Fishing Cat.  Holy growls!  Where did he come from?  “Frankie!”  he yowled.  “Where did you come from?”

          Frankie gave a goofy grin.  “I’ve been trying to find you and your brother.  I got Tommy out of here.  How ya doing, pal?”

          Tony was still jittery.  Do you blame the dude?  He almost got attacked by a lion for meowing out loud!  “There’s-there’s a lion-lion out in the swamp-swamp,” he answered.

          “Yeah,” Frankie replied.  “I didn’t get a chance to tell ya.  You two took off so fast.  I never thought I’d see a couple of tigers so afraid of a couple of owls.”

          “How-how is a lion out there?”  he asked.  “There’s-there’s no way a lion should be out there!”

          “Weird, isn’t it?”  asked Frankie.  “I told you two the swamp was spooky.”

          “But you never said anything about a growling lion!”  Tony exclaimed, getting ticked-off by this point.  Do you blame him?  Frankie’s attitude was really ticking him off.

          “Come on, pal,” he said changing the subject and jumping down from the tree.  “Let’s get out of here.”

 

          Tony followed Frankie gratefully, feeling a lot better.  Everything seemed quieter and Frankie was extremely calm.  The swamp was actually starting to look less scary too.  “Where are we going?”  he asked.

          “Ah we’re just getting out of here,” Frankie answered.  “Don’t worry about anything.”

          Tony, being a tiger, had no problem with darkness but it seemed like that everything was getting darker and darker.  “Why is it getting so dark?”  he asked.

          “Don’t worry about it, pal,” Frankie answered smoothly.  “Just keep pawing along.”

          It just seemed unnatural to Tony and it made him a little nervous.  Note, I said a little but that could change at any second.  “Are we still in the swamp?”  he asked.  “I don’t see any trees.”

          “We’re out of the swamp,” Frankie answered, “but not completely- we’re near the entrance to it though. 

          Suddenly there was a loud screeching sound which pierced Tony’s ears so hard that he had to stop and cover them.  “What in the growl was that????

          “Bats,” Frankie replied.

          “Bats?  What do you mean bats?”  Tony asked.

          “Well,” Frankie answered, “the bats always come out at Halloween, so you better get going tough guy.”

          Just hearing the word ‘bats’ made Tony’s stripes shiver.  Now, that’s kind of a weird idea isn’t it.  How could someone’s stripes shiver?  Well, poor Tony was literally so creeped this point that a squeak from a mouse would probably freak him out. 

          The real surprising part of the whole thing was that Frankie didn’t seem to mind.  He just continued pawing along, calmly like it was the most normal thing in the world.  It was driving Tony nuts!

          “Are you freaked out?”   he asked, feeling miffed.

          “It’s no big deal,” Frankie answered.  “They’re always around.  I don’t know why you’re getting so excited.”

          That was easy for Frankie to say, considering, well, Tony had no idea where he had been for a couple of hours.  He could’ve been at a Fishing Cat convention for all Tony knew.  “No big deal?”  Tony asked.  “What do you mean- NO BIG DEAL?”

          The second he said that a bat flew in front of his face biting at his nose making a huge squeaking noise.  That freaked Tony out so much that he took off again leaving Frankie in the dust.  The last thing Tony remembered hearing was “Tony!  Tony!  Come back!!!  You’re headed for the cliffs!”

          So, what was Frankie talking about?  What exactly was so special about ‘the cliffs?’  Well, there an enormous house there which was broken-down.  Bats were flying around the windows and in the distance. 

          Surprisingly, Frankie managed to catch-up with him.  “Wow you run fast!”  he announced.

          Tony, who had stopped to take a look at the scenery, couldn’t believe it.  “How did you manage to catch-up to me?”

          “It wasn’t easy,” Frankie replied.  Surprisingly, he had the guts to give Tony’s tail a yank.  “Come on buddy,” he said.  “We should get out of here.”

          “What kind of house is this?”  he asked.  Tony seemed like he was hypnotized by house.  “This really looks spooky.”

          Frankie let out a huge groan.  “You don’t want to go in there,” he said.

          “Why is that?”  he asked, looking interested. 

          “A lot of cats have went in there and disappeared,” Frankie said.

          Tony, who was always the imaginative type, liked this idea of a spooky history.  “What do you mean?  How do you know?”

          “Everybody knows,” Frankie answered.  “Any cat that came by no matter what type of cat vanished.”  Frankie’s whiskers were twitching at this point, it was like he loved the melodrama.  “There’s a witch in there,” he added.

          Now, that made Tony’s eyes pop out.  It was funny how a big tiger could be transfixed by Fishing Cat.  “Go on,” he said.

          “The witch killed all of the cats,” Frankie continued.  “So, nobody’s in there.”

          Tony couldn’t believe this.  “You mean to tell me there’s a witch in there.”

          “That’s what I said,” he answered.

          Tony moved from transfixed to amused.  “You’re making this up.”

          “No, I’m not,” he said.  “You want to chance it, go ahead.”

          Tony took a good look at the spooky house and the second he did there was a loud crack of thunder and lightning.  It just added to the spookiness of the whole scene.  Tony couldn’t help himself.  He was curious but it was nagging in the back of his head, ‘what if Frankie’s right.’

          “You’re chicken!”  Frankie exclaimed.  “You’re a huge chicken!”

          Tony glared at him.  “I’m no chicken,” he said. 

          “Well, go in the house then,” Frankie said.

          “You just told me a witch was in there,” Tony said, “so why should I?”

          “See!”  Frankie exclaimed.  “You are chicken!”

          This was getting flat-out silly.  “Fine,” Tony answered, “I will!”  He turned and headed for the house, ignoring Frankie’s yowls of,

          “You’ll be sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry….”

 

         

Tony wasn’t paying attention.  For some reason, he wanted to take a look inside that house, so he headed up the stairs and unsurprisingly the door was open a little bit.  He pawed in, not sure what to expect but took note at the creaking sound that seemed to have taken forever.           

Oh boy, this wasn’t going to be good.

The old, creepy house was just that- old and creepy.  There were the usual spider webs, squeaks of mice, creaky floors, dust and just the feeling that everything was so old that looking at something the wrong way might cause the house to fall down.

Okay, so I’m exaggerating- some.

How long was Tony going to stay in there?  Who in the meow knows?  Tony, in a weird way was getting a kick out of the whole thing.  Besides that there were so many interesting scents in there that he was having a good time trying to figure them out.

Then there was a huge crash upstairs that made Tony jump!