Hi! Welcome to Peg Tales. Sometimes I like to pretend that animals can talk to each other right in front of us and we can't hear them. I've done exactly that in my story about a kitten and a toad. The idea for this story was sent to me by one of my readers, Christy. Here is:

"THE KITTEN AND THE TOAD"

Toads can live a long time, and Ted Toad was a very old toad. Ted Toad was a teacher. He taught tiny toads how to behave, what to eat, and what was dangerous in a toad's world. Today he taught the tiny toads not to hop in the road. A toad hopping in the road can soon become toad jam. Yuck!

Ted was sleeping peacefully, under the front porch steps, when he heard the sound of a car speeding down the road. He awoke to see the car screech to a stop. The door opened and something dropped out. Then it sped away.

Ted bugged out his already bugged out eyes and spied, in the middle of the road, a kitten.

"Oh, no!" he said out loud. "Another kitten-dumper has done it again. How can anyone be so cruel?"

Ted quickly hopped from under the steps to the curb. He called out to the red, tabby, kitten.

"Hurry up, kitty! Over here, over here. Run, kitty, run." The road was clear. No cars were coming.

The kitty sat up and looked around. It was scared. Then, it saw Ted on the edge of the road.

"Hurry!" yelled Ted. "Come over here." The kitty ran, like kittens do, stumbling and tumbling, trying to hurry. It climbed up the curb and stood on wobbly legs looking at Ted.

"You made it, kid," Ted said. "Now follow me quickly."

The kitty skittered along behind Ted to the front porch steps. "Sit right here," Ted said. "Your timing is perfect. In two minutes a little girl, named Christy, and her mother will come down those front steps for their daily walk."

"Why should I sit here?" whined kitty. "I've had a bad day. I need my maaamaaa! That kitty-dumper was mean. My brothers and sisters have been dumped all over town."

"Good," said Ted. "Keep up that whining and crying. You are about to meet your new owners. The front door is opening as I speak." He quickly hopped back under the front steps.

Sure enough, coming down the steps was a little girl holding her mother's hand.

"Look, Mom," Christy said. "It's a little, red kitty. Listen to him cry."

Christy's mom picked up the kitty. "You poor baby. You're cute, but so frightened. Where did you come from?"

"Please, Mom, can I hold it? Can we keep it? Do you think it's hungry?" Christy asked.

"I'm sure it's hungry, but we'll have to think about keeping it," Mom said, as she handed the kitty to Christy.

"Let's find something for it to eat," said Christy, cuddling the kitty.

Christy's mom fed the kitty some milk. As it lapped away at the milk, Christy said, "It's so tiny, Mom, I think we need to keep it and care for it."

"We'd better wait for Dad to come home and see what he thinks. Then we can all decide what to do. Poor, little, lost kitty," said Mom.

Christy named the kitty Timmy.

The next day Ted Toad sat under a bush near the back door. Christy came outdoors pushing her doll stroller. Ted nearly hopped out of his skin. There was the kitty, all dressed up in doll clothes, sitting in the stroller.

Kitty saw Ted and hollered, "Hey, toad, look at me. What a life. How lucky can you get?"

Ted hopped around in the bushes for a better look at the kitty. "You are a sight to see. Did they give you a name?" asked Ted.

"Christy calls me Timmy. I like the name but I don't think I care much for the doll clothes. What's your name?"

"Just call me Ted. My young pupils call me Teacher Ted."

Christy reached down to fix Timmy's bonnet. She heard someone calling her name. It was her friend from next door, Trevon, and his new puppy.

"Look at my puppy, Christy. I call him Wolf."

Wolf was a funny, brown-haired, pug-nosed puppy with a tail that curled up over his back.

Christy laughed and said, "He doesn't look like the wolf that scared Red Riding Hood. He's cute. See my new kitty, Trevon? His name is Timmy. He was dumped at our front door by some mean people.

Timmy was glad that he was in the stroller. He kept a watchful eye on Wolf.

Trevor kept pulling on Wolf's leash trying to make him behave. "My Mom doesn't like Wolf very much," he said, "She says if he chews one more pair of her shoes, or anything else, he's got to go."

"Maybe you should get a kitty," said Christy. "They're really fun."

"I can't stay." said Trevon. "It's time to feed Wolf. I have to take care of him all by myself. It's really hard work."

"See 'ya...bye," said Christy.

Ted hopped around under the bushes and caught a big, blue fly. He chomped it down and burped. "Ahhh!" he said. "Great lunch." Turning to Timmy, he said, "Here's a lesson from Ted Teacher. When you see a dog on a leash, or tied up, you're pretty safe. But, beware of a dog running loose. Head for the nearest tree and climb for your life. Don't forget that." Ted burped again.

"Thanks, Ted. I'll remember. Tonight is my big night. Christy's dad is coming home. I hope he likes me.

"Good luck," said Ted, as Christy wheeled the stroller back into the house.

Next day, Ted was napping under the front steps, when Christy, with Timmy in the stroller, and her mom and dad came out of the house for a walk. Christy's dad picked up the stroller to carry it down the front steps. He stopped halfway down the steps and sneezed, "Ahhh Choooo!" Halfway down the front walk, he sneezed again, "Ahhh Chooo! I must be getting a cold." he said.

Ted watched as they went down the sidewalk. Every few minutes Dad would "Ahhh Chooo!" Ted said to himself, "I think I see trouble ahead."

A day later, Christy's family was having a back-yard picnic. Trevor and his family had joined them with Wolf.

Timmy was wearing his best doll bonnet and a white dress. He and Wolf were trying to get along, except Wolf wanted to chase him. Trevon kept yanking on his leash until he accidentally dropped it. Wolf took off running with Trevon after him. Wolf turned and headed for Timmy, who was sitting in Christy's lap.

Remembering what Ted had told him about dogs running loose, Tim leaped from Christy's lap. He ran for the nearest tree.

Ted, seeing his friend was in trouble, yelled, "Run, Tim, run! Get up in the tree."

Timmy reached the tree and tried to climb. His feet got tangled in the doll dress. The bonnet fell over his eyes, but he did manage to scramble up into the tree.

Christy was hollering. Trevon was hollering. Everyone was hollering, except for Wolf who was barking up the tree.

Ted just sat under the bushes shaking his head. "What a mess," he said.

Everyone stood beneath the tree calling and coaxing Tim to come down. He was a funny sight, hanging on to a limb in his doll bonnet and dress. He would not move.

Dad decided that there was only one thing to do and that was get out the ladder, climb up, and bring Timmy down.

Everyone held their breath as Dad went up the ladder and reached way out to grab Tim. He was able to get hold of the doll dress and yank a howling Tim into his arms. Holding him tightly, he began climbing back down the ladder. Halfway down he stopped. "Ahhhh Chooo!" Timmy dug his claws into Dad's arm. He thought he was going to fall.

"Owwww!" yelled Dad. "Ahhh Chooo!" The ladder slipped. Timmy flew out of Dad's arms. Dad lost his hold on the ladder and fell to the ground.

Trevon caught Timmy before he hit the ground. But poor Dad lay on his back sneezing, "Ahhh Chooo!"

Mom ran to Dad. "Did you hurt yourself?" she asked. "I think your sneezing is caused by an allergy to Timmy."

"I'm okay," Dad groaned. "I just can't stop...Ahhh Chooo...sneezing."

Trevon was holding Timmy. Christy was holding Wolf.

Christy said, "Want to trade pets, Trevon? You take Timmy and I'll take Wolf. Then Dad won't sneeze any more. Your Mom will be happy without Wolf."

"It's a deal," said Trevon. "But be sure to hide all the shoes."

The next day Ted was under the bushes by the back door. Christy wheeled out her doll stroller. Ted began to laugh. There was Wolf all dressed up in a doll dress and bonnet.

"Hey Wolf," called Ted. "Some great life, right?"

"Yeah, Ted," said Wolf. "I have a nice bone to chew. It's better than shoes. No more sneezing from Christy's dad, and I hear Timmy is happy not having to wear doll clothes. It's a great life."

And, my friends, that's the happy ending.

Next time you see a toad, remeber to say, "Hi, Ted."

And share a story with a friend...it's a gift!

See 'ya...bye,

Peg

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