Ted and the Bug-eyed Cat by Ric Morgan

Ted and the Bug-Eyed Cat







Ted did not know where he was. He wasn’t exactly lost, he just had somehow managed to get far away from what he considered as home. It wasn’t really confusing or upsetting, just a little unsettling.



Ted lay in a large round clearing surrounded by a thick woods. A narrow pathway went off the Ted’s left, but where did it go? How did he get here? This was definitely not Ted territory.



Ted’s back was nice and warm, something that rarely happened, so he rolled over, putting all four of his legs in the air and began to warm his belly, too. His giant paws hung limp and loose. He was feeling good at the moment. This is not normal behavior for a polar bear, he realized, but wasn’t so bad—almost pleasant in spite of the fact he didn’t know where he was or just exactly how he got there.



As his luxuriant fur coat warmed in the sun, Ted became drowsy again, as his eye lids began to fall and grow heavy with sleep. “Peace,” he thought, “peace.” He was comfortable—not hungry or thirsty—just as peaceful as a bear could be under these circumstances. If only he knew where he was.



Ted didn’t know how long he had been asleep when he heard the sound of piece of wood snapping as someone stepped on it. It was slight sound, almost inaudible, so whatever was coming must not have been very big. Ted didn’t feel frightened or fearful, so instead of his usual response of leaping up and confronting whatever was coining, he just staying on his back, rolling is head back and forth to see what might have made the sound.



There it was again, the sound of a breaking twig, only this time louder and closer. Ted swiveled his head around until he was looking over the top—his line of vision upside down. Again the sound of a twig snapping, only very close this time and from the direction Ted was looking.



Out of the dark woods and into the clearing filled with sunlight, stepped a large orange and white stripped cat. Ted had seen lot of cats before, but this was the biggest he had ever seen. The head was huge and two eyes bulged from its face, below which were a white muzzle with very long whiskers and a pink nose. Those enormous yellow eyes gave it a very determined look as it marched directly toward Ted.



Ted stayed on his back and looked at this creature with some dismay. He blinked his eyes several times trying to get a better focus out his recent sleep. But what he saw didn’t change and as a matter of fact was getting closer as Ted stared at it. It stopped for a moment and stared back at Ted.



After this harmless staring contest the cat up and walked closer to Ted, finally sticking his nose lightly against Ted’s large black nose. They sniffed each other for a moment, then the cat walked around Ted sniffing him several places. One place the cat sniffed startled Ted and he flinched as the cat’s cold nose touched his butt.



After sniffing Ted all over the cat walked up to Ted’s huge left paw just dangling there and the cat started to lick it, and continued for quite some time. Following that the cat walked around to Ted’s head and began licking his forehead. Ted was enjoying the pampering until the cat suddenly stopped and looked at Ted’s eyes. The huge bug-eyes of the cat unnerved Ted a bit because it felt like that cat was looking deep inside of him.



The cat walked around to the other end of Ted and climbed up on his stomach and punched around for a bit looking for the softest place. Once the cat had found a spot to its satisfaction the cat lay down and began to bathe. It seemed to Ted to be long, drawn out process, but when the cat was eventually done, it began licking on Ted’s bright white, almost blinding coat. Finally the cat settled down and went into a deep sleep quickly.



Now what was he supposed going to do. Ted realized his back now hurt from laying on it so long, but he couldn’t very well rollover with the sleeping cat on his stomach. At that point a fly began to annoy Ted, flying all around his head and face. Ted swatted at it with his right paw, the motion momentarily awake the cat, that let out a small meowing sound, then put its head down and went back to sleep.



Ted took a deep sigh and just lay there. He wasn’t particularly tired or sleepy himself, since he had done so much sleeping earlier. Ted’s mind began to wander back to the question of where he was and how he got there. The problem was he rather liked where he was, being off all that vast tundra of freezing ice and snow where he had lived all his life until now. The longer he pondered his situation the more tired and sleepy he became, finally drifting off to sleep with a large yellow cat snoozing on his stomach.



Ted awoke when the cat awoke, stood and stretched, yawning in such a way as to show a vast cavern of teeth, tongue and throat. The cat got up and moved around a bit. Ted thought he might be looking for another place to lay back down, but instead the cat walked off Ted and around to Ted’s head. Ted took advantage of the situation and rolled back onto his stomach before the cat could make up its mind what the do next. Ted folded his front legs under himself and lay his head done on the ground. It felt really good to be off his back. As a matter it was a bit sore from laying on it for so long.



The cat walked around Ted’s hulking, massive body until it reached a spot right in front of Ted’s face. The cat sat down and scratched its right ear with its hind paw, then sat and just stared at Ted. Ted just started back.



In a moment the cat stood, walked close to Ted’s face and licked Ted’s large black, wet and cold nose, then turned and walked down the pathway Ted had noticed earlier. He thought about getting up and following the large scruffy, disheveled bundle of flesh and fur, but he thought better of it.



Ted decided he was hungry now and was going to have to go foraging for something to eat. Ted stood up, turned around a couple of times to get his bearing, sniffed the air with his highly developed sense of smell, then picked a direction and headed off into the woods to see what he could find to eat that would fill him up and taste good. If only he knew where he was and how he got there.