Mattie's Kitten

It rained only once a year in the little village of Fern-on-the-Mount. But when it rained, it rained cats and dogs.

Little Mattie was excited. He was finally Big Enough for Rain Day. Last year, he had to watch the merry-making from the window of his house. But this Rain Day, he could join the rest of the villagers.

The villagers were just as excited as Little Mattie. They all stood under the Rain Day shed, looking at Old Thrombone the Baker, who was looking at the sky. Old Thrombone was oldest in the village, but he had the sharpest eyesight. Finally, Old Thrombone pointed to the sky and shouted, “It’s a-rainin’ cats and dogs!”

All the villagers cheered and Father Morticius rang the church bells. They fell slowly at first, landing with soft plops all over the village. Then it began to rain harder. Soon the whole village of Fern-on-the-Mount was covered. Everywhere you looked there were dogs and cats and cats and dogs!

There were big spotted dogs and tiny striped ones. Five marmalade cats landed on Mrs. Groober’s roof. One dog with purple paws landed right on Old Thrombone’s head!

When it stopped raining, the villagers rushed out of the shed to pick their very own cats and dogs. Meckel, the barber, got two large scary blue dogs with red noses. Old Thrombone kept the dog with the purple paws and got a cat to match. Gimby and Simby, the twins, got one cat each. One was yellow with red hearts on it and the other was red with yellow hearts. Soon everyone in Fern-on-the-Mount had at least one new rain-pet.

Everyone except Little Mattie. His little legs could not carry him fast enough; someone always beat him to the dog or cat he wanted. Soon there were no more dogs and cats to claim.
Poor Little Mattie! He sat all alone while all the other villagers made merry with their new rain-pets.

Suddenly, he heard a sound. “Meow! Meow!” Something moved under the pile of leaves beside Mattie’s feet. He pushed the leaves aside. There, under everything, was a tiny, plain white kitten. It was muddy and drenched to the bone.

“Poor little thing!” said Mattie. “Why didn’t any of the other villagers get you?”

“Because I’m not a rain-cat,” said the little kitten. “I’m just a plain ugly kitten. Nobody wants me.” It began to shiver.

“I want you,” said Little Mattie. “I’m going to keep you for my very own!” He picked up the kitten and wiped the mud off with his shirt. “I’m going to call you Princess.”

So Mattie brought Princess home.

When the other villagers saw Princess, the plain white kitten, they all laughed. “What an ugly cat!” they said.

“It’s so plain!” said Mrs. Gritz, petting her flowered dog.

“It’s not scary at all,” said Meckel.

“It has no hearts on its fur,” said Simby.

“Like our beautiful cats,” said Gimby.

“It looks like you.” said Bagus the Bully.

Even Father Morticius, with his emerald green dog, said, “That is a rather inconspicuous animal.”

But Mattie paid the no heed to the villagers of Fern-on-the-Mount. “Don’t worry, Princess,” he said. “We may be the plainest pair, but we’ll love each other best.”

The year went on. The beautiful rain-pets of the other villagers eventually dried up, the way rain-things always do. Soon Princess was the only pet left in Fern-on-the-Mount. She didn’t disappear because she was real, you see.

Every year after that, while the beautiful rain-pets arrived and disappeared, Princess stayed on. And she and Mattie always loved each other best