Travis Goes To School

TRAVIS GOES TO SCHOOL


Lindsay and Travis were very good friends. Every school day Travis waited for her to come home. When he heard the special school bus in the driveway that could carry her wheelchair to school, he would scamper to the door and wait for her wheelchair to come up the long sloping ramp. When the door opened, he would jump onto her lap and Lindsay would rub her face in his soft gray fur. His fur tickled her face and made her laugh. It was the best time of day for both of them.

         Not today, though. Today Travis was going to school with Lindsay! Her class was having show and tell. Lindsay was taking Travis to show the children her new pet with his unusual large front paws. Very few kittens had five toes like Travis.

         Travis was excited and wanted all his friends to know. As soon as breakfast was over, he set out for his morning prowl around the back yard. It was a chilly fall morning. The sun had not yet risen when Travis went looking for the black and orange butterfly. 

         The butterfly must still be sleeping, Travis thought. He said good morning to the colorful flowers in the garden, but they were waiting for the warmth of the sun to wake them up.

         Travis had never been to school before. He did not know what to expect. He was not afraid, though, because he would be with his friend Lindsay. He could ride in her wheelchair all day. It would be so much fun!

         Soon the yellow school bus came up the driveway.

         “Come on, Travis,” called Lindsay, “Time to go to school.”

         He jumped onto her lap and off they went, rolling down the long ramp to the bus. He loved to roll down the ramp. The wheelchair went so fast, the wind blew against his face and made his ears tickle.

         It was the first time Travis had traveled in the special bus but he was comfortable on Lindsay’s lap so he was not afraid but he was nervous and he felt those butterflies in his stomach again.

         When they got to school, the children crowded around. So many children made Travis nervous. His back grew stiff until Lindsay put a comforting hand on him. That helped him to relax.

         In the classroom all the other children had to sit in their seats but Lindsay rolled her wheelchair up to her desk and Travis was hidden from everyone in the room. Now he relaxed completely and curled up to nap. He was tired from all the new experiences he had that morning.

         When it was time for show and tell, Lindsay rolled her wheelchair up to the front of the room and told the class about Travis’ mother and sisters, how they had perfect feet and often won prizes in shows. The teacher, Ms. Bartlett said, “Look at Travis children; he has five toes on each of his front paws.” Ms. Bartlett had a quiet, soothing voice. Travis crawled forward on Lindsay’s lap, and then he sat up.

         He knew his paws were different, but they were good paws and he liked to be the center of attention. He held up his big right front foot for the children to admire.

         The students had never seen a cat with paws like his. They all patted his soft gray fur and admired him. They touched his unusual paws. Soon he grew used to the children. He purred and licked his paws with his rough tongue.

         Most of the morning he slept beside Lindsay in her wheelchair while she did her school work. It was near noon and Travis was hungry. When Lindsay was talking to her teacher, he woke up and smelled food. He slipped off the wheelchair and followed the smell. It led him to a backpack in the corner of the room. Travis climbed onto the pact and wiggled his way inside. Oh boy! A tuna sandwich. He ate until his stomach was ready to burst. Then he snuggled down in the backpack to rest. Soon he was sound asleep.

         The bell for lunch hour rang and woke Travis up. He did not know where he was at first. Then he heard Lindsay’s voice calling him.

         “Travis, Traaaaa-vis…”

         Travis stretched and splayed his claws. Someone had shoved a wool sweater in the backpack on top of him while he was asleep. His claws got caught in the sweater and he couldn’t free them.

         “Travis—Travis, where are you? Lindsay sounded upset. He mewed, but she could not hear him, and he could not climb out of the bag because he was tangled up in the sweater.

         Lindsay became frantic. Someone picked the bag up and Travis began to squirm and twist, meowing as loud as he could. His cries were muffled by the sweater. The more he squirmed, the more tangled up he got in the wool and he still could not free his claws.

         The student with the bag was walking fast, farther and farther away from Lindsay. Travis could not hear her voice any more. Oh Lindsay, he thought, will I ever see you again?

         All of a sudden the backpack hit the ground with a loud thump. Luckily Travis was entangled in the sweater. It softened the fall.

         He heard the sound of running feet and began crying frantically. Where, oh where, was his friend Lindsay?

          Just when he was beginning to think he would never see his friend again, someone reached into the backpack looking for the tuna sandwich. What she found instead was a soft ball of gray fur and only half a sandwich.

         “Lindsay, I found Travis! He ate half my sandwich” said a girl with red hair and a freckled face, pulling him out of the bag and untangling him from her sweater. She was laughing because Travis looked so unhappy and worried.

         “Oh, thank you Tracy,” cried Lindsay. “I’ll share my lunch with you.” Lindsay was so happy to have Travis back; she didn’t care if she had to give all her lunch away.

         That afternoon the class was outside playing baseball for their phys ed. While the others played, Lindsay and Travis sat behind the backstop where they were safe from any wayward balls. Lindsay cuddled Travis in her arms and buried her face in his fur, she was almost in tears. “Oh, Travis, I was so worried I thought I had lost you.” Travis thought he had lost his best friend too.

         They sat quietly together watching the game and they were both happy to be together again.

         Even with the excitement, show and tell day at school was great. Travis could hardly wait to get home and tell the butterfly and the flowers about his adventure.