CANDY'S THANKSGIVING
The children can pretend that they are cats, staying on hands and knees. They can also meow when the cat does.
Candy, the big white house cat, knew today was Thanksgiving for she woke up very early with Mother. She stood up on all four legs, stretched out her front paws, then her back paws, and yawned. She shook her head, sat down and washed her face. The cat licked her paw, then rubbed it over her tired eyes. Candy really wanted more sleep, but she didn't want to miss Mother dropping some food on the floor either.

Candy walked into the hall. Moving her head around, she heard the refrigerator door open, and she trotted into the kitchen. Mother was preparing the turkey and stuffing for the oven. Candy rubbed her shoulders against her legs and meowed. Mother gave Candy the turkey liver, her favorite. The cat crouched low and chewed carefully, licking the plate. She sat back and again washed her face and whiskers with her paws and ran her tongue over her lips to say thank you to Mother. The turkey went into the oven. Candy smelled the air, sniffing hard and turning her head in all directions. She smelled pumpkin pies being fixed but she wasn't interested in that, so the cat walked to the back door and meowed to go outside.

There was an inch of fresh snow on the ground. Candy scampered through it to find a safe spot, but there was none. She had to hop in the low spots or in her own foot prints. A leaf floated across the snow and Candy tried to catch it, running, sliding, and tripping. She fell! Her nose went deep in the snow. The cat stood up, shook off the snow, and slowly marched back to the house. She was becoming cold, so standing on her rear feet she stretched up, spreading out her legs and meowing loudly. Candy trotted into the house and walked to the warm fireplace. She washed her paws to remove the snow stuck between her toes.

People were beginning to arrive. Relatives she had smelled before came with lots of noisy children. They always wanted to pull Candy's tail or whiskers. Candy ran as fast as she could into the kitchen and hid behind the stove. There she curled up and slept.

It wasn't easy sleeping. Candy heard pots and pans clatter, the table being set, people talking, children running and screaming, and the fireplace crackling. Suddenly she heard Mother say dinner was ready. Everyone sat down at the big table in the dining room and said a Thanksgiving prayer. Candy knew her big moment had come. Slowly she stood up and marched to the table, quietly meowing. She always started with Mother. Candy stretched on two legs and gently tapped Mother's arm as she ate. She selected a small piece of white meat and dropped it on the floor. Candy squatted down and gulped it up. Next sat Uncle John. The cat stretched, tapped Uncle John's arm and got turkey with gravy from him. Candy stopped at each person doing the same thing. She really knew how to beg food from the table.

Now dessert was coming and Candy raced into the kitchen. She hoped Mother would remember her so she rubbed her shoulders against her legs and meowed. She didn't like pumpkin pie but she loved the ice cream that went on top of it. There in her dish was her own scoop. Candy dashed to it, squatted and slowly licked it up. Finished with her huge meal, the cat sat thinking, her tail moving back and forth. She walked to the fireplace, curled up and put her head down to rest. Candy was thankful for this Thanksgiving!