DUSTIN DUST-BUNNY AND THE MENACING MARMALADE CAT
by
Juliana M. Cobb
Dustin Dust-Bunny raced around the house. He dove under a bush and listened. His heart pounded wildly.
“Nine...Ten...Ready or not, here I come,” Doris shouted.
Dustin watched Doris run by him. He waited, then stuck his head out. A large shadow crossed in front of him. Dustin froze.
“Meow.”
Meow? Why would Doris Meow?
He listened a second longer, then looked around. He looked, not at Doris, but at a large, orange paw. He followed the paw, to a leg, down a body, to a long, twitching tail.
The Menacing Marmalade Cat! He had heard stories about this Cat.
It's only a story, he told himself. He squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them, the cat was still there.
Dustin watched as the cat stepped over the neighbor's house and disappeared from sight. Phew!
Dustin raced to find his friend, “Doris! Doris!”
“You're supposed to be hiding.”
“I saw the Menacing Marmalade Cat! Right there!”
“Yeah right.”
“Did so.”
“You're making it up, like you always do.”
“I saw it! I'll show you,” Dustin dragged Doris to the neighbor's backyard.
Empty.
“But...but...it was right here.”
“You're too much. I'm going home.”
“It was here...It really was!”
That night Dustin couldn't sleep. Visions of an orange paw and twitching tail crept into his dreams.
The next morning, Dustin did not go out to play with Doris. He sat in his room, with his telescope, looking for the Cat. Not even the enticing aroma of his mother's chocolate chip cookies could bring him from his room.
His mother did make him eat lunch, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Dustin ate as fast as he could, then hurried back to his telescope.
He had almost given up, when he spotted a dark shape rise up. Holding his breath, he watched as it stepped over houses.
The Cat crouched, still as stone, the tip of its tail twitching.
The Menacing Marmalade Cat pounced. Dustin heard a scream.
“Mom! Mom!” Dustin flew downstairs. “The Menacing Marmalade Cat just caught someone.”
“Oh dear, not again,” his mother said.
“But.. Mom, I heard a scream.”
“How many times have we told you not to lie?”
“I'm not lying. We need to call the police!”
“There is no such thing as the Menacing Marmalade Cat. Just like there are no such things as the Phantom Shoe or the Voracious Vacuum.”
“The Ancient One-”
“You can't believe those crazy stories.”
“I saw it. It's really there.”
“That's enough, young man. Go to your room!”
“But-”
“Go!”
Dustin trudged up the stairs.
Why doesn't anyone believe me? I'll prove it!
He pulled out his escape ladder and lowered it to the ground. Another scream reached his ears as he got to the bottom.
Dustin rushed to find the Cat. Oooof. He fell into a hole in a flower bed.
This is strange. Why is this hole here?
Dustin walked to the other side of the hole, climbed out, and walked a few steps forward. He promptly fell into another, strange hole.
This is weird. Another hole?
These are the Menacing Marmalade Cat's paw prints!
Dustin hurried out of the hole and followed the paw prints. Just when the paw prints ended, he heard a third scream.
He ran around a corner. There stood the Menacing Marmalade Cat. It was sniffing something. Doris! Stuffed into a corner of the alley, Doris tried to make herself smaller. The Cat reached out with its paw and hit Doris.
Doris screamed again.
I have to do something. Why isn't anyone coming to help? What do I do?
Dustin gathered a handful of the dirt and dust around him. He formed a ball and threw it at the Cat. The Cat ignored him.
He gathered an even larger ball and launched that at the Cat. This time the Cat turned and looked at him. Dustin waved his arms, yelled, then turned and ran.
He zigzagged through the streets. The pounding of the Cat's paws loud in his ears, he headed to the fire station. The streets grew crowded, slowing him, but not the cat. Dust Bunnies turned and stared at him. They pointed and screamed at the Cat.
A fire truck raced around a corner. Firebunnies quickly set up their hoses.
“This way, kid. Run this way,” a firebunny yelled.
Dustin dashed to safety behind the fire truck. The firebunnies sprayed the Menacing Marmalade Cat. Hissing and spitting, the Cat stopped. Continuing to use their hoses, they drove the Cat from Dust Town.
Doris ran to Dustin. “Thank you for saving my life. I'm sorry I didn't believe you.”
“I'm glad you're okay Doris,” Dustin said.
Later, Chief Dunkirk brought Dustin home.
“Oh, Dustin,” his mother murmured, as she folded him into her arms. “I'm sorry I didn't believe you. You were so brave. I'm so proud of you.”
Dustin hugged her back, and gave her a kiss.
(copyrighted July 2008)
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