Why cats are afraid of water - story

This is something I would like to have published someday as a children's book. Anyway, let me know what you think. - S
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WHY CATS ARE AFRAID OF WATER (As told to Katie, by Grandma)

One day Katie asked Grandma, who is the smartest person she knew, why her cat was afraid of water. So Grandma began:

A long time ago, in Egypt, the Queen Cleopatra ruled the land. She also owned all the cats in the world, and they lived with her in her palace on the River Nile.

Cleopatra loved her cats dearly, so she was afraid to let them out of the palace for fear they might get hurt or lost. The cats loved her too, but they always sat at the windows looking out, waiting for the day when they might be able to get out into the world and explore it for themselves. (This is why cats like to look out windows to this day.) They especially were curious about the River Nile and what was in it.

One day Cleopatra met a young man, and they decided to get married, so Cleopatra began planning her wedding. She was so busy choosing her dress and picking out what flowers she would like and what music there would be that she didn’t have time to play with her beloved cats at all.

The cats didn’t understand what a wedding was, so they didn’t know what was going on. The cats just knew that strange people were coming in and out of the palace all the time, and that Cleopatra wasn’t around much for them to play with. They were very sad, because they missed the cat games they used to play with Cleopatra. They started sleeping a lot, and playing by themselves, because they thought that she didn’t love them anymore. (This is why cats sleep so much and play by themselves to this day). But sleeping and playing alone was boring after a while, so they decided to do something about it.

The day before the wedding, the cats had a council. The oldest cat, Nefertiti, took charge of the meeting.

“Okay, everyone, settle down,” she said. “Now, we all would like to explore outside the palace, right?”

“Right,” said the cats.

“Okay, this is the plan. We will wait in the kitchen, and when the kitchen door opens, as many as can fit through the door will run out. Each time the door opens, a few more of you run out.”

One of the cats, Anthony, raised his paw with a question.

“Yes, Anthony?” said Nefertiti.

“Where are we running to once we’re outside?” he asked.

“We are going to the River Nile, of course, to explore what is in it,” said Nefertiti. “So run down the steps and go right to the river. Wait for all the cats to arrive, and we will all play together!” The cats meowed and meowed with happiness. They were finally going to find out what was outside the palace!

That night, the cats went to the kitchen to wait for the door to open. Sure enough, after just a few minutes, one of the cooks, who had armloads of bread for the next day’s feast, opened the door. Because she had so much in her hands she could not shut the door quickly, so all of the cats ran out together. The cook screamed in surprise and threw the bread all over the kitchen. She ran to catch the cats, but it was too late - they were already to the edge of the River Nile.

At the edge of the river, Anthony called the cats together. “I would like to say that because Nefertiti’s plan worked so well, that she should be the first to touch the river.” The cats all agreed, so Nefertiti went to the edge of the water and touched it.

It was very cold, and had a funny way of sticking to her paw. It made her paw darker, and when the wind blew against it, it felt even colder. She decided to lick it, and it tasted very good. (To this day, cats lick their paws often, trying to taste the River Nile again.)

Nefertiti then said, “Everyone, the River Nile is safe! Let’s play!”

The cats meowed with excitement and some ran into the river to swim. However, when they swam out far enough, the fish who lived in the river started biting their paws and tails, and they were afraid. They all ran away from the river, and to this day, that is why cats don’t like water. (This is also why cats like to eat fish, because they were so mad at the fish who bit them in the River Nile.)

“Why Cats Are Afraid of Water (As told to Katie, by Grandma)” -- Copyright 1996