Another original fairytale by Vikki Anderson

In a beautiful and abandoned part of the forest lived a wonderful old woman named Aruna and her most beloved pet, Muffenpuff.  Muffen was the loveliest calico long haired cat anyone had ever seen. She was very wise and loving and was the perfect companion for Aruna in her old age.

They were both getting on in years now and Aruna was getting doing things slower and sometimes forgetting everyday chores, like feeding Muffen. Muffen didn’t mind though. She was a God-send and a very spiritual animal, Aruna thought, if there were such a thing. Muffen never complained about not being fed or being fed late and would laze in the sun under the clear blue sky on her back and soak up all the vitamin D that she could handle.

The large black birds, squirrels and some chipmunks would come out to see Muffen. She would talk with them and never try to harm them. In fact, many times Muffen would call of the woodland animals when Aruna threw out some leftover baked bread that had gone stale from forgetting it was in the house or when she threw out sunflower seeds from her very own plants.

Muffen started asked the creatures of the forest what their names were and if they had lived there long. As long as she could remember, she lived in this house with Aruna. They were very happy. Aruna would read witches spells to her and make her laugh. She always wanted to be a would-be witch, but it was only a child’s dream. She read whatever she could get her hands on and then read it to Muffen knowing that her cat had a sixth sense about what people were saying. She knew Muffen understood every word, and so Muffen wound up being a very educated cat in metaphysics, tarot, astrology and Celtic Wicca.

The long haired Calico was a Gemini and Aruna was a Libran. She knew that was a perfect match; she remembered Aruna saying that same elements, in this case — air — were always a good match. They understood each other and yes, they had. For all the years Muffen remembered being here with her adopted Mother, she was treated like a special enlightened being.

She wondered if it were true that pets were the closest of all the animals to humans and would come back in their next incarnation as a human being! Would that be wonderful! Muffen would not have to talk to the animals any longer. She would converse with people and go to school and learn to dance. Where she learned about school, she didn’t remember, but she recalled hearing Aruna talking about a building in town that had classrooms and various teachers who taught different subjects. The tarot for instance was one of the required subjects. Then astrology, numerology, graphology, biorhythms, aromatherapy, massage therapy, reflexology. My word, there was a lot that she had learned throughout her life. Too bad she couldn’t enlighten someone else…a person perhaps. She had listened to Aruna’s words so carefully and her eyes revealed the understanding she was so capable of. All those books. Stacks and stacks of esoteric and metaphysical books that were scattered throughout the old, but clean house.

Aruna came looking for Muffenpuff. Muffen quickly ran to her because she knew Aruna’s legs were not as strong as they once were and she didn’t want Aruna to over exert herself. She was very thoughtful that way. She knew that Aruna’s spirit and hers would reunite someday when their time here on earth was through. Muffen needed to protect Aruna; she needed to be with her always. There was some connection. How she wasn’t sure, and thought that it was silly for a cat to think this way, but that there might be a reason for their sharing of ideas and experiences.

When it got dark, the would-be witch would rock in her chair and read to Muffen who lay on her lap in the very cozy flannel afghan that Aruna had knitted for her. It was cold in the wood at night and they didn’t have a way to heat the house. Aruna was too weak to chop down any wood any more and so they bundled up together and read by candlelight and eventually went to sleep in her feather bed under piles of afghans, old quilts and blankets. It was so cozy. It was so right. “We must’ve been sisters” Muffen thought. “Maybe she was my Mother. Maybe, I was hers!” No matter what the thought, Muffen always laid by Aruna’s side so that her hand could pet the long, soft fur of Muffen’s back and head. It was as it should be.

The mornings were fun. They woke up whenever they chose and breakfast was always an adventure. Muffen wasn’t easy to please, but she wondered why they didn’t have eggs from chickens. She had wondered down the road many times and had befriended some local chickens who told her why they laid eggs and what the farmers did with them. She was fascinated that the chickens gave up their babies and then let people eat them! But in the end, she understood and just followed Aruna around without a sign of discontent.

“What should we have for breakfast today?” Aruna asked herself.

“Food would be nice,” Muffen thought to herself. “I’m hungry. You forgot to feed me last night, but I understand.” Aruna almost perceived Muffen’s mouth forming a smile.

“I know you’re hungry dear; I didn’t forget last night. We just don’t have anything left. I’m so sorry.”

“We’ll find something, you’ll see,” Muffen was determined.

She led Aruna down the road to the path where the chicken farms were plentiful. “Come this way,” she intimated. “Ladies, may we borrow a few eggs? When we can we will pay you back.”

“That’s okay, Muffen. You have always been our friend and listened to our chatter and we will be happy to give you some of our eggs.”

With that, a few of the bigger chickens rolled several eggs out of their hen houses with their feet and left them in front of Aruna. “May God bless you little ones. Come on, Muffen. You need something to eat. I’ll fix you a wonderful omelet to go with your milk.”

With the five eggs she had taken out of her pocket, she made four of them for Muffen. “You are a dear and must be hungry. You eat. I will make this one for me.”

Muffen refused and pushed the dish in front of Aruna for you see, Muffen also had a place at the kitchen table and Aruna could not bear to let Muffy think she was not as important as she. All enlightened spirits have a divine spark, even at the dinner table!

“We will share then. I love you more than my own life, Muffen. God has given you to me more than 18 years ago and there wasn’t one day in my life that I wanted for anything for you gave me all the love, companionship and inner joy that I could have ever wanted. You are a good friend and I will always treasure that friendship.”

Muffen was pleased with herself. She was 18 and as far as she knew, that was rather old for a cat in this part of the woods. She had no enemies since she talked to everyone and made friends easily and her daily lie-downs in the sun were such a joy to her for she met the creatures of the forest and more birds would be curious and sit on her head or her back to see if it were true — she would not attack them or take their food.

Their cow Shemah was their only source of milk and nourishment when things got rough. In fact, with the winter months coming shortly, Shemah would be spending most of her days in the house with them.

Muffen wasn’t too happy about having Shemah share the house since the house was small and she was so big. But Aruna explained that Shemah would die in the winter snow if she didn’t live with them, so there were no further discussions. Each winter, Shemah became a domesticated house pet!

Muffen’s talks to the squirrels and other woodland animals became griping sessions of all the wood. She listened to this one fighting with this one over acorns or some such nonsense and those families weren’t ever speaking again because this one stole someone’s piece of bread or sunflower seed. The list went on and on. And because Muffen was so spiritual, she tried to mend all the broken families and patch things up between friends and family. She explained that possessions were not what were important in this life; but that we all helped each other see the light. Our incarnations to human were what they had to strive for. They needed to become more human.

The day light hours were getting shorter and shorter as the summer passed into fall and then slowly into the white cover of snow over the land — winter was now here.

There she was – Shemah – mooing at all hours of the day or night. My God, what is a cow doing in a house? It was quite unusual and very hard to stay focused on her value for food – for giving milk and sustenance to them. The meager leftover hay that Aruna had brought into the house was slowly dwindling but there seemed to be enough until spring.

At 96, Aruna was now certain her time had come to go to her next incarnation and sat in her favorite rocking chair rocking with Muffenpuff in her lap wrapped in the colorful ripple stitch afghan she had made for her as a kitten. They were both bundled and cozy.

Muffen looked at Aruna and said, “I love you, Aruna, as if you were my own blood.”

“I heard your thoughts, Muffen!”

Muffen looked astonished. “You heard me?”

“Yes. I want you to know that you have always been a source of great comfort to me. I wouldn’t have traded a minute of your company for that of any other including human company.”

“I don’t know what to say. I have so much to say to you and I don’t know where to start. I want to know about astrology and how the stars represent a map of the sky at the moment of birth. I want to know about tarot and dreams and…” She looked at Aruna and her eyes were closed. “Aruna?” She did not answer. Her hand that was gently petting her long silken fur had fallen off of her back and to her lap. “Aruna, don’t leave me. I need you. You’re the only family I have.”

Muffen laid down her head in Aruna’s lap, in the afghan she had made especially for her so many years ago and went to sleep as well.

As spring approached, all the baby animals were scurrying around their parents and running up and down Aruna’s house. They were looking for Muffenpuff, their friend who had taught them how to get along and how to be generous and kind and love one another. Where was she?

They all wondered. Some went up to the house. Some looked in the window. Some went into the house via the front door where Shemah had pushed it opened.

There was a rocking chair in the corner and it was rocking with a colorful afghan Aruna had once made for her beloved cat Muffen — and no one in the wood had ever seen them again.

Copyrighted 2002 by Vikki Anderson.  Do not reprint without permission.  www.VikkiAnderson.com.