"Now let's work in the garden. Let's water the flowers and the trees in the garden."
"Oh no!" we cry together with Blackie. "We can't work in the garden. We are tired."
"But think about the trees and the flowers!" says Pinky. "You drink milk and water every day, but they can't do it. They haven't got milk or water in the fridge. They are thirsty."
"How do you know?" we ask. "Do you talk to trees?"
"No, I don't," says Pinky, and she is very angry. "But I know! Look!"
Pinky takes a glass of water and waters the floor.
"Can you see the water?" she asks.
"Yes, we can," we answer.
"The floor is not thirsty. It is not drinking the water," says Pinky. "Now let's go to the garden."
Pinky takes another glass with water and we go to the garden.
We come up to a tree. Pinky waters the tree.
"Look!" says Pinky. "The tree is drinking! There is no water on the ground now."
We look at the ground. It is wet, but there is no water on the ground.
"The trees are thirsty!" says Pinky. "Now help me to water them."
"Pinky, you are very clever!" I say. "You can understand trees."
And we water all the trees and the flowers in the garden.
Mrs Paw always visits us on Sundays. She looks at the clean rooms and at the trees and flowers in the garden. She says: "Good kittens!"
Exercises
It is sunny today. It is very hot. We are hot. We take a big towel, three cups, three plates, some milk, some meat, three apples and go to the lake.
The lake is big and the water in the lake is cold. We swim and play. Then we go out. Blackie does not go out. He is in the lake.
"Go out!" says Pinky. "The water is not warm. It is cold."
"I am not cold," says Blackie. "I like the water!"
"Pinky," I say. "Let's eat our breakfast."
"But we can't. Blackie is in the lake." "Yes, we can," I say. I take a piece of meat, eat it and say:
"Look, Blackie! I am eating our meat! It is very nice!"
Blackie looks at me and says:
"Eat the meat. I can fish here."
So Blackie is in the water. The water is cold. Pinky is not happy. She is sad. She looks at me and says:
"Reddy, what can we do?"
"Wait and see," I say.
Blackie is fishing now. He is not looking at me. I walk into the water and dive. Now I am under the water. I swim to Blackie under the water. Now I can see his legs. I open my mouth and bite him.
"Help!" cries Blackie. "There is a monster in the water."
Blackie runs out of the water.
"There is a monster in the lake!" he says to Pinky.
"A monster?!" cries Pinky.
"Yes, it has got red ears and very sharp teeth!"
Pinky looks at Blackie. She knows that monster but she says:
"Don't go into the water again! I know that monster. It is in one of my books. It is a terrible monster!"
"OK," says Blackie. He is afraid. He looks at Pinky and says:
"And where is Reddy?"
"Oh no!" cries Pinky. "He is in the water!"
"Oh no!" cries Blackie. "The monster can bite him!"
They look at the lake. I am swimming in the lake.
"Reddy, come out!" cry Pinky and Blackie. "There is a terrible monster in the water!" says Blackie.
"Is it big?" I ask.
"It is long and it has got red ears and very sharp teeth!"
"But I am not afraid of monsters. I have got sharp teeth, too," I say. "I am not going out. The water is warm now. Don't wait for me. Have breakfast."
"Oh!" says Pinky. "Again."
She looks at Blackie.
"What about a monster with a black tail?" she says.
Exercises
6. Blackie runs out of the water.
VIII. A Visitor
It is evening. We are in the house. We are on the sofa. It is very late, but we don't want to go to bed.
There is a big vase in our room. It is empty.
Suddenly we hear a noise in the vase. We jump down and run to the vase. Blackie climbs up the vase and looks in.
"What is there?" we ask.
"I can't see," says Blackie. "It is too dark in the vase."
Then we hear the noise again.
"There is a small animal in the vase!" says Pinky. "Let's help it!"
"How can we help it?" we ask.
"Take the umbrella and put it in the vase. Then the animal can climb up the umbrella and get out," says Pinky.
I take the umbrella and put it in the vase. We listen and look. Suddenly we see the small animal. It is climbing up the umbrella. It is… Oh, it is a mouse!
"Oh, help!" cries Pinky. Pinky is a kitten, but she is afraid of mice. She jumps upon a shelf and hides behind the books.
Now the mouse can see us. It looks at us and cries, "Oh, help!" and climbs down the umbrella back into the vase.
"There is a mouse in the vase!" cries Blackie. "It is big and fat and I am hungry!"
"Oh no!" cries Pinky on the shelf. "Don't eat it! Please, don't eat it!"
But Blackie doesn't listen to Pinky. He puts his paw into the vase. He wants to catch the mouse but he can't. Then Blackie says. "I can climb into the vase and catch the mouse."
Blackie climbs into the vase. We can only see his tail now.
"It is too dark here!" cries Blackie. "I can't see the mouse!" He is very angry.
Suddenly we can see the mouse. It climbs up Blackie's tail and out of the vase.
"Blackie!" I say. "The mouse is not in the vase!"
"Where is it?" cries Blackie.
The mouse climbs down the vase and runs into a hole in the floor.
"It is under the floor," says Pinky. "Blackie, climb out!"
"But I can't!" cries Blackie. "Help me!"
I look at Pinky, and she looks at me.
"Then jump out!" we say.
"I can't jump here!" says Blackie.
"What can we do?" I ask Pinky.
"Take the umbrella and put it in the vase," says Pinky. "Then this hungry animal can climb out."
I put the umbrella in the vase. Soon we can see Blackie's head, then his body and his tail.
"Thank you," he says.
"The mouse is in that small hole in the floor," says Pinky. "You can climb in and catch it."
Blackie looks at the small hole.
"No," he says. "The mouse is very small and thin, and I am not very hungry."
"Then let's go to bed. It is very late," says Pinky.
Exercises
It is Sunday today. Our mummy is coming today. We love our mum. She is kind and she loves us. Our mum is very clean and she likes when we are clean, too.
Now we can hear a noise at the door. It is our mum. She is coming in.
"Hello, my little kittens," she says. "How are you?"
"We are fine," we mew.
Our mum goes to the bathroom. There is a big tub in the bathroom. Our mum washes in the tub.
Then she says: "I am clean. Now it is time to wash your bodies, paws and heads."
We like our tub because it is magic. Pinky jumps into the tub first. Then Blackie and I jump in.
Our mum washes our heads, bodies and paws. We are very funny now. We are wet and very thin. I look at Blackie and see a white spot on his nose.
"Blackie," I say. "Here is your white spot."
"Oh great!" cries Blackie. "I have got my beautiful white spot again."
"Oh Reddy!" cries Pinky. "Your ears are yellow again. You are handsome with these ears."
I run to the mirror and look in it. I can see my yellow ears again. They are very nice.
"But Pinky," we say, "you are always white."
"Yes," says Pinky. "I am always white. And my ears and nose are always pink. It is because I clean my ears, nose and body every day."
"But it is not interesting," we say. "You are white every day, your nose is pink every day."
"Why? What is interesting?" asks Pinky.
"It is interesting to lose the white spot on your nose," says Blackie, "or your yellow ears," I say, "and then suddenly find them in the magic tub."
"And then you meet your friends and they say…" starts Pinky.
Suddenly we hear a noise at the door. It is Ted. He often visits us now. He comes in, looks at us and says: "Hello, Pinky! Hello, everyone! And where are your brothers?"