Cali, last of the Calico's

"Speak now!" demanded Cali. She couldn't get over Bear Bear's shyness. " We'll never find him at this pace." It had began to snow in the mountains of Virginia, as Cali and her black and white kitten adventurer, Bear Bear began their journey into the woods. Bear Bear had been named for his plushness as Cali was named for her calico markings. The kitties human mama would be worried if they were gone for more than a couple of days. What had sparked this adventure was Cali's human mama telling her she was so rare, that she would be surprised if there were any more of her kind to be found. The neighbors cat, Cheese Puff, would visit daily with different stories of moving from far and wide places. The variety of tales he would have had kitties from all kinds of rarities. Earlier this past week, Cheese Puff had told Cali, " I haven't actually seen any more kitties of your kind. I would like to set out in search of any to see if what your mama says is right." In which prompted Cali's curiosity to want to go with him for the discovery. Before now, Cali hadn't really thought about it much if she was the last of her kind. Cheese Puff's comments echoed in her mind as the snow began to fall, and was now her distraction that made Bear Bear's voice sound like background noise.

"Speak up, Bear Bear!" Cali said as her attention set back to trying to listen to him. " I said, I think he went this way, his paw prints in the snow lead this way." Bear Bear was referring to Cheese Puff's tracks. "Stop being so shy,you know I can't hear you when you speak so soft." Cali replied. " I wasn't being shy, I think you were distracted." huffed Bear Bear. " What were you thinking about anyway?" asked Bear Bear. " If I'm ready for my first real trip into the snow." Her words gently bounced off the icy wind that she now realized was why she couldn't hear Bear Bear. "If this storm gets any worse we may be gone longer than a few days and I don't want mama to worry." Hesitated Cali. "As long as we make it back, I'm sure she won't mind." ensured Bear Bear. Cali seeing Bear Bear just as excited as she was for this trip, encouraged her to embark on their quest. In search of, if she is, in fact, last of the Calico's...

The two kitties finished their lunch and then began to follow Cheese Puff's tracks through the snow. As they walked along the wind started to pick up and the sun began to hide behind the clouds. "What time would you say we left?" asked Bear Bear. " Well, the birds had already left the yard, so past morning, but dad hadn't made it home yet so not evening either." guessed Cali. "Maybe, early afternoon, mama probably has already wondered where we are." Cali said as she smiled at Bear Bear. "I hope she isn't worried, too bad we couldn't take her with us." smiled Bear Bear back. " I think if we find another calico, we should ask them to venture back with us. I think mama would like that surprise. Hopefully she would be impressed we found another calico." expressed Cali with confidence. " I know I'll be proud of us, I wonder if we'll catch up to Cheese Puff before the sun goes down? The sky is getting darker and this snow is beginning to blanket the ground. I hope the wind doesn't make Cheese Puff's tracks disappear." conveyed Bear Bear. " I think we should be catching up to him any minute now, we didn't seem to far behind. The snow had just started right before we left and his tracks appeared fresh." Cali said as she tried not to sound discouraged. " How do we know it was Cheese Puff's tracks? Maybe they were Elldar's tracks? She travels far, I think we're lost. Cali, do you think we're lost?..exclaimed Bear Bear. " Calm down kitten we're okay. I think we have just been out here for a while, it's just making us feel lost but we're not. I'm sure they were Cheese Puff's tracks because his paw prints are bigger than Elldar's. We are following the right cat." ensured Cali.

"My paws are freezing off and I'm starving. Can we find food before we continue?" muttered Bear Bear. "Sounds like a plan. I heard some mice sqeaking two or three trees back. said Cali. "Eww, I perfer birds."said Bear Bear. Cali agreed so they decided to scare the mice out of the tree to attract the birds to come down to the ground to catch the mice. As they tried to patiently wait for their plan to work, the sun had set. It was dark with only moonlight to guide their path. As they sat quietly for what seemed liked forever was really only like ten minutes before.. Swoosh..a big snow owl had took the first bait. "That owl is three times our size we should wait for the next one." said Cali. Then under two minutes later a crow flew down past Cali's face to catch the mouse running past her paws. Pounce, pop-pop, smack, crunch-crunch, the crow now laid next to Cali as Bear Bear hoovered over their dinner he audaciously caught. The two of them were knocked off guard as a shadow leaped out of the dark onto Bear Bear. The shadow and Bear Bear rolled and fought over the bird for a minute or two. Then Cali shouted " Stop! It's Cheese Puff! "

"I'm not Cheese Puff!" blurted Bear Bear.

"I am." said Cheese Puff. All the kitties paused a brief moment then busted out laughing. "We've been looking for you since lunch time." said Bear Bear to Cheese Puff. " I was trying to wait on you before I left today,but the birds were on the move so I followed them." said Cheese Puff. " We knew we weren't far behind you but weren't to sure how far behind." explained Cali.

"We should find somewhere to camp after dinner. I got a little lost on my way to the log cabin that I remembered was out here. It is still a ways away so it'll be better to finish on this path in the morning." said Cheese Puff.