“It’s Stick Cat!” Stripes screamed.
Stick Dog was startled by what Stripes yelled. He looked inside the car. And he remembered back to the time they had snatched five whole pizzas from this very place. Back then, they had discovered a kitten inside a moving van.
It all happened in Stick Dog Chases a Pizza, the third Stick Dog story. It is one of my English teacher’s favorites.
In that story, the dogs—especially Stripes—got all freaked-out and thought the kitten was trapped inside the moving van. There was this big debate about whether cats were enemies or not—and should they rescue this kitten. Then Stripes got a real good look at him and saw how cute he was.
And Stripes declared the kitten to be her soul mate. And named him Stick Cat in honor of Stick Dog.
There’s a lot more to it than that, but those are the basics you need to know for where we are in this story.
In this story, the cat inside this car did indeed resemble the kitten from back then. It was just bigger. It seemed odd to Stick Dog to see the same animal in the same place a couple of years later.
“Why would he come back?” Stick Dog whispered, more to himself than to the others. He wasn’t absolutely positive that this cat today was that cat from before.
And while Stick Dog may not know why Stick Cat was here again, you and I get to find out right now. It’s part of the story, after all.
You see, it started when Goose, the male human with the long neck, and Stick Cat got into his car that morning. They lived in the big city far away. Tiffany, the female human, and her cat, Edith, got into the car too.
And here’s what happened.
“Everybody in?” Goose asked, and looked at Tiffany in the passenger seat and Stick Cat and Edith in the back.
“Everybody’s in,” Tiffany confirmed, and reached her left hand toward Goose. He clasped her hand with his right.
Edith saw this from the backseat, rolled her eyes dramatically, and said, “Gross.”
“Okay. Off we go,” Goose said, and pulled the car out of its tight city parking spot. He thought now would be a good time to review their schedule. “It will take a few hours to reach my old hometown. We’ll stay with my parents tonight and then our wedding is tomorrow evening. After that, we’ll head to Picasso Park for the party. There will be a buffet and fireworks. But right when we get to town, we’ll stop for a bite at my favorite restaurant.”
“Sounds good,” Tiffany said. “What’s the name of it again?”
“It’s called the Pizza Palace,” Goose answered. “The best pizza I’ve ever tasted.”
“You would know. You are quite the pizza connoisseur,” Tiffany said, and squeezed his hand. “You’re quite the pizza expert.”
Edith saw this and said, “Disgusting.”
Stick Cat smiled, hopped up to the car’s back window ledge, and stared out at the big city. He had been waiting for this experience since he woke up. The idea of riding in a car thrilled him.
“Do you want to join me up here?” Stick Cat asked Edith. “You can see everything!”
“No,” Edith answered. She had found where the sun shined into the car—a warm rectangle of light on the backseat behind Goose. She had already curled up there. “I’m going to take a nap.”
She was asleep in less than a minute.
Stick Cat smiled down at her from the back window ledge and began to take in everything.
He had only seen the big city from the twenty-third floor of his apartment building. To see it now from ground level was fascinating. As they moved away from their building, Stick Cat saw the piano store at the end of their block. He glanced to the right and saw Hazel’s Bagels. There were coffee shops, bookstores, restaurants, and newsstands. He saw hundreds of people on the sidewalk. Everything looked so much bigger down here.
And the sounds.
The sounds were bigger too.
The first couple of honking horns startled Stick Cat until he got used to their volume. He heard police whistles, people talking and laughing, a train clattering, and a truck engine rumbling.
And he heard Edith snoring.
Haunk-shooo, Haunk-shooo.
Stick Cat smiled at that familiar sound.
After several blocks, Goose turned the car left. Stick Cat had to squint against the bright sunlight, which now hit the back window due to the car’s new direction. He was just getting used to it when he felt a tap on his right shoulder.
It was Edith.
“Excuse me,” she said.
“Oh, hi,” responded Stick Cat. “I thought you were asleep. You should see all—”
But Stick Cat couldn’t finish his sentence. Edith had more to say.
“You’re in my spot.”
“Pardon?”
“You’re in my spot.”
“I don’t think so, Edith,” Stick Cat said. “You were down on the seat. I started off here in the back window. I haven’t moved. Maybe you were dreaming.”
“I wasn’t dreaming,” Edith replied, and raised one eyebrow. “I was in the sun.”
“Right,” Stick Cat said. “And the sun was down there on the seat behind Goose.”
“‘Was,’ Stick Cat. ‘Was,’” Edith said. “Now it’s up here. My spot was in the sun. Currently the sun is up here. So this is my spot now.”
Stick Cat just stared at her. He didn’t know what to say.
“So?” asked Edith.
“Yes?”
“Are you going to move or what?”
“Can’t you just join me?” Stick Cat asked. “There’s plenty of room. I’ll scoot over some to this side—and you can have that side.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“I like to spread out.”
Stick Cat glanced quickly out the window. He was missing all the city’s amazing sights and sounds.
“No problem,” he said, and hopped down to the seat behind Tiffany.
Edith jumped up to the center of the window ledge, curled up into a tight ball again, and closed her eyes.
Stick Cat stood on his back paws, pressed his front paws against the side window for balance, and took in the city sights again.
For three minutes.
And then Goose turned left.
And Stick Cat felt the warm sunlight on his back paws.
He knew what was coming.
“Stick Cat,” Edith said. “You’re in my spot again.”
He moved to the opposite side, assumed a similar position, and stared out the window again.
Stick Cat saw more shops—restaurants, bookstores, cafés, and furniture stores. There were orange cones and barrels and flashing yellow lights close to the car. He heard heavy truck noises and the slamming pulse of a jackhammer getting closer and closer.
“Uh-oh. Construction,” Goose said from the front seat. “Looks like a detour.”
Stick Cat felt the car turn right and, after a minute or so, turn right again.
He felt something else too. He felt the warmth of the sun hit his face. He squeezed his eyes shut.
Stick Cat did not squeeze his eyes shut because the sun was so bright. He had quickly gotten used to that. No, Stick Cat squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation.
Edith tapped his back. She said, “You’re doing it again.”
Stick Cat turned his head toward Edith.
“I really wish you would stop moving yourself into the sunlight,” she said, and sighed heavily. “It’s pretty annoying.”
“I’m not,” Stick Cat said as calmly as he could. “The sunlight is moving to me when Goose turns the car.”
“I think I know what’s really going on here,” Edith said. You could tell that she doubted Stick Cat’s explanation. She had her own theory. “I think somebody here just always needs to be in the spotlight. That’s what I think.”
Now, you might think this conversation would frustrate Stick Cat—or even make him angry.
But you would be wrong.
He enjoyed Edith’s peculiar brand of logic. Only his best friend could come up with such ideas. She was special that way.
“The sunlight is all yours,” Stick Cat said. He hopped up to his original position on the back window ledge.
Edith settled into her original—and sunlit—position again too.
And, thankfully, Goose did not turn the car again for a very long time.
Stick Cat watched as the big city got smaller and smaller—until it was completely out of sight. He heard—and felt—the rhythmic bumps of a highway. It lulled him to sleep.
And he didn’t wake up until the car stopped in a parking lot in Goose’s hometown.
It was the Pizza Palace parking lot.
Stick Cat woke up when Goose and Tiffany exited the car and shut the doors. He stretched the sleepiness from his body, arched his back, and looked out the window.
Stick Cat couldn’t believe his eyes.
Five dogs were gathered by a guardrail across the parking lot.
And they were staring right at him.