PRISCILLA

A minute later Daniel’s mother was back, carrying a large, beige plastic box with holes in it. It wasn’t wrapped in shiny paper. It didn’t even have a bow. If it was a present, it looked like a boring one to Megabat.

“This…” she said grandly, “is much more than just a gift. It’s a brand-new family member. Daniel, I’d like you to meet Priscilla: our very own cat!” Daniel’s mom set the box down gently.

Daniel dropped to his knees on the carpet. “No way!”

“Now that we’re living in a bigger house,” his dad started, “your mother thought—”

“It was a good time to get a pet,” his mom finished. “And then, when Mrs. Cormier down the street told me she’d developed allergies to her cat, Priscilla, well…it just seemed like a perfect solution that she come live with us instead! Isn’t she gorgeous?”

The cat was huddled at the back of the carrier. When Daniel leaned forward, Megabat peeked out of his pocket. All he could see were two shining eyes staring back at him—that is, until Daniel’s dad reached down and opened the cage door.

The first things to emerge were the whiskers. They were long and silky—and above them was a small brown nose twitching madly.

“That’s it, little kitty,” Daniel’s mom cooed. “Don’t be scared.”

The cat stuck her head out and looked both ways. Her eyes were the color of a clear sky; her fur yellowy white, like vanilla ice cream. And she had warm chocolate patches on her face and ears.

“I’ll get her some kibble,” Daniel’s mom said.

“And I’ll set up the litter box,”

Daniel’s dad said. “We’ll let you two get acquainted.”

Once the coast was clear, Megabat crawled onto Daniel’s shoulder to get a better look. Now that the cat had come all the way out, he could see that she looked bunny-rabbit soft. Her tail was as fluffy as the feather duster Daniel’s dad used on the shelves.

“She’s the prettiest cat ever!” Daniel said.

Megabat had seen cats before. They often walked across the top of the fence in the backyard. But he’d never seen one so clean, so silky or so close-up.

“Oooooh!” Megabat teetered from side to side. “So niiiiice!” She really was wonderful. And when Megabat liked something—like, really, really liked it…

SLUUUUURP!

His super-long tongue flew toward the cat like a fishing line. He’d only meant to lick the top of the cat’s head, but she moved, so instead his tongue caught her across the face with a slobbery slap.

RE-OOOOOOWWWW!

The cat leapt onto the coffee table and launched herself at the Christmas tree. For a second, she clung to the branches in the middle while a few ornaments clattered to the floor—and it looked like things might turn out mostly okay—but then the tree started to tilt, the cat began paddling at the air with her back feet, and they both went down with a glittery, howling crash.

“What happened?!” Daniel’s mom ran in from the kitchen just in time to see the cat dash around the toppled tree, leap over a pile of smashed ornaments and disappear under the couch, trailing a sparkly strand of garland from her tail.

Megabat dropped from Daniel’s shoulder into his bathrobe pocket before he could be spotted.

“She tried to climb the tree,” Daniel said, leaving out the part about how the cat had been startled by the sudden lick of a talking fruit bat.

“Here we go,” said Daniel’s dad, who had rushed in as well. “Didn’t I warn you that getting a cat would be trouble?”

“She hasn’t even been here an hour,” Daniel’s mother said reasonably. “The poor thing must be terrified. She’ll settle in.”

After that, Daniel was told to go wait in the kitchen while his parents cleaned up the broken glass ornaments.

“Megabat!” Daniel scolded, as soon as they were safely out of earshot of his parents. “Don’t ever do that again!”

Megabat huffed. After all, it was the cat who’d knocked over the tree. He’d only just licked her hello.

“Cats don’t like being licked,” Daniel explained.

“That’s being not true!” Megabat argued. He’d seen many cats lie in the sun licking themselves. “Licking is a cat’s very favorite!” Although, now that he knew how hairy a cat tasted, he couldn’t understand why. He stuck out his tongue and scraped at it with his wingtips to get the fur off.

“Here,” Daniel said, taking a cold pancake off a stack of leftovers. “Why don’t you bring this back to the shed and give it to Birdgirl?”

“But…what’s about playing toys?” Megabat wailed.

After breakfast, there was supposed to be time to play with the new toys—like the steam engine that Megabat could sit inside—then lunchtime, board games and hot apple cider.

In response, Daniel held the back door open. “You can come back tomorrow, okay? After Priscilla’s had some time to get settled. We’ll play then.”

Megabat draped the cold pancake over his shoulders and made big, sad eyes at his friend, but Daniel didn’t seem to notice. He was already looking back toward the living room, where the cat was still hiding.