The Tobermory Cat (2 page)

or its amazing hardware store, where you could find everything you needed
plus
gold-plated reindeer, green electric guitars, purple fur-lined wellies and the odd ocarina.

Without visitors, the people of Tobermory grew desperate. They had a meeting in the village hall.

Something
had
to be done. ‘I know,’ said a very small person, ‘let’s teach
our
cats how to be special.’

This was not a success. As anyone who has ever tried to train a cat will tell you, it is almost impossible to make a cat do anything it doesn’t want to do.

And, if you remember, all that the Tobermory cats wanted to do was catch mice, eat fish, watch clouds and sleep.

All except for one ginger tom. He was keen, he was quick, he was willing to learn.

‘Show me,’ he miaowed, ‘how to become a special cat.’

But no amount of training could make him woolly, or musical, or sulky, and, if you remember, he
hated
the sea.

The people of Tobermory gave up trying to train cats and went back to work.

But the ginger tom didn’t give up.

He tried to ask a visiting celebrity for advice.

‘Show me,’ he miaowed.

‘I want to be special like you.’

But the celebrity was far too busy being a celebrity to speak to an ordinary cat.

But the ginger tom still didn’t give up.

read the sign on the fish van.

‘Show me,’ miaowed the cat.

‘I want to be special too.’.

But no matter what the cat did, the fish refused to give up their secrets.

But the ginger cat was quick. He was keen. He was willing to learn. Even if his teacher was somewhat unusual.

‘Show me,’ he miaowed, over the roar of the big yellow digger,
‘SHOW ME HOW TO BE SPECIAL.’

The big yellow digger ignored the cat and got on with digging up Main Street.

The cat miaowed
louder
and
louder
but nobody could hear a word he said.

The ginger tom gritted his teeth. Being special was proving to be harder than he’d imagined.