Cali’s Family

One hot July afternoon, a family with eight children drove 30 miles from their farm to the town of Pleasantville on an outing to shop and enjoy the downtown bookstore. The family’s calico cat had recently had a litter of kittens so, not wanting to leave the kittens home alone, the family took the mama cat and her kittens along on the Pleasantville outing. Tucked in with a blanket in a large cardboard box, this was the first time the five kittens had travelled away from the farm. One female kitten was rambunctious and strong, already learning to climb. She was mostly black and white with big gingerbread-colored patches on her head and sides just like the coloring of the cows on their farm. For this reason, the family named that kitten Milky.

The following week, a lonely, crying kitten was spotted near the Pleasantville Bookstore. Shoppers outside the bookstore assumed that the kitten was orphaned, so they took her inside to make plans for finding a new family. It was love at first sight for the bookstore owner. He adopted the little calico kitten and named her Cali. Cali became the Pleasantville Bookstore cat. For four months, Cali enjoyed her new family. By day, the kitten happily mingled with the shoppers, walking on the reading tables, sleeping on the bookshelves, and purring around customers’ legs as they tried to pet her. At night, Cali rode home with the bookstore owner and slept in her own cozy bed. The owner loved Cali and Cali loved him.

The farm family never knew how or where they had lost their little kitten, Milky. One November day the family drove back into the town of Pleasantville to shop at the bookstore. They saw Cali. Cali let the family members pet her. They saw the white and gingerbread-colored cow spots on her fur. Cali was bigger, but she had the same markings as the kitten they had lost four months ago. The family knew Cali was their lost kitten, Milky. The family did not know what to do, so they talked to the store owner. The store owner decided to give Cali back to the family.

Back on the family farm, Cali was again called Milky but she was unhappy. She did not get along with her four kitty siblings because she was used to being the only cat – a bookstore cat, and was not interested in being a farm cat. It was obvious that Milky was not satisfied, so the family called a meeting. Though they all loved Milky, they knew what must be done.

The family returned Milky to the Pleasantville Bookstore. The owner was overcome with so much joy that he cried! Cali was thrilled too to again be with her bookstore family. She immediately began walking and sleeping and purring around in all of her favorite places. Cali was the Pleasantville Bookstore cat.