The full moon was so beautiful last week that it’s hard to think about it being a bad thing. Some people; however, truly believe that a full moon affects how people and animals alike behave. They will tell you about the fact that more babies are born on a full moon – whether they are animal or human. There are also some who will tell you that people just plain ole have “moon spells” when there is a full moon up there in the sky.
In Latin, the word lunar means moon and the word lunatic is derived from it as well as loon and loony. I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “crazy as a loon” to describe someone or something and it was certainly not intended as a compliment.
Then there are folks who would say since the human body is about 60% water then it stands to reason that moon phases would affect us just as it affects the ocean tides.
The story I’m going to tell you today is about how that beautiful full moon affected a big orange tabby cat named Louie.
You see Louie didn’t really belong to anyone in particular. He just didn’t want to be tied down. He always slept in the same old ramshackle barn that used to house cows and horses but had long since been deserted. During the day, Louie rambled all over the countryside but had one stop he always managed to make.
Every day, rain or shine, Louie always went by to see the gray tabby cat named Ghost and her family that lived at the end of a long sandy dirt road. You see that special cat friend had a litter of kittens that were varying shades of tabby, ranging from orange to gray and somewhere in between. Ghost got her name because she seemed to have a habit of disappearing for a while and then showing back up with three or four kittens in tow.
One day when Louie woke up; stretched and jumped down out of the loft of the barn, he decided the first place he would go was to see Ghost and her kittens. He knew, too, if he got there soon enough he might be able to get some of the food that was always left outside for strays such as himself. Sure enough, he was lucky enough to get a little food. It was enough anyway to get him by until later. Then off Louie went on his usual rounds throughout the surrounding countryside, where he visited with his friends and looked for any food he could find along the way.
When it was night time again, Louie made his way back to the old barn where he was ready to settle down and get a good night’s sleep. You see it had been a really long day and he had never really found enough food to satisfy his hunger.
The trouble was; just about the time Louie finally settled down to go to sleep, up over the horizon popped that great big full moon. It seemed to light up that old barn so that every time Louie tried to close his eyes all he could see was that bright light right in his green eyes. He turned this way and that way and tried over and over to go to sleep but he just could not settle down. Finally, he just decided to get up and walk out that long sandy road once again and check on Ghost and the kittens and then try again to get some sleep.
As Louie walked along the road towards the house, he could hear dogs howling everywhere. Wherever he looked it seemed as if he could see dogs with their heads back; baying at that full moon. He wasn’t afraid of them; however, because they were so busy they didn’t pay him the least bit of attention.
When he reached the brick house at the end of the road, he lay down in the edge of the yard under a rose bush and looked all around. He just felt as if something was wrong but he just didn’t know exactly what it was. He watched the house for a little while and then he noticed a strong smell that seemed to be coming from up towards the roof.
Louie knew that Ghost and her kittens and her human family were all in grave danger. He took off just like a streak and headed towards the house. He knew that the people in the brick house had installed a pet door for Ghost to use so he headed straight towards it and didn’t even hesitate but just ran right in.
When he got inside the house, smoke was already filling up the laundry room. When he looked into the box where Ghost lay with her kittens asleep all around her, he knew he had to act fast or the smoke would overtake them all. He took his paw and kept tapping Ghost on the cheek until she finally roused and started moving around. Each of them picked up a kitten in their mouth and took them outside and put them on the ground and then went back in and got another.
When all four kittens were safely deposited outside, Louie knew he just had to do something about those humans still inside the house. He turned around and went back inside the house and crawled along as close as he could to the floor. When he got to the back bedroom he could see two humans asleep in the bed. He meowed loudly trying to wake them up but to no avail. Finally, he jumped up on the bed and pounced on top of the man there. When Louie could see that the man was awake, he jumped down off the bed and crawled as fast as he could back to the pet door and to the fresh air outside.
As Louie lay there trying to get his breath, out staggered the two humans from inside the house and collapsed onto the grass. About that time, Louie could hear sirens headed toward the house which now had flames coming out from the top of it. Louie decided to try and get back into the edge of the woods before all of those strange people arrived. Just as he got out of sight, up came the fire trucks, with all their racket going that hurt his ears.
Louie had saved the day but he didn’t want any recognition for it. All he wanted was some peace and quiet again and a good night’s sleep. Of course, it was nice to have all those meows of appreciation from Ghost and her kittens. It seemed after that night, too, the humans in the brick house always managed to leave him some food on their deck and it was nice to not worry about being hungry anymore.
So, you see, good things can happen on a full moon, just as it did when there was one so bright that a big, orange tabby cat just couldn’t sleep because it was shining right into his gorgeous green eyes!!!