Jumping Cat

Boing, boing, boing! Up and down the living room leapt the Jumping Cat. His name suited him perfectly because leaping high was Jumping Cat’s favorite hobby.

Jumping Cat had light orange fur with stripes like those of tiny tigers. His most noticeable feature was his powerful hind legs. They were extra long and muscular from all his bouncing around.

On this sunny afternoon, Jumping Cat boinged from the wooly rug to the big blue armchair. He sprang right over his owner Sarah’s head where she sat reading on the couch.

“Be careful, Jumping Cat!” laughed Sarah as the energetic tabby cat boinged by again. “Don’t knock anything over!”

But Jumping Cat didn’t feel tired one tiny bit. He just loved bouncing too much! His strong legs launched him up onto the tall bookshelf where he was eye-level with the decorative ceramic cat figurines displayed there.

Jumping Cat crouched down, wiggled his striped hindquarters, and took a flying leap toward the window sill! But halfway there he collided with a hanging plant.

CRASH! Down tumbled the pot, spilling dirt across the floor. The jumping Cat also lost his balance from hitting the plant. He spun through the air and landed with a thud right on top of the ceramic cat collection on the shelf.

SMASH! The little cat figures wobbled and fell from the shaking shelf. They hit the floor and shattered into pieces.

“Oh no, Jumping Cat!” cried Sarah, jumping up from the couch. She rushed over to scoop up Jumping Cat who was dizzy from his clumsy fall. “Those were my favorite ceramic cats. Now they’re all broken!”

Jumping Cat shook the dirt from his fur and whimpered apologetically. He hadn’t meant to break Sarah’s cat collection. He had just gotten too rambunctious with his jumping indoors.

Sarah hugged Jumping Cat and patted his head. “It’s alright, silly kitty. But no more jumping around inside. Let’s go to the park instead!”

At the word “park”, Jumping Cat perked right up! He loved going to Loki Town Park with Sarah. There was so much wonderful green grass and tall trees there. It was the perfect place for jumping.

Sarah snapped Jumping Cat’s harness and leash onto his collar. Then they left the house and walked five blocks to Loki Town Park. As they entered through the iron gates, Jumping Cat strained against his leash eagerly. All this open space just seemed to call out “Jump on me!”

As soon as Sarah unhooked Jumping Cat’s leash, he went bounding across the grass. Boing, boing, boing! He looked like a furry coiled spring bouncing everywhere. Some people having picnics under the trees laughed at the silly tabby cat hopping like crazy all over the lawn.

Jumping Cat saw a nice tall oak tree with strong branches. He crouched down, wiggled his striped hindquarters, and launched straight up the tree trunk! Wrapping his paws around a high branch, he walked out to the end like a gymnast on a balance beam.

“Be careful up there!” called Sarah from the grass far below. But Jumping Cat hardly heard her. He was having too much fun scampering and leaping from branch to branch amid the green leaves.

Eventually, Jumping Cat paused on a high bough to catch his breath. As he peered out through the leaves, Jumping Cat noticed the roof of the park’s public restroom building. It looked perfect for jumping on!

Without hesitating, Jumping Cat gathered his haunches and sprung from the oak tree. He sailed right over the heads of some very surprised people having a picnic lunch. Then he landed with all four paws skidding slightly across the restroom roof tiles with a scrape.

“Meow!” cried Jumping Cat triumphantly. His leap had been a success! From this new high perch he could see across all of Loki Town Park. The people and trees looked tiny down below. “I bet I could jump to that even taller tree next,” Jumping Cat said to himself, licking his right front paw casually.

Just then Sarah came around the corner of the building and spotted Jumping Cat on the roof.

“Jumping Cat, no!” she yelled. “Get down from there right now!” Sarah was terrified that her silly cat would try a dangerous jump and fall from that height.

With his sharp ears, Jumping Cat easily heard Sarah’s nervous voice this time. He trotted carefully across the restroom roof and hopped back down to the grass where Sarah waited anxiously.

Sarah hugged Jumping Cat tightly in relief. “No more scaring me with such dangerous high jumps, you naughty cat!” she scolded. Jumping Cat nuzzled against her happily, apologizing again in his silly, playful way.

Sarah re-attached Jumping Cat’s leash. “I think that’s enough park adventure for today!” she declared.

As they walked home, Jumping Cat felt satisfied and tired from all his leaping and bouncing on the grass and trees. A nice cat nap was definitely in order after his eventful time playing at Loki Town Park. But Sarah knew her energetic tabby would soon be ready for jumping again!