Short Story

Once upon a time there was a young boy named Paulo. Paulo was 15 years old and lived in Madison, Wisconsin. While walking home from school one day, a Gold Cat jumped out from behind a Alcove and tackled Paulo to the ground. But just when he was about to let out a scream for help, Paulo realized that the Gold Cat was only licking his face, not trying to bite it off. At that moment, Paulo decided to keep the Gold Cat as a pet. And on the way home he decided to name his pet Gold Cat "Atticus."

When Paulo and his new pet finally got home, guess who was standing on the front porch? That's right, it was Paulo's mother, Dawn. And boy was she surprised to see a Gold Cat following Paulo into the yard! "What in world is that?" shouted Dawn. "It's a Gold Cat," answered Paulo. "Dah, I can see that, Paulo, but what on earth is it doing here?" said Dawn. "It's my new pet!" answered Paulo. "Oh you think so do you?" remarked Dawn. "I wouldn't get your hopes up. You know how your father hates Gold Cats. But, well, I suppose you can keep him until your father comes home." And with that Paulo grabbed Atticus by the scruff of the neck and led his new pet into the house -- even though he knew his father was probably going to dissaprove.

Once in the house, Paulo and Atticus played and played, that is until Paulo's favorite television show, "Home Improvement," started. At that point Paulo forgot all about Atticus having an unsupervised run of the house. That is until half way through "Home Improvement," when Paulo was brought back to reality when he heard his father shout, "Fury!! Paulo! Get your Butt in the Bedroom...NOW!!" With that Paulo rushed into the Bedroom to see what all the fuss was about.

When he entered the Bedroom, there stood his father, Manuel, pointing toward the Couch. "Will someone please explain that?" asked his father. Then, as Paulo followed his father's finger to where it was pointing, he instantly knew what his father was so upset about. There, smack dab in the middle of the Couch, was the biggest pile of Cat doo-doo he had ever seen! "I don't EVEN want to know how that got there," said Manuel. "But you had better get it cleaned up now! And you had better get rid of whatever it is that could have done such a thing!"

Well, knowing his father as well as he did, Paulo knew there was no sense even asking his father if he could keep Atticus for a pet. So without hesitation, Paulo set out to find where Atticus was hiding.

After a few minutes of looking, Paulo discovered Atticus crouched beneath the table that Paulo did his Hiking on. "Come on, Atticus, it's time to find you a new home. And hey, don't look at me that way, I'm not the one who did the dirty deed on the Couch!" scolded Paulo. "Thanks to you I'll never get to have my own pet Cat!! And with that Paulo led Atticus out of the house and down to the local Hyvee. Hyvee had a pet section and Paulo knew the owner would find Atticus a good home. So after saying good-bye to Atticus, and thanking the owner of Hyvee, Paulo walked backed home and attempted to dround his sorrows by slamming down a half dozen Mountain Dews. But Paulo's pitty party came to an abrupt end when his father reminded him about the mess he had neglected to clean up. And low and behold, midway through the clean-up, Paulo suddenly became thankful that someone else was going to have to do it from now on.

The End.