Speaker 1: Welcome to bedtime Stories for everyone, in which nothing much happens,
Speaker 1: you feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Catherine Nikolay.
Speaker 1: I read and write all the stories you hear on
Speaker 1: nothing much happens. Audio Engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. Thanks
Speaker 1: for letting us tuck you in at night. If you'd
Speaker 1: like to also get up with us in the morning,
Speaker 1: try my show called First This. Each episode is a
Speaker 1: ten minute guided meditation on a great way to start
Speaker 1: the day. It's free and on all podcast apps just
Speaker 1: search First This. We give to a different charity each week,
Speaker 1: and this week we are giving to Crisis Response Canines,
Speaker 1: whose mission is to provide strength, comfort, and emotional support
Speaker 1: to individuals, families, communities, and first responders experiencing intense traumatic
Speaker 1: emotions in the aftermath of critical incidents. Especially at night,
Speaker 1: your mind can spin and spiral with thoughts, and you
Speaker 1: need a way to lift the needle off the record,
Speaker 1: to find some stillness and peace. And that's what the
Speaker 1: story is for. I'll read it twice, and I'll go
Speaker 1: a little slower the second time through. Just follow along
Speaker 1: with the sound of my voice and the simple shape
Speaker 1: of the tale, and before you know it. You'll be
Speaker 1: waking up tomorrow feeling rested and refreshed. Now switch off
Speaker 1: your light, set down anything you've been looking at, Snuggle
Speaker 1: down into your sheets and pull your comforter up over
Speaker 1: your shoulder. You are safe. There's nothing you need to
Speaker 1: remember or stay on top of. You can let everything go.
Speaker 1: Take a slow, deep breath in through the nose and
Speaker 1: out through the mouth again, bring it in out with
Speaker 1: sound good. Our story tonight is called cat Nap, and
Speaker 1: it's a story about Marmalade the cat, and Crumb the
Speaker 1: dog as they find ways to play through the winter.
Speaker 1: It's also about the spark of something sweet that begins
Speaker 1: to grow between friends, a pup cup enjoyed on a
Speaker 1: heated patio, and a suit case ready to be packed.
Speaker 1: Cat Nap. Marmalade was dozing in her spot by the window.
Speaker 1: She'd been too small to climb up to it that
Speaker 1: first winter when I found her a tiny orange kitten
Speaker 1: out in the snow. But the following autumn, the first
Speaker 1: day the boiler had kicked on and the radiators began
Speaker 1: and to circulate warmth. She had discovered it a broad
Speaker 1: flat shelf built over the radiator and right beside a
Speaker 1: big picture window. She could lay her soft belly against
Speaker 1: the wood and feel the heat rising up as she
Speaker 1: looked out at the birds and the branches. Pure kitty
Speaker 1: heaven plus. And I think this was a big plus.
Speaker 1: Crumb couldn't reach her there. Crumb, my little brown dog
Speaker 1: with a snaggle tooth and a lion's mane of delightfully
Speaker 1: disheveled fur, adored Marmalade. He brought her his toys and
Speaker 1: waited for her at dinner time, shifting excitedly from paw
Speaker 1: to paw as her plate was set down beside his.
Speaker 1: While Marmie frequently pretended not to notice any of this,
Speaker 1: I saw that they snuggled together under the blanket at night,
Speaker 1: and that she cleaned his face in years each day.
Speaker 1: We were a little family, the three of us, and
Speaker 1: I loved our life. Crumb and I took walks most days,
Speaker 1: though lately the icy sidewalks had made them less fun.
Speaker 1: I had bought him booties to protect his paws, which
Speaker 1: went about as well as you might imagine. He'd stood
Speaker 1: at the door, alternating between shaking out each leg and
Speaker 1: freezing in place, as if we were playing Red Light,
Speaker 1: Green Light, we'd made it about twenty feet down the
Speaker 1: sidewalk before we'd abandoned the whole idea, and since then
Speaker 1: waited for dry days to go on walks. Instead. I
Speaker 1: found some other ways to entertain all of us over
Speaker 1: the winter. I'd grown a potful of catnip on the
Speaker 1: window sill in the kitchen, and in the afternoons when
Speaker 1: we all needed a pick me up, I'd rub a
Speaker 1: leaf along Marmalade's scratching post and over her tiny toy
Speaker 1: mice and Crumb, and I would watch her go from
Speaker 1: sleepy and disinterested to wild attack cat in a flash.
Speaker 1: I found out Crumb enjoyed car rides, and once a
Speaker 1: week or so we'd head out to do some errands together.
Speaker 1: He quickly became a favorite customer with several of our stops.
Speaker 1: He was such a natural ham that he made everyone
Speaker 1: laugh and fall in love with him. In fact, if
Speaker 1: I showed up at the hardware store without him, the
Speaker 1: clerks would peer over the counter and listen for the
Speaker 1: scrabble of his paws on the linoleum, asking where's Crumb.
Speaker 1: They kept biscuits by the register for him, and those
Speaker 1: days out had become a long buffet of treats for Crumb.
Speaker 1: We'd often end at our favorite coffee shop, which had
Speaker 1: a covered patio with heaters and a walk up dog
Speaker 1: friendly window. I'd get my macha with soy, Crumb would
Speaker 1: get his pup cup with biscuit garnish, and we'd find
Speaker 1: a table in the sun. He'd scramble up onto my
Speaker 1: lap and we'd enjoy our quiet time together. Whenever we
Speaker 1: got home from those days out, Marmalade would meet us
Speaker 1: at the door, thoroughly sniff Crumb as if to assure
Speaker 1: herself he hadn't been anywhere he shouldn't have, then turn
Speaker 1: her tail and head back to her spot in the window.
Speaker 1: We'd also had more play dates with Bertie, the sweet
Speaker 1: giant greyhound whom Marmalade had known since she was a kitten.
Speaker 1: Bertie's favorite thing to do was sleep, so when he
Speaker 1: and his dad came over, it was often for a
Speaker 1: quiet day and sighed together. In fact, those days together
Speaker 1: had grown more frequent, and the last couple of months,
Speaker 1: we'd started, without even noticing, to spend every Friday night
Speaker 1: all five of us watching movies on the giant sofa
Speaker 1: in my living room, waiting for takeout to be delivered,
Speaker 1: or cooking together in the kitchen. It had grown slowly organically,
Speaker 1: this feeling of being together being more natural, more comfortable
Speaker 1: than being apart. And now Bertie had his own bed
Speaker 1: beside the others and his own bowl in the kitchen.
Speaker 1: He ate different kibble than Crumb, and I'd bought a
Speaker 1: big bag of it from the pet store to keep
Speaker 1: in my pantry. Talk about commitment. I went to pet
Speaker 1: Marmalade in her spot at the window, and she woke
Speaker 1: as I laid a hand in her fur. She snuggled
Speaker 1: her head up into my palm as I rubbed her
Speaker 1: ears and scratched down her back. I started to tell
Speaker 1: her about something we had planned. I think Crumb already knew,
Speaker 1: since he'd found my suitcase open in the middle of
Speaker 1: the bedroom and had sat in it and frowned for
Speaker 1: a while. Now, MARMI I said, leaning down to talk
Speaker 1: quietly to her, You've got to be a big girl,
Speaker 1: a good big sister. You know how Crumb looks up
Speaker 1: to you. Her tail flicked and she began to purr.
Speaker 1: You and Crumb and Birdie. You're going to spend a
Speaker 1: few days with a friend, you know, her, the nice
Speaker 1: lady at the inn. She's going to take care of
Speaker 1: you all, and you're going to have fun there. Bertie's
Speaker 1: dad and I will only be gone a few days
Speaker 1: and we'll bring you back something nice. She turned and
Speaker 1: looked at me shrewdly, then faced back to the window.
Speaker 1: Were a bright yellow bird with a swath of black
Speaker 1: crosses wings and bold yellow eyebrows sat an evening grosbeak,
Speaker 1: a rare pretty bird. It seemed auspicious. Crumb prance over
Speaker 1: and I scooped him up so he could look out
Speaker 1: as well. I was excited for our trip. We were
Speaker 1: headed somewhere sunny where we could walk on the beach
Speaker 1: and see how this little spark we'd started might grow.
Speaker 1: And I was also nervous to leave the animals. The
Speaker 1: innkeeper had jumped at the chance to host them as
Speaker 1: they were still closed for the season, and she'd mentioned
Speaker 1: she'd been thinking about getting an animal friend, so we'd
Speaker 1: all of us be testing things this next week or so.
Speaker 1: I'd pack up my own bag was sandals and sun
Speaker 1: dresses and books to read on the beach, and then
Speaker 1: I'd pack up their little bags with their favorite plankies
Speaker 1: and toys and kibble, and tomorrow we'd dropped them off
Speaker 1: at the inn. I imagined them running through the halls,
Speaker 1: Crumb chasing a toy down the length of the ballroom,
Speaker 1: and Marmalade preening among the house plants in the library.
Speaker 1: I was excited to go, and already excited to come
Speaker 1: back home again. Cat Nap, Marmalade was dozing in her
Speaker 1: spot by the window. She'd been too small to climb
Speaker 1: up to it that first winter when I found her
Speaker 1: a tiny orange kitten out in the snow, but the
Speaker 1: following autumn, the first day the boiler had kicked on
Speaker 1: and the radiators began to circulate warmth. She'd discovered it
Speaker 1: a broad flat shelf built over the radiator and right
Speaker 1: beside a big picture window. She could lay her soft
Speaker 1: belly against the wood and feel the heat rising up
Speaker 1: as she looked out at the birds in the branches.
Speaker 1: Pure kitty heaven plus, and I think this was a
Speaker 1: big plus. Crumb couldn't reach her there. Crumb, my little
Speaker 1: brown dog with a snaggle tooth and a lion's mane
Speaker 1: of delightfully disheveled fur, adored Marmalade. He brought her his
Speaker 1: toys and waited for her at dinner time, shifting excitedly
Speaker 1: from paw to paw as her plate was set down
Speaker 1: beside his. While Marmie frequently pretended not to notice any
Speaker 1: of this, I saw them snuggle together under the blanket
Speaker 1: at night, her cleaning his face and ears. Each day.
Speaker 1: We were a little family, the three of us, and
Speaker 1: I loved our life. Crumb and I took walks most days,
Speaker 1: though lately the icy sidewalks had made them less fun.
Speaker 1: I'd bought him little booties to protect his paws, which
Speaker 1: went about as well as you might imagine. He'd stood
Speaker 1: at the door, alternating between shaking out each leg and
Speaker 1: freezing in place, as if we were playing Red Light
Speaker 1: Green Light. We'd made it about twenty feet down the
Speaker 1: sidewalk before we'd abandoned the whole idea, and since then
Speaker 1: waited for dry days to go for walks instead. I
Speaker 1: found some other ways to entertain all of us over
Speaker 1: the winter. I'd grown a potful of catnip on the
Speaker 1: window sill in the kitchen, and in the afternoons when
Speaker 1: we all needed a pick me up, I'd rub a
Speaker 1: leaf along Marmalade's scratching post and over her tiny toy
Speaker 1: mice and Crominie would watch her go from sleepy and
Speaker 1: disinterested to wild attack cat in a flash. I found
Speaker 1: out Crumb enjoyed car rides, and once a week or
Speaker 1: so we'd head out to do some errands together. He
Speaker 1: quickly became a favorite customer read several of our stops.
Speaker 1: He was such a natural ham that he made everyone
Speaker 1: laugh and fall in love with him. In fact, if
Speaker 1: I showed up at the hardware store without him, the
Speaker 1: clerks would peer over the counter and listen for the
Speaker 1: scrabble of his paws on the linoleum, asking where's Crumb.
Speaker 1: They kept biscuits by the register for him, and those
Speaker 1: days had become a long buffet of treats for Chrome.
Speaker 1: We'd often end at our favorite coffee shop, which had
Speaker 1: a covered patio with heaters and a walk up dog
Speaker 1: friendly window. I'd get my macha with soy Chrume would
Speaker 1: get his pup cup with biscuit garnish, and we'd find
Speaker 1: a table in the sun. He'd scramble up onto my
Speaker 1: lap and we'd enjoy our quiet time together. When we
Speaker 1: got home from those days, out. Marmalade would meet us
Speaker 1: at the door, thoroughly sniff crumb, as if to assure
Speaker 1: herself he hadn't been anywhere he shouldn't have, then turn
Speaker 1: her tail and had back to her spot in the window.
Speaker 1: We'd also had more play dates with Birdie, the sweet
Speaker 1: giant greyhound, whom Marmalade had known since she was a kitten.
Speaker 1: Bertie's favorite thing to do was sleep, so when he
Speaker 1: and his dad came over, it was often for a
Speaker 1: quiet day and side together. In fact, those days together
Speaker 1: i'd grown more frequent in the last couple of months.
Speaker 1: We'd started, without even noticing, to spend every Friday night
Speaker 1: all five of us watching movies on the giant sofa
Speaker 1: in my living room, waiting for take out to be delivered,
Speaker 1: or cooking together in the kitchen. It had grown slowly organically,
Speaker 1: this feeling of being together being more natural, more comfortable
Speaker 1: than being apart. And now Bertie had his own bed
Speaker 1: beside the others, and his own bowl in the kitchen.
Speaker 1: He ate different kibble than crumb, and I'd bought a
Speaker 1: big bag of it from the pet store to keep
Speaker 1: in my pantry. Talk about commitment. I went to pet
Speaker 1: Marmalade in her spot at the window, and she woke
Speaker 1: as I laid a hand in her fur. She snuggled
Speaker 1: her head up into my palm as I rubbed her
Speaker 1: ears and scratched down her back. I started to tell
Speaker 1: her about something we had planned. I think Crumb already knew,
Speaker 1: since he'd found my suit case open in the middle
Speaker 1: of the bedroom and had sat in it and frowned
Speaker 1: for a while. Now, Marmie, I said, leaning down to
Speaker 1: talk quietly to her, You've got to be a big girl,
Speaker 1: a good big sister. You know how Crumb looks up
Speaker 1: to you. Her tail flicked and she began to purr.
Speaker 1: You and Crumb and Birtie. You're going to spend a
Speaker 1: few days with a friend, you know her, the nice
Speaker 1: lady at the inn. She's going to take care of
Speaker 1: you all, and you're going to have fun there. Bertie's
Speaker 1: dad and I will only be gone for a few
Speaker 1: days and we'll bring you back something nice. She turned
Speaker 1: and looked at me shrewdly, then faced back to the window,
Speaker 1: where a bright yellow bird with a swath of black
Speaker 1: across his wings and bold yellow eyebrows sat an evening
Speaker 1: grosbeak a rare pretty bird. It seemed auspicious. Crumb pranced
Speaker 1: over and I scooped him up so he could look
Speaker 1: out as well. I was excited for our trip. We
Speaker 1: were headed somewhere sunny, where we could walk on the
Speaker 1: beach and see how this little spark we'd started might grow.
Speaker 1: And I was also a little nervous to leave the animals.
Speaker 1: The innkeeper had jumped at the chance to host them
Speaker 1: as they were still closed for the season, and she'd
Speaker 1: mentioned she'd been thinking about getting an animal friend. So
Speaker 1: we'd all of us be testing things this next week
Speaker 1: or so. I'd pack up my own bag with sandals
Speaker 1: and sun dresses and books to read on the beach,
Speaker 1: and then I'd pack up their little bags with their
Speaker 1: favorite blankies and toys and kibble, and tomorrow we'd drop
Speaker 1: them off at the inn. I imagine them running through
Speaker 1: the halls, Crumb chasing a toy down the length of
Speaker 1: the ball room, and Marmalade preening among the house plants
Speaker 1: in a library. I was excited to go, and already
Speaker 1: excited to come back home again. Sweet dreams