Speaker 1: Welcome to bedtime stories for grown ups, but also for
Speaker 1: kids and really for everyone, in which nothing much happens.
Speaker 1: You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Catherine Nikolay.
Speaker 1: I write and read all the stories you hear on
Speaker 1: nothing much happens. With audio engineering by Bob Whittersheim. You
Speaker 1: can get your very own with audio engineering by Bob Wittersheim. Hoodie,
Speaker 1: if you know, you know. We've also got pencils, stickers,
Speaker 1: water bottles, and tumblers that remind you to breathe in
Speaker 1: and out, to think of three good things, and that
Speaker 1: you have done enough for today. It's all at Nothing
Speaker 1: much happens now. All that is needed from you is listening.
Speaker 1: Listen to my voice and the simple story I have
Speaker 1: to share, and soon you'll be relaxed and sleeping. I'll
Speaker 1: read it twice, and I'll go a little slower the
Speaker 1: second time through. If you waken the night, don't hesitate
Speaker 1: to turn this right back on. With time hearing just
Speaker 1: a few words in my voice, we'll become a cue
Speaker 1: to relax, feel safe and sleep. Okay, lights out, devices down,
Speaker 1: fluff your pillow and slide down into your sheets. Anything
Speaker 1: that's still weighing on your mind, Give it to me,
Speaker 1: go on, hand it over. Okay, I've got it. Now,
Speaker 1: I'll keep track of things. You sleep. Breathe in through
Speaker 1: your nose, out through your mouth, just as deep. Breathe
Speaker 1: in and sigh good. Our story tonight is called Raining
Speaker 1: Cats and Dogs, and it's a story about a play
Speaker 1: date for a few furry friends. It's also about someone's
Speaker 1: first trip to the groomer's lightning flashing through the curtains
Speaker 1: and looking out at the rain as a kitty purrs
Speaker 1: in your arms. Raining Cats and Dogs. We'd been planning
Speaker 1: a play date for a while, my orange kitty Marmalade,
Speaker 1: my little brown dog Crumb, and their good friend blue Bird,
Speaker 1: who we all called Birdie, a gentle greyhound who had
Speaker 1: been visiting ever since Marmie was a kitten. We'd planned
Speaker 1: on tossing tennis balls and frisbees in the backyard for
Speaker 1: the dogs, and letting marmal laid sunbathe on my lap
Speaker 1: in her harness, something she begrudgingly allowed me to put
Speaker 1: on her, only because she knew it meant spending time
Speaker 1: on the patio clicking her teeth at the birds. We'd
Speaker 1: planned on a cookout with birdies, Dad's secret recipe potato
Speaker 1: salad and grilled corn and other goodies. We'd thought we
Speaker 1: could take the dogs for a long walk, maybe fill
Speaker 1: up a kittie pool for them to splash through. But
Speaker 1: this morning, while we were still curled up in bed,
Speaker 1: we'd heard the crack thunder, the tattoo of rain beating
Speaker 1: down all around us. Crumb didn't much like storms, and
Speaker 1: he'd burrowed deeper under the covers. Marmalade, who, for all
Speaker 1: her pretended annoyance that her little brother was still a
Speaker 1: mother hand to him, me owed until I lifted the
Speaker 1: blanket so she could curl up beside him. We laid
Speaker 1: there for a while, just listening to the rain, and
Speaker 1: I wondered what would become of our play date. Crumb
Speaker 1: had been to the Groomers for the first time a
Speaker 1: few days before, getting spiffed up to see his friend.
Speaker 1: It was still the year of first's for us, so
Speaker 1: I didn't know what he'd think of it. But when
Speaker 1: I had pushed open the door to the groomer, he'd
Speaker 1: stepped right in, curious and confident, and had been a
Speaker 1: very good boy for them. When I picked him up,
Speaker 1: I couldn't help but laugh. His spiky brown fur was
Speaker 1: a soft fuzz, his paws were neat, and his ears
Speaker 1: were trimmed up and tidy. He grinned at me with
Speaker 1: his lips stuck on his snaggle tooth and looked so
Speaker 1: proud with the summertime bandana tied around his neck. It
Speaker 1: reminded me of my nephew's second grade picture, which was
Speaker 1: stuck to the front of my fridge. He'd pick'd out
Speaker 1: his own outfit on picture day, which was creative and
Speaker 1: goofy and his hair stuck up at the back, but
Speaker 1: he'd just been happy to have his picture taken. There
Speaker 1: was a definite resemblance between the two of them. When
Speaker 1: we'd come home, Marmalade dropped lazily off her perch by
Speaker 1: the window and circled Crumb a time or two, appraising
Speaker 1: his new look, then walked away, knowing he would chase her.
Speaker 1: She was often too cool for school, but Crumb wasn't.
Speaker 1: He loved her and wanted to sit next to her,
Speaker 1: eat next to her, snuggle a nap together. She mostly
Speaker 1: allowed it all while pretending she couldn't care less. But
Speaker 1: I'd seen her the day Crumb got a burr stuck
Speaker 1: in his paw. He'd only cried out once and sat
Speaker 1: on my lap to let me take it out and
Speaker 1: clean up the boo boo. But Marmie had rushed in
Speaker 1: at the sound of his squeak, her eyes wide with worry.
Speaker 1: She'd sat with him and cleaned his face after he'd
Speaker 1: been patched up, and he laid a bit woe is
Speaker 1: Me and drunk up every bit of her attention. As
Speaker 1: the rain came down and another flash of lightning sparked
Speaker 1: through the curtains, I rested my hand on the little
Speaker 1: lumps in the blanket that were Crumb and Marmalade. What
Speaker 1: do we do about our play date? I asked them.
Speaker 1: They didn't answer, it's raining cats and dogs. I laughed,
Speaker 1: get it. They didn't answer. Well, I thought it was funny,
Speaker 1: I said, into the darkness. I reached for my phone,
Speaker 1: thinking I would text my joke to my friend Bertie's dad,
Speaker 1: but found that he had texted me only a minute
Speaker 1: before it said it's raining cats and dogs. See, I said,
Speaker 1: it is funny. They didn't move. I let them sleep
Speaker 1: in and snuck out to make my coffee and check
Speaker 1: the forecast. By the time I was standing in my
Speaker 1: robe by the back door with my cup in hand,
Speaker 1: Crumb had come down and was considering sneaking into the
Speaker 1: yard for a quick trip. The lightning had stopped, but
Speaker 1: the rain was still coming down. I cracked the door open,
Speaker 1: and he tiptoed out onto the closest corner of grass
Speaker 1: to attend to his morning business, then came right back in.
Speaker 1: He got a tree eat and carried it over to
Speaker 1: his bed to enjoy it. I topped up my coffee
Speaker 1: and shuffled about filling their breakfast bowls and putting out
Speaker 1: fresh water. The forecast called for more rain, more storms
Speaker 1: all day long. Marmalade strolled into the kitchen and wove
Speaker 1: through my ankles. I put a couple of slices of
Speaker 1: bread into the toaster and pushed down the lever, then
Speaker 1: scooped her up into my arms and carried her over
Speaker 1: to the window. She leaned into me as she looked
Speaker 1: out the dripping branches and gray sky. Her purr was loud.
Speaker 1: When I thought of the first time I'd ever heard it,
Speaker 1: and smiled. It was a purr in cursive, a purr
Speaker 1: with exclamation marks. That day when I'd first seen tiny
Speaker 1: pawprints in the snow, and set up a box for
Speaker 1: her to warm in, hopeful that she'd let me take
Speaker 1: her inside. I'd tried to play it cool, but I'd
Speaker 1: had a feeling right away. It was the same feeling
Speaker 1: when I'd seen Crumbs adopt picture in the paper. I
Speaker 1: just knew we were family who hadn't met yet. Luckily,
Speaker 1: on that snowy day, she'd decided to skip the box
Speaker 1: and blanket and come right to the door. We'd been
Speaker 1: staring out of windows together ever since. I turned and
Speaker 1: walked us back into the kitchen, just as the toast
Speaker 1: came popping out of the toaster and we both jumped.
Speaker 1: I laughed and set marmalade down in front of her bowl.
Speaker 1: I liked our morning routines. Just as I was breading
Speaker 1: peanut butter onto my toast, I heard my phone buzz
Speaker 1: in my pocket. I carried it with my plate over
Speaker 1: to the kitchen table. Well, said my friend, we could cancel,
Speaker 1: but Bluebird was really excited to spend time with Crumb
Speaker 1: and Marmee today, and the potato salad is already made.
Speaker 1: Movies on the couch instead. Crumb stopped eating for a
Speaker 1: second as I called out to him movies on the
Speaker 1: couch with Bertie. He did a couple Zumi circles by
Speaker 1: his bowl, which I took as yes please. I smiled
Speaker 1: at my screen as I typed in my answer. Fine,
Speaker 1: twist my arm. Raining cats and dogs. We'd been planning
Speaker 1: a play date for a while, my orange kitty Marmalade,
Speaker 1: my little brown dog Crumb, and their good friend blue Bird,
Speaker 1: who we all called Birdie, a gentle greyhound who'd been
Speaker 1: visiting ever since Marmee was a kitten. We'd planned on
Speaker 1: tossing tennis balls and frisbees in the back yard for
Speaker 1: the dogs, and letting Marmalade sun bathe on my lap
Speaker 1: in her harness, something she begrudgingly allowed me to put
Speaker 1: on her only because she knew it meant spending time
Speaker 1: on the patio clicking her teeth at the birds. We'd
Speaker 1: planned on a cookout with birdies, Dad's secret recipe potato
Speaker 1: salad and grilled corn and other goodies. We thought we
Speaker 1: could take the dogs for a long walk, maybe fill
Speaker 1: up a kiddie pool for them to splash through. But
Speaker 1: this morning, while we were still curled up in bed,
Speaker 1: we'd heard the crack of thunder and the tattoo of
Speaker 1: rain beating down all around us. Crumb didn't much like storms,
Speaker 1: and he'd burrowed deeper under the covers. Marmalade, who for
Speaker 1: all her pretended annoyance and her little brother, was still
Speaker 1: a mother hen to him, me owed till I lifted
Speaker 1: the blanket so she could curl up beside him. We
Speaker 1: laid there for a while, just listening to the rain,
Speaker 1: and I wondered what would become of our play date.
Speaker 1: Crumb had been to the groomers for the first time
Speaker 1: a few days before, getting spiffed up to see his friend.
Speaker 1: It was still the year of firsts for us, so
Speaker 1: I didn't know what he'd think of it. But when
Speaker 1: I'd pushed open the door to the groomer, he'd stepped
Speaker 1: right in, curious and confident, and I had been a
Speaker 1: very good boy for them. When I picked him up,
Speaker 1: I couldn't help but laugh. His spiky brown fur was
Speaker 1: a soft fuzz, his paws were neat, and his ears
Speaker 1: were trimmed up and tidy. He grinned at me with
Speaker 1: his lip stuck on his snaggletooth and looked so proud
Speaker 1: with a summertime bandana tied around his neck. It reminded
Speaker 1: me of my nephew's second grade picture, which was stuck
Speaker 1: to the front of my fridge. He'd picked out his
Speaker 1: own outfit for picture day, which was goofy and creative
Speaker 1: and his hair stuck up at the back, but he'd
Speaker 1: just been happy to have his picture taken. There was
Speaker 1: a definite resemblance between the two of them. When we'd
Speaker 1: come home, Marmalade dropped lazily off her perch by the
Speaker 1: window and circled Crumb a time or two, appraising his
Speaker 1: new look, then walked away, knowing he would chase her.
Speaker 1: She was often too cool for school, but Crumb wasn't.
Speaker 1: He loved her and wanted to sit next to her,
Speaker 1: eat next to her, snuggle and napped together. She mostly
Speaker 1: allowed it all while pretending she couldn't care less. But
Speaker 1: I'd seen her the day Crumb got a burr stuck
Speaker 1: in his paw. He'd only cried out once and sat
Speaker 1: on my lap to let me take it out and
Speaker 1: clean up the boo boo, But Marmie had rushed in
Speaker 1: at the sound of his squeak, her eyes wide with worry.
Speaker 1: She'd sat with him and cleaned his face after he'd
Speaker 1: been patched up, and he'd laid a bit Woe is
Speaker 1: Me and drunk up every bit of her attention. As
Speaker 1: the rain came down and another flash of lightning sparked
Speaker 1: through the curtains, I rested my hand on the little
Speaker 1: lumps in the blanket that were Crumb and Marmalade. What
Speaker 1: will we do about our play date? I asked them.
Speaker 1: They didn't answer, it's raining cats and dogs. I laughed,
Speaker 1: get it? They didn't answer. Well, I thought it was funny,
Speaker 1: I said, into the darkness. I reached for my phone,
Speaker 1: thinking I would text my joke to my friend Bertie Dad,
Speaker 1: but found that he had texted me only a minute
Speaker 1: before it said it's raining cats and dogs. See, I said,
Speaker 1: it is funny. They didn't move. I let them sleep
Speaker 1: in and snuck out to make my coffee and check
Speaker 1: the forecast. By the time I was standing in my
Speaker 1: robe by the back door with a cup in hand,
Speaker 1: Crumb had come down and was considering sneaking out into
Speaker 1: the yard for a quick rip. The lightning had stopped,
Speaker 1: but the rain was still coming down. I cracked the
Speaker 1: door open and he tiptoed out onto the closest corner
Speaker 1: of grass to attend to his morning business, then came
Speaker 1: straight back in. He got a treat and carried it
Speaker 1: over to his bed to enjoy it. I topped up
Speaker 1: my coffee and shuffled about filling their breakfast bowls and
Speaker 1: putting out fresh water. The forecast called for more rain,
Speaker 1: more storms all day long. Marmalade strolled into the kitchen
Speaker 1: and wove through my ankles. I put a couple slices
Speaker 1: of bread into the toaster and push'd down the lever
Speaker 1: and scooped her up into my arms. Carried her over
Speaker 1: to the window. She leaned into me as we looked
Speaker 1: out at the dripping branches and gray sky. Her purr
Speaker 1: was loud, and I thought of the first time I'd
Speaker 1: ever heard it, and smiled. It was a per incursive,
Speaker 1: a purr with exclamation marks. That day, when I'd first
Speaker 1: seen tiny pawprints in the snow and set up a
Speaker 1: box for her to warm in, hopeful that she'd let
Speaker 1: me take her inside. I'd tried to play it cool,
Speaker 1: but I'd had a feeling right away, and it was
Speaker 1: the same when I had seen Crumb's adoption picture in
Speaker 1: the paper. I just knew we were family who hadn't
Speaker 1: met yet. Luckily, on that snowy day, she'd decided to
Speaker 1: skip the box and blanket and come right to the door.
Speaker 1: We'd been staring out of windows together ever since. I
Speaker 1: turned and walked us back into the kitchen, just as
Speaker 1: the toast came popping out of the toaster and we
Speaker 1: both jumped. I laughed and sat Marmalade down in front
Speaker 1: of her bowl. I liked our morning routines. Just as
Speaker 1: I was spreading peanut butter onto my toast, I heard
Speaker 1: my phone buzz in my pocket. I carried it with
Speaker 1: my plate over to the kitchen table. Well, said my friend.
Speaker 1: We could cancel, but blue Bird was really excited to
Speaker 1: spend time with Crumb and Marmee today, and the potato
Speaker 1: salad is already made. Movies on the couch instead. Crumb
Speaker 1: stopped eating for a second as I called out to him,
Speaker 1: movies on the cow with Bertie. He did a couple
Speaker 1: Zumi circles by his bowl, which I took as yes please.
Speaker 1: I smiled at the screen as I typed in my answer, Fine,
Speaker 1: twist my arm, Sweet dreams