Story 34: Reza Shadey Gets a Super Silly Royal Shock!
It was a bright, breezy morning and Reza Shadey, who thought he was the KING of the garden (and maybe the whole wide world!), was sitting on the windowsill. Smooooth. He was licking his fluffy fur, making it look extra perfect. Outside, the little birds were just... flapping. "Hmph", thought Reza, giving his tail a big SWISH! "So noisy! This garden is MINE!"
Creak! Thump! The door opened and in came Mrs Higgins, Reza's favourite human (because she had the yummy biscuits!). But what was THAT she was carrying? A shiny gold box! And on the box, in swirly writing, it said: "Her Royal Fluffiness, Queenie!"
Reza Shadey's eyes got very, very narrow. His whiskers went boing! "A BOX?! And GOLD?!" he thought. "And WHO is Queenie?!" His tail went thump-thump-THUMP! on the windowsill.
"This is Queenie, Reza, my dear", Mrs Higgins chirped, not seeing Reza's shocked face. "She's staying for a little while as dear Mrs Cartwright-Smythe has gone to Paris. Isn't she just a sweetie-pie?" She put the gold box right by the warm fireplace – Reza's second best napping spot! "We'll let her out soon. Be a good boy, Reza, don't look so... like a grumpy cloud!"
Inside the gold box, Queenie sat perfectly still. Her fur was super-duper white, like a fluffy marshmallow cloud! Her tiny pink nose just twitched. Her eyes were closed. She looked like she was having a very important, very quiet nap. "Probably dreaming of being EVEN bossier than me", Reza grumbled inside his head.
Reza crept over, quiet as a little mouse. Pitter-patter. He sniffed the box. Sniff sniff. Then he gave it a very, very light TAP! with his paw. Tap-tap. "Well, well", he rumbled, but it wasn't a friendly rumble. "A fancy box! Hope there's something good inside... not just a plain old cat!" He thought, "Bet she eats boring food and doesn't even chase wiggly strings! Boring!"
Outside, Penelope, Ginger Tom and little Tiger were walking by. Tiger was trying to pounce on a tiny, floating seed. Pounce-WHOOSH-oopsie!
"Who's your new friend, Rezzi?" called Penelope, her tail wiggling like a question mark.
Reza Shadey puffed out his chest. Puff! He tried to look very important. "THAT", he announced, with a big wave of his paw (he wobbled a little!). "Is 'Queenie'. She's a travelling fluff-ball in a gold box. Thinks she's a queen! Probably wants her water in a sparkly cup and thinks the garden gnomes are her little chairs!"
"Ooh, she looks quiet", said Ginger Tom, peering in with his big, round eyes. "Silly Tom", thought Reza.
"She looks SUPER posh!" squeaked Tiger, his eyes wide like saucers. GASP! "Does she have a tiny crown?!"
Reza Shadey rolled his eyes SO hard, he almost saw his own tail! "Posh?! She's just a fluffy doorstop! Probably scared of dust and thinks mud is a forbidden word!"
But then... CLICK! The gold box door opened! Mrs Higgins was back, making little happy cooing sounds.
Out stepped Queenie. She didn't just walk. She GLIDED. Like a cloud floating on sunshine! Her white fur sparkled! Her tiny pink nose went up up up, like the air wasn't good enough! She looked at Reza with a cool, quiet look that seemed to say, "Hmm, you're... here." Then, in a voice soft like a kitten's purr but strong like a hidden claw, she said, "Oh, darling. Could you be an absolute treasure and fluff my cushion? It's a little... flat from the journey. And one simply cannot relax on a flat cushion, can one? Try to fluff it round and round, like this... gently."
Reza Shadey just stared. Blink. Blink. His mouth made an O shape. "My... WHAT now?!" he stammered. He felt like his king crown was wobbly!
"My cushion", Queenie repeated, with a tiny little sigh. "Fluff it. Nicely. Round and round. A royal cat needs perfectly fluffed comfort, naturally."
And oh dear, sleepyheads, that was just the super-duper, extra-special beginning of Reza's royal surprise!
By lunchtime, Queenie was on the BEST cushion in the room (Reza's FAVOURITE cushion, the one shaped just like him from all his naps!). She also said the tuna was "okay, for a quick bite, I suppose." And when Mrs Higgins tried to play with the feather toy, Queenie said it should be waved "slowly, like a gentle breeze, please, not like a crazy chicken! More... like a graceful dance!" Mrs Higgins actually did a little twirl with the feather toy!
Reza Shadey was SHOCKED. His perfect world was wibbling! He tried his best tricks to show he was the boss:
1) He pretended she wasn't there – Queenie just stayed on HIS cushion, asking for fresh water, "Not bubbly, please, just plain still water, from the special tap. And is the bowl clean? No speckles!"
2) He sat right in front of the sunny spot, making himself a big, fluffy wall – she just stepped right over his tail, daintily, like it was a little rug! She even peeked at his tail and sighed, "Needs a brush, that."
3) He did a super-duper LOUD, very dramatic YAWN right in her face while she napped – she didn't even twitch! She just opened ONE sparkly eye, gave him a look that could turn milk sour from across the room and closed it again with a little Snap!
When Penelope peeked over the fence, her eyes sparkling with mischief, she asked, "So, Rezzi, how's the royal visitor? Best friends yet?"
Reza Shadey let out a low GRRRRRR. "She's not a guest, Penelope, she's a FLUFFY BOSS! A white, demanding, cushion-stealing tyrant! She actually called me 'my dear boy' and asked me to move a biscuit closer because her paws were 'a little tired'! ME! Reza Shadey! The Biscuit-Moving Assistant!" His fur stuck out so much he looked like a giant fluff-ball!
Ginger Tom, who usually just chased butterflies (flutter flutter) or his own tail (spin spin), actually snorted with laughter! Heh heh, SNORT! "Sounds like she's as bossy as YOU, old pal!"
Later, later that night, the air in the room was thick and quiet. Queenie and Reza BOTH walked towards the Royal Cushion (the one that used to be just Reza's!) at the EXACT same time! They froze! Noses almost touching! Whiskers wiggling like crazy! Their eyes stared at each other in a silent, fluffy face-off! It was a battle of who could be the quietest and stare the longest!
After a super-duper long quiet time, so quiet you could hear a tiny plink when a dust bit landed, Queenie spoke. Her voice was dripping with quiet importance. "You do fluff it quite well, darling", she said, giving a tiny nod. "For a... normal cat with surprisingly good paws."
Reza Shadey was so surprised by her cheek! He tried to smirk, like he was winning (but maybe he just looked like he had a tickle). "And you're not TOTALLY annoying", he said back, trying to sound cool, "for a bossy, demanding, cushion-taking fluff-ball with a head as big as a badger's!"
And so, they sat. Back to back. Very stiffly. Not touching (oh no!). Definitely not talking (too quiet!). But maybe, just maybe, sharing a tiny, warm corner of the cushion. Just a little bit. "Okay", Reza thought quietly. "She does pick a good cushion. Almost as good as my picking. Almost."
The very next morning, Queenie and her gold box were GONE. ZAP! Swished away back to her palace of pampering. The house felt... normal again. And quiet. A little TOO quiet. Reza Shadey walked over to his cushion. He stopped. Then, very quietly, when no one was looking, he gave the edge a little flick with his paw. Round and round. Just to see if it fluffed... properly. "Hmph. It's okay", he muttered, before settling down for a very, very long, super-duper, uninterrupted and very happy nap. Because a king needs his rest, especially after a super silly shock!
Night night. Sleep tight.