The Cat's Meow(P.S. Winn) Living on a farm was a great thing.
For Max, the best thing was all the animals that were around the place.
Max was in the kitchen with his mom.
Max’s parents were divorced. So he spent a lot of time with his mom. That was okay with Max. He loved his mom, and still got to spend some weekends with his dad. Max’s dad lived in the city. Max felt it was too noisy, but he put up with the loud sounds in order to be with his dad.

Tonight, Max was watching as his cat, Tiger, was having a batch of kittens. Max was on the floor, next to the box.
His mom, Cindy, was in her chair just a couple feet away. Max looked over at her.
“How many kittens do you think she’ll have mom?”

Looking from the box, over to her son, Cindy shrugged.
“That’s hard to say. Some cats only have one or two, Others have many more. All we can do is wait and see. Then just try and help, if Tiger has any trouble.”

Max frowned, hoping there wouldn’t be any problems. He wouldn’t know how to help if there were.

As the kittens were born, Max smiled at each one. He asked his mother if he could name them, when each was born. When she nodded, he gave the three kittens that came, the names he thought fit.
The two females he named Sandy, and Tawny because of their color. The only male he named Scruffy. He had been born last with his hair standing up in a messy way. The girl kittens had made lots of noise, but Scruffy hadn’t made a sound.
Max stared at the kitten, then turned to his mom. His face scrunched with worry.
“Is he okay, mom? He sure is quiet.”

Smiling at Max, Cindy nodded.
“He looks fine. I’m sure Scruffy will make noise when he needs something. Just give him time.”

Glad to hear what his mom said, Max nodded.
“If I get to keep any of the kittens, I’d like to keep Scruffy. Even if he never makes noise. I like him the best.”

Nodding, Cindy smiled.
“If you behave and do your chores, I think you should get to keep one of the kittens.”

Nodding, Max grinned and stared at Scruffy, knowing the make kitten was going to be his choice for sure.

It was almost two months before Max was allowed to give away the two female kittens.
He had to wait until the pair were big enough to eat on their own.
Max gave Sandy to a neighbor, and Tawny to a friend at school. He kept Scruffy, like he planned on. Strangely, Scruffy still hadn’t made a noise.

By the time Scruffy was three months old, Max was getting worried. He talked to his mom about it.
“I’m really getting scared that Scruffy has something wrong. He doesn’t make noise, not even a purring sound when I pet him.

His mom had sighed.
“I think he is fine. Scruffy needs to go and see the veterinarian anyway. He needs to get her shots. We can ask the doctor what they think about Scruffy being so quiet when we take Scruffy in. Will you feel better about it then?”

Max had nodded, while Cindy had called and made an appointment.
A few days later, Cindy, and Max sat in the doctor’s office.

Max held a holder with Scruffy inside in his lap.

A nurse walked into the room.
“The doctor can see Scruffy bow.”

Max and Cindy stood and took Scruffy into a room.
Max set the crate on the table. The doctor opened the door on the front, and took Scruffy out.
The doctor examined Scruffy, then gave him the shots he needed.
“Looks to me like someone is taking good care of their pet.”

Nodding Cindy smiled. She lifted her hand, and pointed to her son.
“That would be Max. He’s the one who takes care of Scruffy.”

The doctor looked at Max.
“You’re doing a great job. Taking care of a pet is a big responsibility. Not everyone is cut out for owning a pet. Is there anything you’d like to ask me about taking care of Scruffy?”

Max nodded, but was frowning.
“I know how to take care of Scruffy, but I’m worried. Scruffy doesn’t make any noise. Is that strange? Aren’t all cats suppose to make noises? Scruffy’s mother says meow, and makes purring noises. Scruffy doesn’t do either of those things. He has never made a sound. Is something wrong with him?”

The doctor smiled. “I don’t think anything is wrong with Scruffy. Does he come to you when you call his name?”

Max nodded. “Yes, I call him when his food is ready, and he always comes running.”

The doctor nodded. “To me that lets us know that Scruffy hears okay. That also means your cat should be able to make noise. My advice is to give Scruffy some time. When he feels like making noise, I think he will do that. Why don’t you bring Scruffy back in six months? We can do another a check-up then. If Scruffy is still silent, we can do some testing. How does that sound?”

Max nodded. “Thanks, that sounds like a good plan. Six months seems like a long time, but I can wait that long.”

A month passed with no sound from Scruffy.
Max tried talking more to his pet. He made sure to give Scruffy extra attention. Still no sound from Scruffy.

Another month passed. Max even tried leaning his head close to Scruffy’s mouth thinking his cat might just have a quiet voice. Still, no luck hearing Scruffy make a noise.

Max was having a hard time waiting for the six months to pass the doctor had told him to wait. Max had a calendar on his wall. When each day ended and he prepared for bed, Max used a red marker to make a large x mark through the date.

The third month came, and then went. It felt even longer to Max. He was getting more and more afraid that Scruffy had some terrible problem. Scruffy didn’t act sick, or like he was in any kind of pain, but Max was very worried.

It was during the fourth month that things changed.

Max was alone in his room with Scruffy. Max loved to spend time in the room with his pet. Mostly Max just loved his room. His mom let him decorate how he liked. Max had posters of animals, sports teams, and outer space pictures on the walls. On his book shelf, he had books with stories about the same types of things. Max’s mom had let even let him choose the color of his bedspread, and curtains. Max liked blue. Not just any blue, but navy blue. The walls in his room were white, but had a navy blue line running along the top, and the bottom. Max’s head was just inches from one of the navy blue lines. His head rested on a navy blue pillow. Scruffy’s cat bed was also navy blue. Right now, Scruffy’s bed was empty. Scruffy was standing a few feet from Max, waiting.
Max had a stuffed mouse. He had been tossing it to Scruffy, then grabbing it, and throwing it out again, and again. Max had thrown the mouse out, then had turned away to look at something making a noise outside his window, instead of paying attention to Scruffy. The cat stared at Max, waiting for the mouse to be thrown.

When it took too long, a loud “Meow” sounded.

Surprised, Max’s head turned back quickly. He stared at Scruffy. The cat was shaking his head.
“Are you going to throw that thing or what?”

Max couldn’t believe his cat had finally made a noise. When he realized his cat had actually spoke human words, Max’s eyes widened.
“You can speak human?”

Scruffy smiled.
“Of course. I didn’t know you wanted me too.”

Dropping down flat on the floor, Max began laughing.
He picked up Scruffy, and hugged him tight.
“You're the best cat ever, Scruffy. Thanks for being my pet, and for talking to me.”

Instead of speaking human again, Scruffy just said, “Meow.”

Max frowned, wondering if the words he had heard Scruffy speaking before were just his imagination.

In the days, weeks, months, and years after that night, Max listened closely, but he never heard Scruffy speak human again.

That didn’t matter to Max.

Just having Scruffy not being silent. was enough for him.

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