Pirrewitje and the Cat with the Big Smile
On a gentle September day, Pirrewitje was walking through the forest.
“Pirrewit wit wit,” he sang as he picked up little acorns from the path. “This way no one will trip over them!”
Suddenly, he heard something above him:
“Prrrrrrr…”
Pirrewitje looked up. On a thick branch sat a big cat. She had a wide smile from ear to ear.
“Hello, cat!” said Pirrewitje. “What a lovely smile you have!”
“Thank you,” said the cat. “I come from Wonderland.”
“Wonderland?” asked Pirrewitje. “Is that far?”
“That depends on which way you want to go,” purred the cat mysteriously.
Then something very strange happened.
The cat’s tail disappeared.
Then her paws.
Then her belly.
And finally, only her big smile floated among the leaves!
Pirrewitje clapped his hands.
“Hoho! How clever!”
A moment later, the cat appeared again on a lower branch.
“I’m looking for a nice spot to rest a bit,” she said.
“Come with me,” said Pirrewitje. “There’s a soft bed of moss by my tree.”
Together they walked to Pirrewitje’s hollow tree.
On the way, they saw a little snail that couldn’t get over a fallen branch.
“I’ll help!” said Pirrewitje.
He placed a flat leaf over the branch to make a little bridge. The cat gently pushed the leaf into place with her paw.
The snail slowly crawled across.
“Thank you both,” said the snail.
The cat smiled even wider.
“Being kind is really a kind of magic too,” she said.
Pirrewitje nodded.
“And for that, you don’t even need to know how to disappear!”
At the tree, Pirrewitje and the cat drank a small cup of blackberry tea. Then the cat curled up in the soft moss.
But just before she closed her eyes, she began to disappear again.
First her ears.
Then her nose.
Until only her smile was still visible.
Pirrewitje giggled.
“Good night, cat from Wonderland.”
Out of nowhere came a soft:
“Prrrrrr…”
And Pirrewitje knew he had found a very special new friend.
Let us make it a smiley day!
