All Cats Are Legends

Hunger and thirst drove him
But there was no where to go
The whole world was covered in water

Then below his tail he felt a great thump
The flood had driven a door
From a church or a public building into the side of his tree
It was covered with carved faces of angels
And every one had its mouth open
Singing:

Joy to God in heaven on high
Joy to all his creatures on earth

The song echoed around him
And he knew his time in the tree was over

It was time to start on his journey
He pulled his claws from the bark
It was a terrible effort to flex his paws
Then he dropped onto the door
It began to move away on the flood
And he was on board
Starting his journey for God

The door floated over the swollen river
The sun was warm
And now thirst was his torment
A pain from his throat to his tail
But suddenly a great bird was hovering over him
With wings as dark as a nightmare
“Greetings, brother panther,” it said,
“I am Lord Sting, a crow
Once the king of crows on all of Crow Island
But now my people are gone
All gone on the flood. What’s your story?”

But the panther couldn’t speak
And the crow flew off, only to return
With a giant melon impaled on his beak
The juice was sweet
And soothed the panther’s throat
And he spoke:

“I am the king of Panther Island
But now my people, my mate are gone
And I am alone
On my journey for God.”

And the faces on door sang out:
Joy, joy to God in heaven on high
Joy to all his creature on earth

The door floated on and the panther saw
In the water a dark shape like a log and two sad weary eyes
He said, “Sister alligator,
Climb on board and rest
I’m on a journey for God
And you are welcome to join me.”
She said, “I am Gatah, brother panther,
Once the queen of all Gater Island
But my people are gone
All gone on the flood
And I am alone.”
She climbed on the door and together they floated on

Lord Sting returned with a great grey owl
And saw he had now two mouths to feed
He didn’t fly down within the gator’s reach
But hovered overhead
And he said, “This is Lord Owl,
Whose story is like mine
We will bring you melons.”
And the melons were sweeter than any
They’d ever tasted, and put off hunger and thirst

So they floated on
In the August sunshine
Down the swollen river
On the door that was singing:

Joy to God in heaven on high
Joy to all his creatures on earth

They came down the river
And saw a submerged house
A man was on the roof
With his arms and legs wrapped around the chimney
And a boy
Sheltered between his body and the bricks
And the panther said,
“Climb onto our door.
We won’t hurt you
We’ll leave this sad place behind
And continue on our journey for God
And you can join us.”

The man said,
“She’s gone. I tried to pull her onto the roof
With me and the boy
But I couldn’t and still hold onto our son
She told me, ‘Don’t mind about me
Take care of our boy.’
And now we’re alone.”

The panther replied,
“We’ve all lost someone, but we’re still alive
And we’ll go on
To remember them all our days
They’ll never really die.”
The man and the boy climbed on
Giving the gator wide berth

And the door began to sing again:
Joy, joy to God in heaven on high
Joy to all his creatures on earth

Lord Sting and Lord Owl
Kept feeding them all
and the door floated on
Down the swollen river

The keepers were the last left
Those who sheltered in the Oceanarium
On higher ground than most of the zoo
The animals had all been taken away to other zoos
And now they would soon to be leaving too
Going away to safety

The door began to rise in the air
The water gathered under it like a wave
Higher and higher it rose
And the door rode the crest
The washed through the entrance
Of the Ocreanarium
And slid across the marble floor on a sheen of water
The man
The boy

The panther
The gater
Lord Sting
And Lord Owl
All came to safety
The door crashing into the base of the wall
As the angels raised their voices
Above the roar of the wave
And sang in jubilant chorus:

Joy, joy to God in heaven on high
Joy to all his creatures on earth

The panther’s journey was over
And they all found a new home

Susan M. Dern
July 2009