At the end of the story you will find some related activities.

I would love it if you tried some and shared them with me at tiikat@tiikat.com

Look out for the throughout my journal and click on the paw to find out more!

My Journal – The Sleepy Morning After

What a night full of crazy dreams! I meant to write an entry yesterday but I was so tired after an eventful day I fell asleep before I could start. I woke up full of energy: my mind full of ideas and an urge to explore.

It all started yesterday during a game of hide and seek with Sisu.

The ship is full of places to squeeze into, so it is always an exciting game to play. I was sure I had found the perfect place to curl into, even managing to hide my long tail from sight. There was a cleaning cupboard on the second floor, where I plonked myself behind a bucket, my tail tucked in safely between the mop and vacuum cleaner.

Sisu isn’t the biggest fan of her cleaning chores so I hoped she wouldn’t find me quickly. Little did I know that she would forget about that cupboard so easily! There I was, grinning from ear to ear as I basked in my brilliance, completely unaware of the events that would unfold.

I waited and waited.

I then waited and waited some more.

I tried to spend my time wisely. I meditated, became a toilet roll mummy and even held a mop rock concert.

Then the hunger struck and I began to worry that Sisu would never find me. In all the excitement of finding the perfect hiding spot I had missed my 10 o’ clock snack. What if I now missed mid-morning snack number 2? No drunch, what a cat-astrophe that would be!

Examples of Delicious Drunches:

Anyway, it was clear there would be one very hungry kitty (me!) if I didn’t get out and find Sisu quickly. The game would have to resume another time after I had filled my tum. Then horror struck! I turned the door knob and pushed but the door wouldn’t budge.
I tried again and again, until the hair on my forehead was covered in beads of sweat. I even tried biting it and used my razor-sharp nails, but I was well and truly stuck. Locked in with my next meal disappearing further and further into the distance…
I knew I was going to starve to death in this room, with nothing but the vacuum cleaner for company. Oh the irony! The machine I dreaded the most would be my final companion.
I needed to come up with a Tii-rific plan and quickly! Purrching next to the vacuum had not been a problem at first (especially as it was not even plugged in). But that all changed when I realised I couldn’t escape! Suddenly my mind was filled with all sorts of terrifying thoughts as the simple hoover melded into something else altogether.
Of course, this was just my imagination running away with me (as it so often does – luckily normally in good ways) but it is only after the event that my brain returns to reality and I see this, so it was scary at the time. Hmm, I have been reading quite a few books about mythical beasts recently (their tales make a rip-roaring read) so maybe that didn’t help my wild wonderings.

Once I had calmed myself down I was finally able to think clearly, and so also cleverly.

My tail! It does come in handy quite often. I’m not sure how humans get by without one, even if it can get in the way.

There was a small gap under the door, just big enough to squeeze my tail through. I threaded it under pushing it out as far as I could. I waved it from left to right and up and down. Then suddenly I felt something plonk down on the end. Was someone here to rescue me?!

I pulled my tail back towards me, expecting to see the door now open. Not only did the door not open instantly, but I could still feel the weight at the end of my tail! Finally, the tip reached the door and I spotted what was sitting on top of it. It was actually someone sitting, perched comfortably amongst the fur! Suddenly, that someone began shouting in the unmistakable voice of Carlota Camundongo. Could this tiny mouse be my saviour

Carlota flattened herself against the floor and crawled under the door until she was standing beside me. I was relieved I was no longer alone with my vacuum nemesis. My next thought was if she had any food on her, as it had really been too long since I last ate (2 hours!). Carlota wasn’t carrying anything with her, but luckily there was now a whole troop of mice just outside the door ready to act on her orders.

Under their leader’s masterful management they formed a rodent relay and gathered an array of little nibbles: crackers, butter, cheese, grapes and, for some strange reason, strands of dry spaghetti (which I didn’t touch of course).

Carlota seemed to enjoy bossing her team about, maybe a little too much, but she did it with a smile and they didn’t seem to mind. I’m not sure I would have been so keen to take so many orders! Anyway, whatever she did worked as I was being well fed by these funny little rodents.

The butter was the last to be pushed, flattened into a pancake, under the wood. This, of course, needed spreading. I am a big fan of butter but it tastes a whole lot better on something than on its own.

As luck would have it, I had my trusty butter knife stashed in my neckerchief for this very purpose!

You never know when a butter knife might come in handy! I can’t very well eat butter with my paws as it would get stuck in the fur and take an awful lot of scrubbing with soap and water (shudder) to get off. I am a master at cleaning myself, but a simple lick won’t suffice with butter.

As I looked at the knife I had a brainwave! What if I could use it to turn the screw and unbolt the door? It seemed like it might be just the right shape. I pressed the edge of the knife into the groove in the head and turned. At first nothing happened as it kept slipping. But I didn’t give up.

Using my left paw to keep everything steady, I slowly turned the knife and this time the screw turned with it! Only a millimetre, but it had budged. It was so stiff that even with me using all the force I could muster, it was still barely moving. However, I was finally on the right path towards freedom and I had the determination needed to succeed.

Finally, after a few minutes of painfully slow progress, the screw began to turn more easily. My pace quickened and I curled my tail around the door handle, turning it in preparation for when it would open. Then suddenly it did! It flung wide open with an almighty swing, sending the few mice who stood too close flying.

I was free last!

Now I just had to find Sisu quickly, in case she was still searching for me. I bolted up to the deck but there was no sign of her, or on the level below or even in the mess hall. I racked my brains, trying to work out where she might have got to.

We know one other so deeply that it is almost like we can hear each other’s thoughts!

I was thinking so hard about finding a solution that I could almost hear my brain working.

I put myself in Sisu’s shoes for a moment and thought hard about where I would be if I was her. If I had been the one seeking I would have given up long before the hour was up and gone to get some snackettes from the store room or kitchen. Sneaking food from the kitchen normally means tastier treats than from the store cupboard, but it is riskier as Cook Pumpernickel is almost always there. (And she REALLY doesn’t like me. After she threatened to cut my tail off I am trying my best to avoid her.)

Thinking about the store room food gave me an idea. Sisu could be in there! Why hadn’t I thought of that before? I rushed off down the stairs and opened the door.

What a sight greeted me as I entered! At first I couldn’t see Sisu for all the boxes and food strewn around the place. Then I heard a commotion and spotted her in the far corner, head in a box, rummaging around inside. Was this mess all her doing?

As soon as she saw me Sisu squealed and rushed over, pulling me into a tight hug. I could barely breathe!

I quickly discovered the reason for all the mess. Sisu had opened all the boxes hoping to find me in one of them! After being unable to locate me for so long, she thought she might find me curled amongst the food.

I am so often near food it is true. she knows me so well! The problem now was what to do with all the food rolling around on the floor? Looking at it made me hungry again and so I absentmindedly took a bite out of a tomato. Sisu looked at me, exclaiming “Let’s have a picnic!”

I thought this was a wonderful idea, so took off my neckerchief, unfurled it and laid it on the floor like a picnic blanket. With the help of the mice (and the butter and crackers they had found earlier) we managed to polish off the spoiled food: 16 tomatoes, 9 oranges, 15 bottles of strawberry juice and a whole cheese wheel. Delicious!

Soon there was nothing left on the floor (but it wasn’t back in the boxes either of course) and our tummies were full.

Even though it was one of my favourite’s (fish in butter sauce, yum!) I could only finish one small plate and had no room for pudding. The surprise was clear on everyone’s faces. The captain was convinced I was ill, so I decided that I didn’t want to tell him about the picnic quite yet. I am sure he won’t be very pleased when he finds out we ate all of that produce!

Captain Roughwater was so concerned because I wasn’t hungry that he sent me straight to bed. He really believed I must be ill! I didn’t really mind going to sleep early as it had been an exhausting day, but I really didn’t like hiding the truth from him. I feel I must tell the captain today what really happened.

I meant to write up the events of the day when I got back to my room but my eyes wouldn’t stay open. Sure enough, I was asleep even before my head hit the pillow!

I had the most exciting dreams… There were monsters made of cheese, all gooey and smelly (and delicious). I fought them off with a butter knife, cutting off chunks and throwing them in my mouth. I then escaped over a sea of strawberry juice in a boat made of a giant screw. The screw saved me in my dream, just as it saved me from being trapped in the cleaning cupboard!

When I woke up my head was full of thoughts about screws and how helpful they can be. They must be used all over the place! Immediately, I jumped up and rushed around my room looking for screws. (I do often get fixated on things.)

The first one I found was in the back of my radio. There were actually four there, holding the battery cover in place. I wonder if all battery covers use screws? It seems sensible to me. I found screws holding my door handle firmly in place, around the porthole looking out to sea and I also found some holding my desk together when I looked from underneath. They were everywhere! I stopped to ponder, was the whole world fixed together by screws? What a funny thought!

All the screw-searching was thirsty work so I opened the bottle of juice that was sitting on my desk. As I turned the lid I soon realised that this used a screw mechanism too! That made me think about other places where screws weren’t obvious. The lightbulb was screwed in off course, as was the top of my toothpaste. My goodness, the world really is full of screws!

I’m off to look for some more screws now.

See you soon…

Activities

Want to explore more about screws?  Why not check out some of these activities?

  • All
  • Activities
  • Art
  • Cooking
  • Facts
  • Investigations