Phelicity in Writer's Society, page 2

July 2003

July Challenge News Article

CLAW City Gazette

July 5

Ice Cream Ball a Melting Success

by Phelicity Marie Dauphine, Social Reporter

The Annual Ice Cream Ball was held last night in the Crystal Ballroom of CLAW City's Castle Hotel. It was the fifth annual event in recognition of National Ice Cream Month.

The atmosphere was cool and elegant in the Ballroom, and the decor leaned toward stunning towers and glaciers of ice cream. The pale green Leaning Tower of Pistachio drew the most comments, because the top was dripping onto the white Viennese lace tablecloth. This was taken care of when a volunteer group of leading citizens was quickly formed to eat the top of the tower.

The "cream" of CLAW City society was out in full force for the Ball.

Suzette, a longhaired white French cat, arrived in an original pink chiffon ruffled gown by Vera Catang festooned with strawberries, with her feathery plume of a tail for a train and a sparkling strawberry tiara on her head. Her elegance was only diminished by the disappearance of the strawberries from her gown as she ate them. She was escorted by Sir Theodore, a most jowly and elegant British Blue in maroon velvet waistcoat and tophat, sporting his monocle.

Pooh-bah, our short, round Silver Persian lady of great reknown, was wearing cream satin with vanilla beans trim and a picture hat shaped like a banana. One guest claimed, in confidence, that it was a banana. Her friend Pittysing, a tall, willowy Balinese, wore a sumptuous silver lame' trimmed with white feathers and cookie bits. She removed her tall white feather headdress early in the evening when it caught fire from brushing against the chandelier.

Prince Vladimar, a Russian Blue, resplendent in coffee colored linen and a bow tie of walnut halves, was their attentive escort.

Miss Cleo, recent debutante of Egyptian Mau persuasion, was stunningly outfitted in royal blue peau d'soie with tiers of marshmellows and almonds. Her hat was a huge toasted marshmellow. Cleo was the most popular dance partner for the taller gentlemen, and her hat grew somewhat smaller as the evening wore on.

All the guests enjoyed the many ice cream varieties, but most pronounced the new Catnip Sherbet as the best of all. The only discordant note occurred when the Catnip Sherbet was gone and the spiked punch bowl was empty. Some of the guests then began to ... how shall I report this? ... cast covetous eyes upon the edible parts of some of the ladies' gowns.

The Ball was, all in all, a huge success. There is some discussion of having another one next week. Watch this paper for further announcements.



A Long Ago July 4th

~by Phelicity

I would have liked to be there for one of the earliest times when my country's Independence was celebrated on the 4th of July. Like about 200 years ago, after the Declaration of Independence, after the Revolution was won, after the Constitution was written and the first President, George Washington, was elected. I might have belonged to one of our founding fathers, like John Adams, who signed the Declaration of Independence and became the second President himself! Meowie-wow!

Kitties were not pampered in those days, so I'm not sure I would have liked it, but it would have been very exciting! John Adams had a kind and good wife named Abigail. She would have given me saucers of cream and let me sleep in the house. The humans were different back then; they were busy working hard to build the free country we've enjoyed ever since. None would have thought to try to tear it down, the way some do now. I'm only a kitty, and I don't understand that at all.

I don't think they had fireworks and poppities in those days; what they did have was boom-booms. They might have celebrated Independence Day with a 21 gun salute! My, my, I hope the beds had unders back then, because all the kitties would have been scurrying for them, even me!

We still have a free country, and our humans are free to make all the noise they want to on such a great day. I like to watch out the door to try to see where the poppities are coming from, and look up in the sky to see if any sparkley, spidery colorful umbrellas of light are gonna come raining down. That's exciting enough for me. I don't hide under the bed like my sisfur does. I think it's fun! How can anykitty not like such a happy day? Would we rather not have it? I like it a lot!

Yankee Doodle Kitty

by Phelicity

I'm a Yankee Doodle kitty,
Yankee Doodle through and through.
I love the land where I was born!
I love the red, white and blue!

I'm a happy, pampered kitty,
I'm as lucky as can be!
Wish every kitty had what I've got,
In the land of the brave and the free.

I'm an independent kitty,
Like all kitties ought to be.
Days are sunny and life is good
For a Yankee Doodle kitty, that's me!

September Essay

Learning and Teaching

I think learning is furry important, and we should continue learning new things all our lives. I still like to. But I can't think of anything left I would like to learn. That doesn't mean I know it all; it just means, if I don't know it, I don't know I don't know it.

Also I believe teaching goes paw in paw with learning, and we should teach others what we have learned. That's what I like to do. I teach six classes in CLAW U College of Veterinary Science, and think it's furry important to have good teaching available so that other kitties can learn good things there.

But not everything is learned in school, and not everything can be taught. Some things take time, experience and observation. In time, I learned to overcome my shyness and be more outgoing. That's made me happy. With observation, I've learned furry useful things. Like how to outwit my sisfur occasionally (I'm not giving that away!) and which things get my mom's attention immediately when I want it. (Knocking stuff off her dresser was good, but I get the shortest response time if I sit in the bathtub and holler "Mowwwoww!" at the top of my lungs. I got purrty good lungs.) So that's made me happy, too.

Experience is a harder teacher. You don't always learn the first time, and it has to knock at you again. What you learn doesn't always make you happy. But it should make you wiser, at least. I've learned what and who to beware of, and what and who I can trust. Sometimes it's a case of "sadder but wiser."

So, as I do continue learning whatever surprises are out there for me to learn, I do hope they will all be happy ones. I hope all of yours will be, too.

November: Song Title Story

Someday My Prince Will Come
by Phelicity

Some cats haf purrfectly good sense, but don't always act like it. Purrlie was one of those. A furry social club kitty, she loved going places wif groups of offur kitties, especially dressing up and going dancing at parties. She was a romantic little soul, and she'd had crushes on a few boys, but she hadn't had a chance to invite them anywhere before they showed up at parties wif offur girls.

So, rather than nurse a broken little heart, Purrlie decided she would hold out fur a Prince. Only a real prince among cats would henceforth be worthy of her attention. She went to parties wif her girlfriends, and danced wif any boy who asked her, fur she did love to dance. Some were so tall, she had to crane her neck and get a crick in it, some of them stepped on her toes and some spilled gravy on her dress. Some were decidedly prince-like and some were certainly not. None were her Prince.

Purrlie kept her eyes open all the time. She knew he hadn't come yet, because her Prince would notice her and come straight to her. He would be elegant and catsome, not too tall fur her, and haf blue eyes like her, she hoped. So she was busy looking around at a New Years party when seven brofurs arrived and caused quite a stir among all the unattached girls; in fact, even a few of the attached girls. They were all tall and catsome, and proving to be wonderfur dancers, except one little guy who, er... wasn't.

Not being a forward type herself, she watched as offur girls ran to grab all the brofurs except one. Yes, that one. She sighed as the music started to play, and decided to go and get some catnip punch. Well, my Prince isn't here, she thought.

The seventh brofur stared at Purrlie across the room, and thought she was quite the most beautifur girl he efur saw. Oh dear, she must haf dozens of admirers, she'd nefur go fur a boy like me, thought he. He headed straight fur her anyway; he couldn't help himself. He tripped ofur somebody's dress and ran smack into some decorations that fell down on his head, and managed to bump two kitties and spill their punch on them on his way, until he stood in front of Purrlie wif a silver streamer hanging from his ear. But he couldn't think of a thing to meow.

Purrlie just looked at him. His eyes were merry and kind, if not blue, but my goodness, what was wrong wif him? Then he gulped hard and croaked, "Mew are my Princess." And she purred.

That night Purrlie found her Prince. And she realized why she had not before then. In looking for one who was already a prince, she hadn't known that the right girl is what makes a boy a Prince. And they lived happily efur after.



Music fur Dancing

I don't haf much real musical experience. I'm not allowed to go to concerts and I can't play any instruments. I don't notice music playing much, unless it's special. Like at Christmas time I luff to hear the Jingle Cats tape. It's kitties, singing Christmas carols! I get all excited, and I look all ofur fur those kitties. Mew know those big old stereo speakers that are so much fun to scratch... I mean to listen to? Ours are covered wif tablecloths fur some reason, so I dig under the cloths looking fur the singing kitties, but I nefur haf found them!

I do not sing. Not, not, not. My sisfur does enough of that, and she can shatter glass. My talent is dancing, and I like to watch it. The music that has touched me has been dancing music. First time I noticed they went together was when I saw Riverdance on a tape. Cause the dancing was fast and happy and made a lotta noise, so it caught my attention. And then I saw the Real Dancing.

Kitties dancing, or they looked like kitties anyway. And the word "Cats" was at the beginning. They were furry tall cats. but their movements were wonderfur, just like mine! Well, not quite as good. But I was so impressed, I sat on the coffee table and watched the whole thing. My mom was telling people about it fur months. I couldn't help it, those dancing Cats were mesmerizing. So I guess that was a real musical experience after all.

November Poem: a rewritten song


The Rose by Phelicity Marie Dauphine

When it's soft and feels like velvet,
And sweet beyond compare,
You may touch it with a wonder
Such loveliness is there.
And the touch can make you happy,
In the saddest wind that blows.
There are some who understand it;
A kitty's like a rose.

When you see it in the springtime,
A tiny bud that's new,
And you watch it slowly open
As if it trusted you.
Then you see how all God's beauty
Can start out very small.
For it might have been a kitten,
And not a rose at all.

While a rose is always wanted,
Although it has a thorn,
How can flowers be more lucky
Than all the kittens born?
When your love is something special,
As every kitty knows,
Is it strong or is it fragile,
Or fading like the rose.

In the cold and snowy winter,
When the roses are all dead,
Then you sit beside the fire
And hold your cat instead.
While you're making precious mem'ries,
There are none as dear as those.
Then your cat is with you always,
As lovely as the rose.

January 2004


The Days of CLAW
by Phelicity

CLAW, how do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.
So many things you did for me
Back in the good old days, oh yes,
Back in the good old days.

I got the finest education,
And learned each new thing I tried.
I found my voice and I learned to rule,
And I wore my crown with pride.

CLAW, how do I serve thee?
And help to bring us praise -
So many needs that I could see
In the serving-all-cats days, oh yes,
The serving-all-cats days.

My goal was to be a teacher,
To encourage and get involved.
I met my goals, worked and matured,
Problems seen were problems solved.

CLAW, how do I keep thee
In my heart, where the longing stays
To see the best of the old and new,
Now in a new year's days, oh yes,
Now in a new year's days.

For as a leader, I've come so far
On hopeful, trembling paw.
May I be one of the shining stars
In the golden crown of CLAW.

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