Philemon Part 2

The boy from the dog family and the little grey kitten that he called Phil stepped out of the trees and looked toward the old, red barn on Aunt Ellie and Uncle Ted's property. They intended to go to the Sun, but it was just too far to reach, and after 20 minutes, the dark-haired, dirty-faced boy was starving to death.

"We have to go back, Phil. I am starving to death." He said.

It had been roughly 45 minutes since the youngster had eaten his breakfast. And, when you're a little boy, you need to eat a lot so you can grow. 45 minutes is a long time to a growing boy.

"You two are back already?" Aunt Ellie called.

She was walking toward the house carrying a bucket of milk that she had just taken from the cow.

"Yes ma'am. I got hungry." The boy replied.

Aunt Ellie grinned and shook her head. She had once had a little boy too. And she knew that little boys get hungry a lot.

"Well, boy, come on inside and have a snack, but Philemon has to stay outside. We don't let the animals in the house." She said.

"Yes ma'am. Thank you." He answered.

The boy set Philemon down at the foot of the steps leading into the house. He stroked his new friend the grey kitten, and the walked inside. He took a seat at the small kitchen table awaiting the piece of chocolate cake being cut by Aunt Ellie.

Aunt Ellie sat a plate in front of the boy with the biggest piece of cake that he has ever seen. His eyes got big. His dirty little face, still messy from breakfast and dirt, smiled as wide as his face could stretch. This was going to be a good piece of cake. And the boy was going to eat every last bite.

"Thank you." The boy said.

Aunt Ellie patted him on the top of his dark-haired, cowlick-filled head and walked away.

"You can play in the house until Uncle Ted and your grandpa come in from the field for lunch. Be good while I gather eggs from the coop. Oh, and, thank you for using your manners." She said as she walked back outside and onto the farm.

Aunt Ellie said "thank you for using your manners" because the little boy said "thank you" and "please" and "yes ma'am" when speaking to her. And a lot of people in the city did not use their manners. But he was a boy from the city being raised by country people who moved to city. And his city people told him about using his manners just like they had learned when they were country people and not city people.

The little boy knew his manners. He used them at home and at church and when visiting the country. His grandpa would remind him before going to church or to the country that he was a good boy and that good boys (even the ones with skinned-up knees and dirty faces) knew how to use their manners.

The boy ate his last bite of chocolate cake and looked outside to see if Philemon was still there. And, sure enough, the grey kitten was sippin at a bowl of milk. Now, the boy knew that he would get into trouble if he was caught with the kitten inside of the house, but he was told to play inside, and he had never been left alone to play inside of Aunt Ellie's farmhouse.

The house was made of wood and everything looked kind of old. There were fans blowing air in all directions and it was very warm unlike the houses in the city. All of the windows were open. There was one TV and it sat close to the floor in a wooden box. It had skinny ears on top of it. This was not like the city at all. The boy was scared of being in a strange place all by himself. So, he could be scared and never leave the kitchen or he could sneak Philemon inside of the house and they could adventure together. The choice was an easy one.

He opened the door and crept down the steps. Scooping up the kitten to his chest, he quickly jumped back inside. He held his breath and waited to see if anyone was coming, but no one was. He had his kitten friend and they had the whole house to search.

"Shhhhh. Phil, you can't get caught in here because your an outside cat." He stated.

"Meow." Philemon replied.

The two slowly walked from the kitchen into the living room. There was the old TV next to a fireplace that was full of ashes. On the other side was a bathroom and then a small hallway with three doors. The boy knew that one room was Aunt Ellie and Uncle Ted's. There was one with the door open and it had a lot of old furniture. It was where people would sleep when visiting. The third room was always closed. It was Teddy's. Teddy was Aunt Ellie's little boy who grew up.

The city boy from the dog family had never met Teddy. He was told that Teddy was a hero who joined the army and had been gone for a really, really long time. That is all that the boy knew, but he wanted to know more. He was told that he could play in the house, and he had his grey kitten buddy with him. So if he was ever going to know more, it was going to be now.

"Phil, we have an adventure in that room. Let's go!"

The boy slowly opened the door and looked inside. The room was not scary. It was very clean and organized. There was a desk with papers and pens and a radio. There was a small bookcase with books and model cars on every shelf. Airplane and jet models hung by strings from the ceiling. It was a fine room for any boy, he thought.

Philemon, who had been dropped to the floor when they entered, walked to the other side of the room and pawed at a blanket hanging off the edge of Teddy's small bed. The boy turned to see his friend playing with the blanket and noticed a small package laying on the center of the bed. It was wrapped in brown paper.

"Phil, stop that and look at this." He demanded.

The scruffy boy from the city picked up Philemon and they sat down together on the bed. He looked at the package with it's brown paper and wondered what was inside. Was it a treasure? Was it something bad?

The kitten pawed at the box for a second and the paper moved; it had been unwrapped by someone before now. The boy saw the side of the box closest to him was also loose.

"We can open it and put it back just like it is, Phil. We can do it."

The kitten clearly agreed by saying his only word. "Meow."

The boy began unfolding the paper as carefully as his little hands could. With each turn of paper, he saw a little bit more of what appeared to a fancy box made of thread instead of cardboard. Finally, he was ready to open the mysterious treasure.

"Ready Phil? Cause here goes nothing." He stated with joy.

The fancy box had a hinge on one side and long ways. Inside, there was a treasure. The boy looked at Philemon and then back inside the box. There was something like he had never seen before. There was ribbon with a gold pin at the top and on the bottom was a purple-colored heart with a man on it. The man looked like the man on the 25-cent pieces that the boy would receive for doing chores at home.

"Wow. Phil, do you know what this is?" He said.

The kitten pawed at the ribbon a bit and then looked back the boy who's face was still slathered in chocolate icing.

"Yeah. I don't know either, Phil. But we have to find out. It's got to be special since it is shiny and has it's own special box. We have a mystery to solve just like Scooby." The boy said.

The boy closed the box and re-wrapped the box with it's brown paper following each twist and turn. He picked up the kitten and walked back to the bedroom door. The two quietly exited the room and walked back through the hallway, the living room, the kitchen and outside just as Aunt Ellie, Grandpa and Uncle Ted started in from the chicken coop and the fields to have lunch.

The two just missed getting caught with a cat in the house. But the city boy from the dog family and his unusual, kitten friend had not only escaped getting into trouble. They had discovered a new mystery for their next adventure. And next time, they would take snacks.