Second Semester Book Project...
It was a very queer thing, you see, that one such as me was born in a family of felines not so affectionately named frowners. The name was perfectly fitting as all that any of my family members and litter-mates ever did was frown. They frowned when they laughed, they frowned when they cheered and they even frowned when they smiled (interesting concept, that one). This was all perfectly normal for frowners which I am sure you can imagine would make life a little bit more complicated for me.
When my egg-all frowners are hatched from eggs, in case you had forgotten-hatched, it was upside down. One would think that this was fine and that it would have no effect at all on the outcome of my egg’s eventual hatching. Unfortunately, or perhaps very fortunately depending on your opinion, it did have a visible effect on me when I poked my little head out of that egg shell.
You are wondering why that is, correct? Of course you are! Well, the truth is that I was a defective kitten when I crawled out of my egg simply because of the fact that I was cheerily grinning from ear to ear. When my darling mother caught sight of my ridiculous expression she quite nearly fell off of the tree branch in her shock. Father swatted me over the head a few times in an attempt to make the grin disappear but apparently this had no affect whatsoever on my face. I just kept grinning on.
According to frowner history, there have been other grinning frowners such as myself and I was dubbed The Cheshire Cat according to tradition. This rather makes me wonder, though, what they would do if another grinning frowner was born while I was still alive. I do not think I would like to run in to another that shared my name. Would you?
Why, hello there. Pleasure to meet you! I am The Cheshire Cat!
The Cheshire Cat? Impossible! I am The Cheshire Cat!
I beg to differ! I am The one-and-only Cheshire Cat!
Puh-lease! There is no sense in pretending to be what you are not! I assure you, I am The Cheshire Cat!
I do believe this would be a very unpleasant event and it is certainly one that I do not wish to have to experience! So please, my fellow frowners, check your eggs! Keep them upright! Do avoid hatching any grinning frowners while I am still around to do all the grinning!
Now, it was most likely because of my silly smile that a rivalry between my siblings and I was formed. The problem was that they thought I was quite a freak-show and they were determined to make me realize this. I, of course, was dead set on proving them wrong. It was a normal frowner trait to want to better than everyone else just as it was a normal frowner trait to accept challenges with gusto.
What better way, then, to fight a battle than with witty words and clever taunts? This became our means of fighting, our weapons of choice as we grew up constantly bickering and doing our absolute best to make the each other feel foolish. I am proud to say that they could not name a single time when they succeeded in defeating me in our war of intelligence. To be entirely honest (and a little mean), they were all rather stupid in my opinion. I think that being hatched upside down worked wonders! Perhaps I am even proof of how much smiling rather than frowning can boost the quality of life and mind! I would certainly like to believe so.
As I am sure you have figured out, I won that competition between my siblings and me. The last time I saw them, they were sentenced to be beheaded by the Queen. Of course, we all know that no one really gets beheaded by the Queen so it’s anyone’s guess where they disappeared to after that. In any case, I won, I still win, and I will always win. That is what is so great about being The Cheshire Cat. I am smarter and far more clever than any of you will ever be, simply because I am me. Ah, now, we have company. See here, a little blonde girl come my way!
“Cheshire-Puss…”
Time to play!