Little Honker's Patriotic Paws

With that, Kari opened the door and said, “Kris, come here. We have a new neighbor. His name is Jack. He’d like to listen to the Tails practice.”

“Hi Jack. Come on in. The Tails are warming up in the basement. Follow us and we’ll introduce you,” Kris said.

Weezie followed the girls and Jack to the practice room.

“Hey guys, we have a new neighbor,” said Kari. “This is Jack. He just moved into the house on the corner.”

“He heard your music and wanted to know if he could come listen to you play,” Kris said.

“Purr-fect,” said Honker. “Jack, my name is Warren, but I go by Little Honker most of the time. I can’t meow like other cats. The rest of the band is Big Guy on the baskets, and Andy on the triangle. Gabby and Floyd meow-sing, Izzie is on guitar, and Oreo is trying out the harmonica. Ace is on the buckets. You met Weezie. She is amazing on the milk jug.”

“Glad to meet you all. I loved what I heard coming out of this house,” said Jack.

Then Big Guy walked over and took a good look at Jack. “So, what’s the story with your paws? Seems like you have a few too many toes.”

“I’m what they call a polydactyl cat,” said Jack. “There are lots of us in Key West where I came from. They were considered lucky by sailors. My extra toes give me better balance.”

Kris and Kari looked at each other and smiled. “He’s a Hemingway cat!” said Kari.

“I remember Ernest Hemingway had over 50 polydactyl cats and there are still some living in his museum,” Kris said.

“I remember President Theodore Roosevelt had one called Slippers! You are a little bit famous, Jack,” said Kari.

“Well, I don’t know about that. I just got used to the extra toes. They seem to work out well for me when I play the bongos,” he said.

“You can play the bongos?” asked Big Guy. “That is super cool. Honker, I think he should join the percussion section of the Tails. What do you think?”

Meow cheers, high paws, and honks came from all over the room.