Are you ready to meditate with Cori?
Climb up into your bed and get really,
Really comfortable.
Make sure that everything is just right in your room,
The lights are just right,
You're wearing your cosy,
Comfy pyjamas,
And all is well in the world,
So that you can relax your body and let go of your busy,
Busy day.
Stephanie had rushed home from school.
It had been three weeks since she'd been to Moonbow Forest.
She just wanted to go.
She wanted to see her friends and hang out,
Maybe try something new or different.
Maybe she would get to visit somewhere new,
Who knows,
But she was ready to go.
When she got home,
She ran upstairs.
She threw off her backpack and dropped down the bedroom floor.
She walked over to her dressing table and sat down.
She opened up her jewelry box and took out her magical earrings,
The earrings that allowed her to visit Moonbow Forest,
The other world that she'd come to love so much.
She put the left earring on first and instantly started to feel tingles in the side of her face,
Down her neck and across her shoulder.
She put the right earring in and felt the same on the opposite side,
And then she felt tingles running up and down her spine.
Finally,
The tingles got super strong on the tip of her nose.
She reached up and scratched it.
And then she noticed the veil,
The curtain between her world and the world of Moonbow Forest.
The curtain looked exactly the same as it always did.
Transparent and shimmery,
With silver cords of light running through it.
Twinkling.
It was very pretty.
But Stephanie noticed that at the bottom,
Where the curtain normally just hit the floor,
It was all crumpled up and it was out of place.
As if something had been through there already,
Or something had messed it up.
She noticed,
But she didn't pay that much attention.
She was too eager to go through and hang out with all of her friends.
Stephanie reached up her left hand and pulled the curtain across so that she could walk through the space between the two worlds.
She took one big step and found herself in Moonbow Forest.
Instead of her normal scene of the forest there in front of her,
All she could see was what looked like a big,
Giant claw.
Right there in front of her face.
And as she looked up the claw,
She noticed that the claw belonged to a toe.
And as she looked up the toe,
She noticed that the toe belonged to a paw.
And as she looked up the paw,
She noticed,
As tall as a multi-story building,
That she was staring up at a giant cat.
A giant cat.
The paw that she was staring at wasn't real.
The cat that she looked up at wasn't real.
It looked like it was a building,
But it was the shape of a cat.
She looked over to her left and realised that she was stood next to another paw.
The cat was sat down and its two front legs were together with two paws at the front and in between those two paws was a door.
As if that's how you got into the building.
The building that was shaped just like a giant cat.
The cat was black.
The building was black.
Black and very,
Very shiny.
Glossy.
Glossy to the point where it looked like a mirror and Stephanie could see her own face in it.
This is very unusual,
She thought.
Definitely something new.
She walked over to the door that was in between the two cat paws.
It was a big door.
It was a double door.
There was two handles in the centre,
One on one door and one on the other.
The handles were brass,
Round and very,
Very shiny.
There was a sign on the left side of the door that said,
Please enter.
Everyone is welcome.
OK,
Thought Stephanie.
That's a good sign.
She reached forward with her right hand and opened the right door.
It squeaked just a little bit.
But when she opened it and she got it open enough for her to walk through the space,
The first thing that hit her was the smell and also the lights.
It was very,
Very bright inside.
And the smell,
Well,
She couldn't describe it.
The only thing that she thought was,
It kept changing.
Every time she sniffed in to try and recognise what the smell was that was so yummy and delicious,
It seemed to change again.
And then she'd take another breath and smell.
And it changed again.
One minute it smelled like donuts.
The next breath she took,
It smelled like watermelon.
The next breath she took,
It smelled like fizzy lemon drops.
She could not place it.
Every time she breathed in,
It had a different yummy smell.
When she looked inside the space,
She noticed that it looked like a bakery store.
But there was something different about this place because all of the cabinets,
All of the display areas contained the same thing.
They looked like cat paws.
But they were the size of a donut.
And every single one of them just looked the same.
Like a powdered donut.
They weren't different colours or different flavours or different sizes or different shapes.
They were all exactly the same.
Cat paws.
You know how cat paws have those little beans underneath where the toe pads are?
They had those on them.
Tiny little claws.
And then they were just kind of like sugar donuts,
The rest of it.
There must have been 40 of them in the display cabinets.
Because there was a display cabinet over on one side of the shop.
There was a display cabinet straight in front and then there was another display cabinet over on the right.
It was very,
Very bright in there.
The first thing that she noticed was the smiley,
Happy-looking gentleman that was behind the display area.
Right there in front of her.
And a dog.
A dog with a bowl on the ground with about 30 cat paws in it.
The dog never looked up when Stephanie opened the door.
But the man was smiling at her.
Welcome,
He said.
Come on in.
What can I help you with today?
Stephanie said.
Well,
I don't really know.
I mean,
What's this?
What is this place?
The gentleman said.
Oh,
This is the cat paw bakery.
Why?
Oh,
Said Stephanie.
I've no reason.
I've just not been here before.
I was looking for my friend Luna.
Oh,
He said.
Yes.
Well,
Luna doesn't really hang around on this side of the Moonbow Forest.
Rarely does she come over this way.
This is the far end of Moonbow Forest.
Have you not been here before?
Stephanie said.
No,
No,
I came through the way I normally do.
She was hesitant to say how she normally gets to Moonbow Forest.
Just in case that was very weird and strange.
So she said.
I came through the way I normally do.
But it didn't look like it normally does.
And there was this cat paw right there in front of my face.
So I'm assuming I'm supposed to come here today.
The dog now stopped munching on the cat paws,
Looked up and said.
That's exactly what happened to me.
The gentleman looked at Stephanie and said.
What's your name?
Stephanie said.
Stephanie.
Hello,
Stephanie.
My name's Mr Cat Paw.
And this is apparently Tucker.
Tucker found his way here today.
Yes,
I did.
I was on my back garden and I was digging right next to my Buddha statue.
I was trying to find something that's a bit of a secret.
Anyway,
I was finding my.
Oh,
Yes,
Not supposed to say.
Anyway,
I was digging away and I was digging away and all of a sudden I found this.
Oh,
No,
I don't think I'm supposed to say.
Sounded like the dog was having the same issue as what Stephanie has.
He had some secrets.
Maybe he got to Moonbow Forest in a very magical way that he didn't want to share.
Just in case he wasn't supposed to share.
Just like Stephanie.
Stephanie interrupted Tucker,
The dog,
And said,
Oh,
It's OK,
You don't have to explain.
Tucker,
The dog said,
Oh,
But I do,
Because I don't even know how I got here.
I was one minute I was on my garden and then the next minute I was looking at this very pretty curtain and I was like,
Oh,
That's a nice curtain.
Stephanie said,
A curtain?
This dog,
Called Tucker,
Was talking about her curtain.
The curtain between this world and Moonbow Forest that she always sees.
And then she remembered how it was all crumpled up and messed up at the bottom.
She thought to herself,
I bet this dog came through my curtain.
How on earth did this happen?
Stephanie said,
Do you have your ears pierced by any chance?
Tucker pawed at one of his ears and said,
I don't think so.
I don't think so.
Do I?
Stephanie walked up to the dog and checked out both of his ears.
He definitely didn't have his ears pierced.
What about my nose?
Is my nose pierced?
Said Tucker,
The dog.
Stephanie looked at the dog's nose and laughed and said,
No,
No,
It definitely looks like a normal nose.
Tell me again.
How and where did you see this curtain?
Well,
I was just on my back garden.
I was digging away,
Looking for my,
Oh,
Yep,
Not supposed to say.
And then I didn't find my,
Ooh,
Yada.
And then I was like,
And then I was here.
But then I found these things.
He looked down at the bowl in front of him where there was still some cat paws in it.
These things,
These things are the bestest,
Bestest,
Bestest doughnutty catty things in the entire world.
He looked at the gentleman behind the counter and he said,
Tell her,
Tell her what they do.
Stephanie looked at the gentleman,
The gentleman that was called Mr Cat Paw.
Obviously,
He named his bakery after himself,
Mr Cat Paw,
Or he just called it Cat Paw.
And he named his cakes after himself.
Cat Paw Cakes,
Right?
He obviously liked his name.
Everything was called Cat Paw.
Well,
He said,
These cat paws are very magical.
Everyone you taste happens to be exactly what you needed right there in that moment.
Stephanie looked at the gentleman and said,
I don't know what you mean.
Tooker said,
This one.
He leaned forward and grabbed a hold of one and he chomped it in his mouth very quickly and swallowed and stuck his tongue out and said,
That one tasted just like kitty's,
Didn't it Mr Cat Paw?
Mr Cat Paw shrugged his shoulders and said,
Well,
I don't know because I didn't eat it.
But if that's what you were wanting,
That's exactly what you'll get.
Stephanie caught on.
She said,
Oh,
So you mean to say if I want one to be coffee chocolate flavor,
That's what it'll be?
Exactly.
Mr Cat Paw said,
Exactly.
Oh my,
She said.
Okay,
I'll take that one right there.
How much are they?
Oh,
They're free,
Said the gentleman.
They're free for everyone that lives here in Moonbow Forest.
Tooker,
The dog said,
Oh dear,
I don't live here.
Stephanie said,
Neither do I.
I just visit.
No,
Said Mr Cat Paw.
When you're here,
It's as if you live here.
You're part of the family.
Oh,
Said Tooker.
In that case,
I'll have another one.
Tooker leaned forward and bit into another one.
He chomped it down really quickly,
Licked his mouth,
Licked his nose,
Licked part of up one of his nostrils,
Which was pretty gross.
And then he looked at Stephanie and he said,
That one tasted like baby cheeks.
Oh,
It was so nice.
Stephanie looked at this dog called Tooker as if it was a little bit strange,
But he seemed happy enough.
He was a very nice puppy.
He was very big and black and shiny,
Just like the cat on the outside of the store.
By now,
The gentleman,
Mr Cat Paw,
Had got the one out of the cabinet that she wanted.
He'd put it on a napkin and passed it to Stephanie.
Stephanie took a bite.
Chocolate coffee flavoured.
Oh,
Wow,
She said.
These are absolutely delicious.
Can I take that one right there?
She pointed to a different one.
Of course,
Like I said,
They all looked exactly the same.
He reached in the cabinet,
Grabbed a hold of it and placed it on the napkin that she was holding.
She took a bite.
No way,
She said.
What flavour is it?
Said Tooker.
No way.
Tell me,
What flavour is it?
Stephanie said,
I wanted one that tasted like the sun.
I've never actually eaten the sun,
But I was thinking I need one that tastes just like sunshine.
It does,
You know.
If sunshine had a flavour,
This would be what it tastes like.
Tooker said,
Can I have a taste?
Stephanie plopped the rest of her cat paw into Tooker's mouth and he quickly munched on it and swallowed.
Mmm,
It tastes like black licorice to me.
Stephanie said,
Were you thinking about black licorice?
Tooker said,
Yes,
I was.
Stephanie said,
Well,
There you go then.
That's why.
You had to think about sunshine when you were eating mine,
Not black licorice.
Oh,
Daisies,
Can I have another one?
Can I try it again?
Now,
Said Stephanie,
Just think about the sun.
Close your eyes,
Think about the sun and think about sunshine.
And then bite it.
Tooker did just that.
This is better than kitties.
This is better than baby faces.
This is better than smelly feet.
Stephanie said,
You ate one that tasted like smelly feet?
Tooker said,
Yes,
They're one of my particular favourites.
I like smelly,
Sweaty feet.
They're delicious.
Stephanie looked away from Tooker and pulled her face as if to say,
Yuck,
Gross.
Stephanie tried lots more cat paws.
She had one that tasted like black forest gato.
She had another one that tasted like leather.
Yeah,
She was thinking about leather handbags and how they smell really nice when they're brand new.
She wanted to taste it.
Yep,
It tasted just like leather.
Tooker liked that one as well.
They tried lots of different flavours together.
They were coming up with all sorts of different stuff.
And every single time,
The cat paw got it.
Mr.
Cat Paw,
The baker,
Was right.
He was onto something very,
Very magical.
Can you imagine if there was a store like that in Stephanie's world?
That's what she was thinking.
How cool would it be if you could go to a bakery store and ask for a cat paw that tasted exactly like you wanted it to?
Amazing.
Tooker said,
You know what,
Stephanie,
I think me and you could be really,
Really good friends.
We've got very similar tasting cat paws.
Stephanie said,
Yeah,
We do.
Tooker said,
Can you help me,
Stephanie?
Because I don't know how to get home and I need to get home to my brother,
Leo,
Because Leo will be very sad if I'm not home.
He'll be very,
Very sad.
Stephanie said,
Well,
I don't know how I actually get home.
I just always get home.
Oh,
Just like how we get here,
Eh?
Stephanie said,
Oh,
No,
I know how I get here.
Tooker said,
Is it like my magical stone?
Oh,
Nothing,
Nothing.
I didn't say that at all.
Stephanie smiled and said,
It's OK,
Tooker,
Your secret is safe with me.
The next moment,
Stephanie rolled over and found herself back in bed at home.
She rolled over and stared up at her fan on the ceiling and watched it go around and around.
She was thinking about Tooker,
The dog,
And how she liked him a lot.
He was a fun dog.
And how awesome the cat paw was,
The bakery that she visited.
She wondered if Luna knew about the place.
The next time she goes,
She's definitely going to share it with her.
I wonder what Luna would like,
What flavour she would choose.
The End
