Ivan gets trapped!

Gus left that day and Ivan was really scared that he would never see his new friend again. He tried not to think about it too much and just do his kitten thing till the next day came. So, he checked under the fence to make sure the mean dog wasn't in the yard and then he went home to get something to eat. He tried to cuddle with his Momma, but she just pushed him away and none of his siblings wanted to have much to do with him, so he went back under the fence and curled up under the crates. He figured if he stayed close to where Gus had found him before, maybe he'd be able to find him again. So, Ivan fell asleep alone and lonely under his crate and dreamed of playing tag with Gus and being held and cuddled by Gus's Papa.
The next morning when the sun came out, Ivan woke up hungry and thirsty. After a quick peek under the fence, he ran over to his yard and gulped down some food and water before dashing back to Gus's yard. He chased a couple of bugs and dug in the dirt and tried to climb a little tree, but mostly he was just wasting time till he knew if Gus was coming back or not. The sun got higher in the sky and Ivan heard that funny growly sound that usually meant some big, smelly machine was coming and he ducked back under his crate just to be safe. He heard some funny noises coming from the big building behind his crate and he next thing he knew there was bouncy, snuffly, Gus barreling his way to the crate. They were so happy to see each other! Gus's Momma just laughed at them they were so silly; jumping on each other and pouncing and Gus was dancing and barking he was so excited to see his friend. Ivan was pretty happy too. He was chasing Gus's tail and rolling around in the dirt and letting Gus tote him around. The two of them were just goofy, they were so happy. Gus's Momma watched them playing for a while and then she slowly went back inside the big building leaving the two friends alone. It took Gus a little while to realize his Momma wasn't in the yard. He got a little scared and set Ivan down as he started sniffing out which way his Momma had gone. Ivan watched him for awhile and then he started to follow Gus as he sniffed out his Momma's trail. They followed her scent into the big building, around the men and into a big room where Gus's Momma was playing with a funny machine. Ivan stayed way back but Gus went up and bumped his Momma in the back of her leg. Ivan thought she was going to get all mad at Gus, but she stopped what she was doing and turned off the noisy machine and leaned down to give Gus a big hug. She was really happy that he had come in all by himself to find her. Then she looked over and saw Ivan and she got this funny smile; all soft and happy and Ivan didn't know what to think. She got up real slow and came towards Ivan really carefully so she wouldn't scare him. Gus was watching his Momma pretty close, trying to figure out what she was going to do. He didn't want his buddy getting in trouble because he followed him inside. But no, his Momma wasn't mad at Ivan, she picked him up and cuddled him and snuggled him like she did to Gus, so he knew she liked Ivan too. But then, she did what Gus and Ivan thought was a really mean thing. She put Ivan in a cage!! She gave him food and water, but she wouldn't let him out to play with Gus.
They didn't know what to think. What did Ivan do wrong? Why was Gus's Momma suddenly being so mean after she just loved him so nice? The friends were really confused, but Gus stayed close to the cage all day so Ivan could see him and would know he was there. Ivan just didn't know what to think and since he couldn't seem to figure out how to get out of there, he just made the best of it and got comfy and waited for the other shoe to drop.

Gus comes Back

The next day was kind of gray and wet, so Ivan tried to just stay dry and warm. He was dozing under the place where he first met Gus, out of sight but at least it was drier than up on top. He thought he heard some rustling noises but the rain was making it hard to tell for sure. But then he heard that snuffling noise and when he poked his head out what did he see but GUS!! He was back and it looked like he was trying to sniff for Ivan. The rain seemed to be confusing him though, but his Momma just headed for the place where they saw Ivan the last time and sure enough, it really was GUS! And he just went crazy when he saw Ivan looking at him from under the pile of crates. He was dancing and sneezing and doing all kinds of goofy stuff. Ivan thought maybe that was dog stuff for 'boy am I happy to see you' and he wouldn't be too far wrong. Gus was happy to see him. Gus really needed a friend too; Miss Cat wasn't real fond of Gus and he just wanted a friend other than his Momma. So, when his Momma was busy, or not around, Gus would have someone else around that cared about him. He was so happy to see Ivan he just couldn't stop wagging his tail and dancing all around the yard. When Ivan came out to see what the crazy dog was doing, Gus just grabbed him up and started dancing with Ivan in his mouth. Ivan thought that was the funniest thing and stared squeaking from sheer joy! Momma was laughing at both of them and trying to get Gus to be careful with Ivan, but neither one of them was paying attention. If Ivan managed to catch his breath and get away from Gus, Gus would just chase after him till he could catch him again. They had so much fun!

Ivan didn't want Gus to leave that day, he was so afraid Gus and his Momma wouldn't come back again like last time. He didn't need to worry though. What he didn't know was that Gus's Momma had talked to the ladies that watched over Ivan's family and asked if Ivan could come home with them. The ladies said that would be just fine with them and so it was all planned that Ivan would come home with Gus the very next day.

Ivan's Worried

   The sun came out the next day and Ivan snuck under the fence again and went to look for his friend Gus. But, there was no Gus around at all. All day, Ivan kept looking for Gus, but he never came to play. The same thing happened the next day. Ivan waited and waited and wandered all around the yard, but no Gus. Now Ivan didn't know what happened, it seemed like maybe Gus didn't really like him after all and was just pretending to be nice. Maybe Gus just felt sorry for him and wasn't really a friend after all. Ivan was very sad thinking that his first ever friend really didn't like him. Maybe Gus's Momma was keeping him away from Ivan, but that didn't really make sense either. Gus's Momma sure seemed to like Ivan too, even if Ivan seemed to like Pops more. Whatever the problem was, all that Ivan knew was that Gus wasn't around and his litter mates were teasing him something awful for making up stories about a terrific best friend. Ivan tried to find a warm, quiet place where he could just be sad all by himself and not have to listen to his litter mates. He just wanted to go to sleep and forget these last few days. Maybe tomorrow would be better and Gus would come back and be his friend again. That was Ivan's last thought as he drifted off to sleep.

Ivan and Gus have Fun

   Gus didn't want to leave his new friend, but his Momma called for him and he always went to see what his Momma needed him for. Sometimes it was walks, sometimes it was just lots of loving, but whenever she called him it was always for some good reason. This time though, he really didn't want to go with her. He was so happy to have a new friend. He knew what cats were, he had one at home named Missy who didn't really like him much. This little one though seemed to really like him. That was really exciting for Gus, he had a FRIEND! His Momma was terrific, but she just didn't understand that Gus was lonely sometimes. Momma was busy doing stuff without him and he missed not having someone to do things with. This kitty didn't run away from him and seemed to like having Gus carry him and clean him up and liked to cuddle with him. But Momma called and Gus had to go, so he did his 'good' dog thing and went with Momma.

   The next day though, Momma took Gus to work with her and Dad again and Gus couldn't wait to see if Ivan was still in the backyard. He was so excited he almost dragged Momma to the back door and outside. He ran out to the back and raced to where he had seen Ivan yesterday. He skidded around the corner and sniffed the ground, but no Ivan. Gus was so sad! One day he had a friend and the next day it was gone. Poor Gus, he just lay down in the dirt and looked so sad. But wait! What was that noise? It sounded like grass rustling. Gus looked around and sniffed some more and oh boy!! there was Ivan. He was creeping out from under the fence and headed right for Gus. Gus was so happy! His tail was just wagging a mile a minute. Ivan looked up, saw Gus and hopped right over to him squeaking like crazy. He was happy his new friend was back too.

   The two new friends spent the day playing together. Gus was carrying Ivan around or they were chasing each other all over the yard. Gus's Momma came out to get him, but Gus didn't want to come back inside. Momma sat with Gus and Ivan and watched them play for awhile and all of a sudden Momma picked up Ivan and took him in to meet Pops. Wow, it was amazing. Ivan just loved Pops! It was like they were the best of buddies. Gus wasn't so sure about Pops, but if he liked Ivan that was ok with Gus. Pops cuddled with Ivan for a while and then Momma had to take him back outside. Ivan didn't want to go back to that lonely yard, but there wasn't much he could do about it. But, he had had a really good day. His new best buddy came back to play with him and he found a person that really liked him and one that he really liked back. He hoped the next day would be as good as this one. Now he could just ignore his litter mates and not feel so sad that they didn't want him around.

Ivan meets Gus

 

 

Once upon a time there was a kitten named Ivan. He was the littlest kitten his Momma had and his brothers and sisters always pushed him out of the way. It was hard for Ivan to get enough to eat and none of his brothers and sisters would cuddle with him, so he was always cold. It was lonely being the littlest kitten and Ivan spent a lot of his time alone, wandering in the yard and chasing bugs. It was a good thing that it was warm that spring or Ivan may have frozen to death if he didn't die of loneliness first. It's very lonely when you're the runt and so small you can't really fight for yourself very well. But you do learn to be fast, and crafty and sneaky so you can survive.

   Ivan and his family lived in a little yard with lots of big plants and dirt and a funny little dog that watched over them. Ivan only knew that the little thing was a dog because that's what the younger lady would say to him. Things like “be a good dog and watch the kitties”, that kind of stuff. So the only 'dog' thing Ivan knew was this little one. There were two ladies that made sure there was food and water for all the cats and kittens that lived in the yard. They were ok and nice enough. The young one would try and cuddle all the kittens, but Ivan was so small, he got missed a lot because his brothers and sisters would just push him out of the way. It wasn't a bad life, it just wasn't the best life, but Ivan was ok with that, or at least he thought he was.

   One day, Ivan was sunning himself on a crate in the big yard next to where his Momma stayed. He was only over there because all the big cats had hissed out a warning about a new dog thing in the yard. This one wasn't nice like the funny one. This one tried to bite the cats and hurt them, so the big cats told everyone to go under the fence to the next yard. Hardly anyone ever came around in the big yard, so they thought they would be safer there. His brothers and sisters were all cuddled together and leaving Ivan alone. Suddenly, a big hairy creature showed up in the yard and his siblings all ran away, leaving Ivan alone to figure out what this thing was. It came right up to Ivan, sniffing and sneezing and wagging it's big tail. This big thing just bounced all around Ivan and then just picked him up by the scruff of his neck, just like his momma used to do. The next thing Ivan knew, he was getting carried all around the yard and licked all over and just loved up like never before.

   What Ivan never realized, was that this big, furry, bouncy thing was also a DOG! Now cats and dogs are never supposed to get along, but no one ever told that to Ivan and Gus. Ivan and Gus played together until something that smelled sort of like the ladies that fed Ivan and his family came and took Gus away. Ivan was so sad, this was the first friend he'd ever had and now he was gone. It was always the same for Ivan, he would find something fun and something would happen and it would go away. So, he went back to his lonely spot in the sun and tried to forget about his new friend.

This is part 1 of Ivan's story. Be sure to come back to hear more. You can find out more about his family at Gus's website. Thanks for reading my story.

Ivan the Terrible formerly known as 'Little Bit'