Rambo's Rambling - Cat Care

   Class! Today Professor Rambo will be teaching you all on the proper way to feed cats. This information is straight from a cat, so you can know it is right.

   1. Cats need four full meals a day. I prefer round meals over square meals, because my stomach is round. And when I say full meal, I mean a meal that makes my stomach full. So give your cats lots of food.

   2. Must you pet cats so much? I mean, we get bombarded by people as soon as we're spotted! The madness, the germs, the tickling! It's horrible. Basically, all I want is for you guys, and girls especially girls, to leave us alone. Maybe a stroke or two a day, but that's it. Give us food and leave us alone.

   3. The kittens are not superior to us. Perhaps this kind of contradicts the last point, but if you're going to snuggle the kittens, snuggle us too. We adult cats don't want to feel inferior to the little 'uns. So treat us all equal (and hopefully nicely).

   4. Let us sleep! When we are sleeping, don't wake us up. Unless its lunch time. Then please wake me up, but leave everyone else to sleep.

 

There you go. A four point list to taking care of me. I hope you learned a lot, there will be a test. Though, if you give me a free meal, I'll go easy on you. Hehe.

Note: this report was not sanctioned or approved by the CCA (Cat Caretakers of America).

The Case of the Missing Girl - Part 3

   Click for Part 1 and Part 2.

 

The Case of the Missing Girl

By Jesse Rice

 

Chapter Three

Gone!

   I immediately stepped into action as Detective Rambo, Private Eyes. I jumped off the feed bags and glanced around. I stepped up to Jesse, the nearest human.

   "Where is the youngest girl?" I asked.

   Jesse leaned down. "How are you, Rambo? You doing okay?" He picked me up and put me on his shoulder. I could talk to him much easier up here.

   "Where is the girl?" I asked again.

   "Hush," Jesse hissed. "That's loud." He pulled me off his shoulder, much to my dislike, and put me on the ground.

   "Stay out of the way," Jesse ordered. I hissed at him. Jesse bopped me on the nose.

   "Stop hissing." He walked away.

   I was no closer to solving this case than I had been five minutes ago. Time to start sleuthing. I dashed as fast as I could to the house, partly because I wanted to solve this case and partly because Caesar was after me. I crawled into the cement blocks serving as a porch step and waited until Caesar left.

   "Come out, you little nuisance," Caesar roared.

   I wrinkled my nose. "You have bad breath."

   "What are you doing?" Caesar asked. "Spying on the humans?"

   "The littlest girl has disappeared," I replied. "I have decided to find her."

   Caesar barked with laughter and I ran away. I hurried over to the chicken coop and immediately saw a clue. It was the girl's pink hair bow. Detective Rambo turned to Agent 525 Rambo, spy extraordinaire.

   I crawled through the fence and looked at the chicken pecking at the hair bow.

   "Scram, chicken," I growled.

   The chicken looked at me and I knew I was dead meat: the chicken was Fry the Rooster.

 

Come back next time for Part 4: Chicken!

'May the Odds Be Every in Your Favor'

   The Hunger Games. Probably one of the most controversial book series ever (other than Harry Potter). Some people think it's brilliant. Some people think its disgusting. I've decided to throw my pin into the ring of opinions.

   Heart-wrenching, gut-twisting, stomach-churning, disgusting, crazy Hunger Games. I've read the series twice. Both times I was shocked, disturbed, and drawn into this world of tributes, murder, and revolution. Why does it resonate with me? What could I possibly relate to in a world where everyone tries to kill one another?

   For one, there's Peeta. Good old Peeta, the only character that actually tries to think about others (to start). He's the character that wants to do right because it might be the right thing to do, not just because it'll save his own life. Yes, he's flawed (as is everyone), but
that's part of the beauty of it.
   Now, do I enjoy the series? Yes, and I dislike it. It is horrible, it makes me angry: and that's the point! The Hunger Games is much like The Grapes of Wrath or The Jungle. It's a series about social injustice (even if that society doesn't exist). It's a book that present tough questions and gives answer to them, not proclaiming that those answers are right. It's a series that tugs at your heartstrings as you follow after characters who live, die, fight, and bleed for those they love. Is that always right? No. But there definitely are qualities we can take from these characters that are biblically based and should be applied to our own lives.
   One more thing. When Katniss first goes into the games, she takes the place of someone else (no spoilers, don't worry). She puts her life in the place of another's, most likely going to lose it in the process. She's willing to lay down her life for her friend... Sound familiar?

Note: I don't own the rights to the picture.

Why I wrote The Missing Kitten

  Some of you may have wondered 'Why did you write The Missing Kitten?' This is a pretty simple question to answer.

   Writing books about cats all started on my little sister's 8th birthday. Now, my siblings are pretty talented with crafts. For birthdays they generally make crafts as presents. I wanted to do something of the sort, but I'm not patient enough or talented enough to make something worthy of gifting. Instead, I looked to what I was good at: writing.

   That's where I came up with the idea to write a story about my sister's cats. She loves cats and has many of them, so I came up with The Case of the Missing Girl.

   She liked the story. Then, being the crazy 12-year-old I was at the time, I decided I could do this for all my siblings. And not with short stories either, but with full length books! I could write a book for two siblings every Christmas. But, the best part, would be that I would write a series, so each year (if it was her year to get a book) my sister would get the next story in the kitten series.

   The Missing Kitten is the first book in the Kitten Mysteries series. I wrote it for my sister, because she loves cats. And that is why it is dedicated to her.

 

(Note about the schedule: School has started again, so I'm probably going to have to alter it a bit. Check out the new schedule here.)

The Case of the Missing Girl - Part 2

   Here's part two of The Case of the Missing Girl, the story which brought about the Kitten Mysteries series. The first part can be found here.

 

The Case of the Missing Girl

By Jesse Rice

 

Chapter Two

The Calf Monsters

   I crawled down, straight down, from the hay bales surrounding the calf pen. I wriggled under the gate and into the pen. I looked around. All the calves were looking at Butch, high up on the hay bales.

   "Hey, everybody!" Butch shouted. "Come 'n' get me!"

   I walked slowly up behind the biggest calf. Hopping Harry stared up at Butch. I glanced over at Seabert who was ready to pounce on Kratos, another big calf. I smiled smugly and leapt. Harry bawled as loud as he could as I yanked on his tail. He spun around and I flew into the hay bales. I fell into a small cave that the calves had eaten into the hay bales, then jumped out of it and dashed for the gate.

   A calf shoved his head in my way, but I jumped onto his head and leapt over the gate. I landed on the feed bags, and Butch jumped down beside me.

   "Was it totally awesome?" he asked.

   I nodded, breathless. Seabert crawled out of the milk feeder and grinned.

   "I'm wet," he complained, soaked with milk, "but I taste good!" He jumped onto the feed bags and rubbed his head against my side.

   "Thank you very much for your help, Deputy," I said, returning to my western voice.

   "Don't mention it, Partner," Seabert meowed, walking back toward the hay barn where his mother was waiting. I sighed and noticed that all the humans had come out to feed calves. All of them except the little girl. Where was she? I decided it was up to Sheriff Rambo to find out.

 

Come back next Monday for Part Three: Gone!

Kindle

   Some of you may be wondering why I haven't been posting as much lately. Well, the answer to that is this: I got a schedule! I decided instead of a post a day (which is too much writing for me, and too much reading for you readers) I decided to go three posts (maybe four) a week.
   Now, why haven't I kept to the schedule? Well... I could claim I've been writing so much in Trapped that I haven't had time to blog, but that wouldn't be quite the truth. The truth is I was working on other stuff (more on that a bit later) and I have schoolwork now. That's right, it's that time of year again. The time of year kids shriek and adults 'Amen!'. And the time of year I have to start calculus. Blech.
   Anyway, the other reason I haven't kept to the schedule is this: I was working on getting The Missing Kitten to kindle format. And now it is! So those of you who have been hesitating, now you can get The Missing Kitten for only $2.99! Hurrah!
   That's all for today (and probably this week). Come back on Monday where I'll hopefully be back on schedule! Have a good day!

The Case of the Missing Girl - Part 1

   How did the Kitten Mysteries come to be? That's a very good question, and one which I'll answer more in depth on Wednesday (that is the day for Kitten Mysteries related stuff. This is just the day for fiction!)

   Here's the original story that gave birth to the Kitten Mysteries series, The Missing Kitten in particular.

     The Case of the Missing Girl

By Jesse Rice

 

Chapter One

The Lion and the Panther

   I, the black panther, crept up on the giant lion. It was attacking a poor, helpless female tiger. I crept up behind the monster and leapt at him. I got him! I pulled him away from the tiger and swatted him in the face.

   "Ow!" Butch, the lion, yelped. "Rambo! Stop hitting me!" I stared at my brother. He was no longer a giant lion, now he was only a yellow kitten.

   "Oh, sorry," I replied. "I thought you were attacking a female tiger. No offense, Spot." Spot purred and licked her paw. Butch glared at me.

   "Stop letting your imagination run wild!" Butch growled, "Or I will be a giant lion and attack the puny, little panther!" He growled and scampered away. I sighed and turned back to Spot. She was still licking her front-right paw.

   I rolled my eyes and whispered: "Vanity." I walked away from the front of the cheese plant and walked into the parlor. I looked up at the bars where the cows were milked and saw Caesar growling at Barkley. I decided to put myself into action as Sheriff Rambo, Protector of ----- Farm. I ran up the hill and hissed at Caesar.

   Now look here, good sirs," I said in a western voice, "why don't you just come over here and talk about your argument for a moment."

   "Get out!" Caesar barked.

   "Careful, kid," Barkley growled at me, "This character's shady." Immediately I knew what to do. I jumped up into the feed trough and leapt down on Caesar.

   "Yee-haw, cowboy!" I meowed. "Yee-haw!" Caesar leapt into the air and I twisted away from his biting jaws.

   "Missed me, missed me!" I taunted.

   "I said get out!" Caesar roared and I flew off his back. I ran out the door and into the hay barn.

   "Hi, Rambo," Seabert squeaked. I looked at him, playfully stern.

   "That's 'Sheriff Rambo' to you," I giggled. Seabert grew serious.

   "Can I be depty?" he asked.

   "You mean 'deputy'?" I asked. He nodded.

   "Can I?" he asked again.

   "You may," I replied. "Let's go check out the calves!" Seabert and I ran up to the hay bales and climbed onto them. We looked down at the gigantic calves.

   "This is agent 525 Rambo," I whispered.

   "This is agent 697 Seabert," Seabert whispered.

   "This is agent 220 Butch," Butch whispered, appearing from nowhere. "I love playing spy." We crept up on the evil-calf monsters.

 

Come back next Monday to read the second of the five part series The Case of the Missing Girl.