‘Kezia what are you doing?’ called her sister, Rhoda.
‘I’m up here’ answered Kezia.
‘Well, come down this minute.’ It was Mum’s voice, and Kezia wasn’t pleased.
‘Did anyone ever have such a troublesome kitten’ grumbled Mum as she ran up the stairs.
‘The doors are locked, and you can’t get in, so stop meowing, they wont hear you.’ she said.
‘But if I cry loud enough’ began Kezia.
‘Downstairs - NOW!’ interrupted her Mum who had been up and down the stairs at least a dozen times that morning.
With a loud sigh, Kezia made her way slowly down to the kitchen.
‘Come on, let’s play in the garden’ Rhoda suggested. ‘They haven’t forgotten you, they are just a bit scared at the moment.’
Kezia couldn’t understand why they were frightened. They were ‘Giants’ in her eyes, but, and she shrugged her shoulders, ‘Humans are very strange’ she thought.
‘Come on’ repeated Rhoda. ‘You’re daydreaming again.’
So, with a little shake of her head, Kezia followed Rhoda out into the sunshine.
Their favourite place in the garden was the pond. They could sit there for hours just watching the bright fishes flashing in and out of the greenery. Of course they tried to catch them, dabbing their paws into the water, but they never did. Somehow I don’t think they really tried, but it was a good game accompanied by many giggles as they often almost fell in and joined the fishes!
It was a large garden with lots of trees, and after they tired of playing by the pond they would climb into a sycamore tree and rest in the coolness of its branches. They could almost see the whole garden from this vantage point, and it was by this very tree that, one day, they heard some exciting news.
But now, it was lunch time, and Mum was calling them. ‘Are your friends coming over this afternoon?’ Mum asked as they were enjoying their meal.
‘Yes, as soon as they’ve finished lunch’ Rhoda answered.
‘We thought we would show them our new hiding place’ said Kezia. Then ‘Ouch!’ as her sister nipped her tail. It was also a good place to hide from Mum when they had been naughty, she remembered!!
Mum just looked at them, but Kezia was sure she caught sight of a smile as Mum turned away.
After lunch they waited patiently by the door until their friends arrived, then what an afternoon of fun they had. They chased a ball of wool, and had a great tussle trying to get it off each other. They played by the pond, and showed their friends their new hiding place down by the roots of an old tree. It was in a rather dark corner of the garden and the large hole was almost covered by leaves, moss and fallen branches.
‘An excellent place to hide’ their friends said after they had been in and out a few times. ‘No-one will ever find us here.’
Then, finally, they rested in their favourite tree to cool down.
‘Come to our garden, tomorrow’ their friends invited them. ‘And we’ll show you where we like best to play.’
So it was arranged that Mum would take them to her friend’s house the following day.
There were no grumbles when it came to bedtime. They had enjoyed their day so much, and tomorrow promised to be just as enjoyable.
‘Good-night, Mum’ they called.
‘Good-night, my dears, sleep well’ Mum answered, and Kezia was so happy that she fell asleep almost immediately, quite forgetting about the unhappy, scared men in the upstairs room.
Elizabeth Aynsley ©

John 20 vs. 24-29.