Sacha
The New Cat Written by Linsey Gonzales
Sacha: The New Cat Copyright Š 2019 by Linsey Gonzales Acknowledgment Story written by Linsey Gonzales Original illustrations by Shutterstock artists: Dualororua, light_s, Pushkin, Rohit Dhanaji Shinde; Edited and modified by Linsey Gonzales All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from Linsey Gonzales Powered By Bookemon. www.bookemon.com
Sacha
The New Cat Written by Linsey Gonzales
For Kanani
the prettiest kitty
It was another sunny morning in the Rocky Mountains and the students of The Wise Lion School of Mountain Medicine were scampering off to class.
1
“Good morning, Class,” said Professor Wellpaw. “We have a new student joining our school today. This is Sacha. She just moved here from the rainforest.” Sacha stood at the front of the class and looked around at the other students. All of the mountain cats had yellow fur and blue eyes. She could feel them staring at her dark brown fur with its black spots, and her dark brown eyes. One yellow cat was whispering to her friend and pointing at Sacha as she sat down at her desk.
2
“Please quiet down,” said Professor Wellpaw. “Now let’s talk about your assignment for next week. Everyone is going to share a report with the class about why you are attending The Wise Lion School of Medicine, and why you want to be a doctor.” “I wonder if Sacha wants to be a jungle snake doctor!” said the same yellow cat, and everyone giggled. “That’s enough, Daisy!” said the Professor.
3
After class, Sacha sat outside in the rocky school yard and felt really sad. She was so different from all of the mountain cats and was afraid no one would want to be her friend. She missed her home, with the dark green forest and river and beautiful flowers. She missed her jungle animal friends and the spotted cats that looked like her. “How will I ever fit in here?” she said to herself, and started to cry. “Hola, Amiga,” said a voice nearby. “Why so sad?” he asked.
4
“Who are you?” said Sacha, surprised to see a bright blue butterfly just like the ones that live in the rainforest back home. “My name is Cielo,” he said. “I’m from the forest too. I come to live up here in the summer time.” “Oh it’s nice to meet you! My name is Sacha,” she said, happy to see a familiar face. “I’m sad because I don’t have any friends here in the mountains.” “Don’t be sad,” he said. “They just don’t know you yet. It’s ok to be different. Imagine if we were all the same. How boring! There are many things they don’t know about you and your home. You just need to be brave and share.”
5
Sacha decided to listen to Cielo. She worked on her report all week, thinking of all the things she could share about her life back home, and why she came to the mountains to learn to be a doctor. She practiced saying her report in front of Cielo and he helped her find courage. “Fantastic!” he said. “I bet they’ve never heard about the special plants we have in the forest. You will help them learn new things!”
6
The next week in class, everyone took turns sharing their reports. Sacha got nervous as she listened. Everyone else was from the Rocky Mountains and knew about plants and animals that she didn’t know yet. But she remembered what Cielo said to her. She had very special things to tell them about and everyone might like to hear, if she was just brave enough to share.
Sco ut’s Report
7
When it was her turn, Sacha took a deep breath and got up in front of the class. She began telling them all about the forest where she grew up. She told them about climbing the trees and swimming in the river, and about all of the birds and monkeys and snakes and cats that live there. She described the beautiful paintings and music and celebrations she had with her jungle family. Sacha also told them about her Grandmother who taught her about many plants in the forest that can help you when you get sick.
8
Then she told the class how men are cutting down the trees and her friends are losing their homes. Sacha’s Grandmother sent her away to live in the mountains to go to school where she would be safe. She told the class that this is why she wants to become a doctor. She wants to learn mountain medicine and to help others learn about plants that grow in the rainforest. She wants to make her family proud.
9
“That was a wonderful report, Sacha!” said Professor Wellpaw. “Thank you for sharing! We are happy you came to our school. I hope you enjoy learning about the plants and animals we have here in the mountains.” The class clapped and Sacha sat down, feeling very proud.
Sacha’s Report
10
After school, Sacha saw Daisy coming across the school yard. “Hi Sacha. I liked your report. The rainforest sounds really cool. I’m sorry you had to leave your family. It must be scary to be so far from home.” “Thank you, Daisy,” said Sacha. “I miss the forest and my family very much. But I am thankful I get to live here and go to this school.”
11
Sacha looked up to see the rest of the class coming over to them. “Hi Sacha,” said Scout. “We were wondering if you’d like to study with us sometime. We could go on a hike and show you the plants that grow on the mountain. I’d really love to hear more about the jungle too.” “Sure,” said Sacha, smiling. “I’d like that very much.” In the tree above, Cielo the butterfly watched happily as the cats walked down the path together, as new friends.
12
The End
Sacha
The New Cat
It’s not easy being the new cat in school!
Written by Linsey Gonzales