A Tale of a Tail

A Tale of a Tail

A Tale of a Tail David Pryke

David Pryke © 2020 All Rights Reserved

This is a tale about the Isle of Man and about Manx cats who live on the island.

They are very special cats because they have no tails.

And this is a tale about how they lost their tails.

Once, a long, long time ago, on the Isle of Man, it rained and rained and rained and would not stop.

And there was a cat looking out of the window, watching the rain falling, and watching the puddles grow bigger and bigger and the water getting deeper and deeper.

Then he heard some noises in the street.

And a dog ran past the window.

And then a horse trotted past the window.

And then a cow mooed past the window.

And then two ducks waddled past the window.

And then two rabbits hopped past the window.

Curious, the cat went outside.

What is happening? Where is everyone going?

To the boat! Look! And one of the rabbits pointed his paw at a big boat in the harbour.

Why are you all going to the big boat in the harbour?

Because it has rained and rained and rained and the puddles are growing bigger and bigger and bigger and the water is getting deeper and deeper and deeper and the floods are rising higher and higher and higher and we will all drown if we don’t get on the boat!

Quickly! Come with us! The doors are closing!

The big boat is sailing away!

So the cat ran as fast and as fast and as fast as he could...

And just in time, he jumped up and tried to squeeze through the doors and on to the big boat... ...just as the doors slammed shut.

And his tail got caught.

And it was completely cut off.

Ouch!

Ouch! Ouch! I have broken my bottom!

Ouch! Ouch! And ouch again!

And he hopped on the spot, and he jigged a little dance with the pain.

Then he looked round at his bottom, but he could not see his tail.

And then he looked round the other way, but where his tail used to be, he now had a stump on his rump.

And he was very sad, because he had lost his tail and because he now had a little stump on his rump.

And days passed, and slowly, his sore bottom began to feel better.

Many days passed, and he got used to having no tail.

And he got used to having a little stump instead.

And then the rain stopped at last.

And he got off the big boat.

And he was happy again, even though he had no tail.

Of course, all that happened a long, long time ago on the Isle of Man, when it rained and rained and rained and the puddles grew bigger and bigger and bigger ...

...and that was when the water got deeper and deeper and deeper and the floods rose higher and higher and higher.

And that was when all the animals ran to get on the huge boat, and when the big doors on the boat closed tight and the Manx cat lost his tail.

And that is why, even today, cats on the Isle of Man have no tails.

And they are happy that they have no tails, because that makes them very special.

And that ends this tale of a tail.