Tag Archives: animals

6

Trouble in Cheeseland – Part 3

|

Where we are: Cheeseland Mayor Pauly Porcine’s Administration has been under fire ever Action 7 News uncovered City Manager Clayborn Coyote handing out no-bid contracts to his friends and business associates for City projects. Mayor Pauly had been forced to terminate Clayborn’s employment in the hopes that the whole thing would blow over. Rather than ending the issue, the citizens turned their anger on the mayor. A recall petition had gathered enough signatures to force a recall vote. Mayor Pauly has called a news conference for Friday afternoon.

Thomas Tabby, Liaison to the Humans, and his Communications Director, Sgt Stripes, were in his office discussing what has been going on prior to the press conference.’

Sgt Stripes: How’s Pauly doing?

Thomas: Not good. He really doesn’t understand why this is such a problem. He didn’t have anything to do with the contracts, and he got rid of the source of the problem.

Sgt Stripes: Seriously? He really doesn’t understand why everyone is upset?

Thomas: He thinks it’s because he’s a pig.

Sgt Stripes: What’s that got to do with anything?

Thomas: You know. Pigs and pork-barrel politics. He thinks it’s species-ism.

Sgt Stripes: I guess I never thought about that. Everyone I’ve talked to says the problem is that he’s in charge, so he should have known what was going on. Some folks don’t believe he didn’t know what was going on.

Thomas: I think the whole Tabocracy thing got under his skin. He thinks the cats are out to get him. He thinks I want his job. He’s really a little unglued about the whole thing.

Sgt Stripes: That’s crazy. We just think he’s a bad mayor.

Thomas: He’s gotten better since he hired Henrietta as his Chief of Staff. She is a really sharp hare. If she’d been here last year, we probably wouldn’t have had this mess.

Sgt Stripes: So what is he going to talk about this afternoon?

Thomas: He hasn’t really talked about it. The last I heard, he wants to appeal to the electorate. He still hopes they’ll give him another chance.

Sgt Stripes: I don’t really understand why he wants to be mayor. It sounds like a terrible job.

Thomas: No kidding. I was really excited to work at City Hall, but it’s awful. Someone is always telling you about what they think you should be doing.

There was a knock at the door.

Ginny Gnu: Okay, boys. It’s time for the big speech.

Thomas and Sgt Stripes joined the rest of the municipal staff on the steps of the City Hall. There is a crowd of animals in front of the building along with Angel Katt from Action 7 News and her crew. Shortly, Mayor Pauly and his Chief of Staff, Henrietta Hare, move to the Center. The City Council is off to the side.

Mayor Pauly: Good Afternoon, everyone. Things have been hectic lately, and I wanted to take the opportunity to reassure everyone that I have things under control.

Henrietta cleared her throat.

Mayor Pauly: Unfortunately, I can’t say that things are under control. The animals of Cheeseland are very unhappy with the direction we’ve been moving, and it’s my responsibility to address that. I would like to invite City Council President Gayle Gorilla to join me over here.

Gayle stood next to Pauly.

Mayor Pauly: I have come to the conclusion that my time as mayor needs to end. The matter of the no-bid contracts has taken over every conversation, and we can’t run the city like that. I am resigning effective immediately. It has been an honor to be your mayor, and I regret that it ends this way. Council President Gayle will outline what happens next.T

The animals waited in stunned silence. No one had expected things to end this way.

Gayle: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. According to the city charter, if the Mayor resigns, the City Council President will assume the responsibilities of city government until a new mayor is elected. The President will be assisted by the City Council in managing the day-to-day affairs of the city. I wasn’t notified until this morning that the mayor was going to resign, so we have agreed to a one-month transition of duties between the mayor’s staff and the City Council. We look forward to working with the other elected members of the government as we move forward. We ask for your patience as we move along this path.

As the audience starts applauding, Mayor Pauly returned inside with the other city workers.

All pictures generated by Gemini AI

12

Trouble in Cheeseladnd – Part 2

|

Where we are: Cheeseland’s City Manager, Clayborn Coyote, has been accused of favoritism in awarding city contracts. The scandal is threatening to bring down Mayor Pauly Porcine’s government. Every day since Angel Katt broke the story on Action 7 News, residents have been picketing City Hall. City Council President Gayle Gorilla has called an emergency meeting with Mayor Pauly, his Chief-of-Staff Henrietta Hare, Clayborn, and the full City Council.

Gayle: Mr Mayor, how to do plan to handle this scandal?

Pauly: What scandal? Clayborn had some work to get down and he found animals he trusted to get it done.

Sheila Skunk: But they didn’t do it right.

Clayborn: Every job was completed on time and under budget.

Oscar Owl: I’ve been looking over the invoices for the pool work. I don’t see where there was a budget established prior to the start of the project.

Clayborn: I’ve known that guy for most of my life. I trusted his estimates would be appropriate.

Oscar: That’s not how government contracting works. You need to get competing bids. You’re working with other people’s money.

Pauly: I checked the numbers. He didn’t charge more than he said he would. And he finished early.

Harry Hedgehog: That’s great. Except he poisoned the water. Several young animals had a reaction to the chlorine in the water.

Clayborn: That was unfortunate. I didn’t realize that Larry usually worked with humans. They love that stuff in their pools.

Pauly: So what, exactly, is the point of this meeting? I’m a busy pig. I’m sure this will be forgotten in a few weeks.

Gayle: I’m afraid not, Mr Mayor. A few of the residents started a petition after our last meeting. They have enough signatures to hold a recall vote.

Pauly: They want to recall Clayborn? I didn’t realize that was possible,

Gayle: It’s not. He’s not an elected official.

Pauly looked at her, puzzled. Then he looked horrified.

Pauly: You don’t mean…

Gayle: I’m afraid so, sir. They are holding you responsible for your employee’s actions

Pauly: That’s ridiculous. I didn’t do anything wrong. No one has accused me of anything.

Gayle: They entrusted you with their city and don’t think you’re taking good care of it.

Pauly: Because a few kids got red eyes? We took care of the issue once it was brought to our attention.

Gayle: They don’t trust the city’s computer system anymore. Animals are refusing to pay their utility bills because they were being overcharged for everything.

Clayborn: That was a simple compilation error. Everything is fine now.

Gene Woodchuck: But. they. don’t. trust. the. data.

Clayborn: It will be fine in a couple of billing cycles.

Gene: The citizens don’t believe you. They want a new government.

Henrietta: What if Pauly fired Clayborn? Would that help?

Pauly: Why would I fire Clayborn?

Gayle: He broke the law.

Pauly looked around the room at the Council members. They were all nodding. Then he looked at Clayborn. Clayborn shrugged.

Pauly: I guess you gotta go, buddy. This is more serious than I realized.

Clayborn: No worries. I’ve got plenty of options.

Gayle called Security to escort Clayborn out of the building.

Pauly: So now we’re set, right? I can move on to more important things?

Gayle: I’m not sure what could be more important. Your constituents want you removed from office.

Pauly: Not now that I’ve fired Clayborn. He was the real problem.

Gayle: So you won’t consider resigning?

Pauly: Why would I resign? I took care of the problem.

Meanwhile, Clayborn was on the steps of City Hall, giving his version of what happened in the meeting.

Angel Katt: Clayborn, can you tell us what’s going on in the meeting?

Clayborn: The Mayor needed a scapegoat for everything that’s wrong with his Administration. Now I’m out of a job.

Angel: You were responsible for the no-bid contracts, weren’t you?

Clayborn: The Mayor hired me to get things done. And I got things done. That’s all I have to say.

Angel: Thank you for your time.

Next week: Has Pauly done enough to keep his job?

Pictures generated by Gemini AI.

6

Trouble in Cheeseland

|

Cheeseland is buzzing about the scandal that is threatening to take down Mayor Pauly Porcine’s government. Mayor Pauly is not personally accused of any wrongdoing, but the City Manager, Clayborn Coyote, appears to be running a large-scale pay-to-play operation with city contractors.

We’re following the story on WCHZ 7 Action News.

 

Shirelle Sharpei: Good evening everyone. Welcome to Action 7 News at 11 pm. I’m Shirelle Sharpei.

Tyrone Tiger: And I’m Tyrone Tiger. Shirelle, we’ve got some big news on the Mayor Pauly story.

Shirelle: Indeed, we do, Tyrone. And first on the scene, as always, is Angel Katt. Angel, we hear there’s an update in the Mayor Pauly situation.

Angel: As you know, I’ve been working with an anonymous source inside the Administration to break this story. That animal told me that there was going to be an ad-hoc, closed-door City Council meeting tonight. It was closed to the public, but I’ve been speaking to several parties as they left the meeting. I have the footage for you.

The video starts with Angel standing with a microphone as several coyotes rush past her without stopping. She tries to get an answer, but they quickly move past her.

 

Gayle Gorilla, the City Council President, follows the coyotes out of City Hall.

Angel: Madame President, could I get a statement about what happened in there? The coyotes didn’t look happy.

Gayle: I imagine not. It appears that several contracts were awarded to friends of the City Manager without going through the required bidding process.

Angel: Can you tell me which projects were in question?

Gayle: I can’t get into specifics, but the impacted departments are Parks & Rec, Maintenance, and Communications.

Angel: Thank you, Madame President.

Angel returns to the live feed. An angry group of residents came out of City Hall.

Angel: Would any of you like to tell us what you thought of the meeting?

Brandy Bear: This is why I didn’t vote for that pig. I knew he’d be doing pork-barrel politics.

Angel: Did someone say Mayor Pauly was involved?

Brandy: It’s his administration. He should have known what was going on. I think we should get rid of them all.

Tyrone (from the studio): Angel, can you get an understanding of why folks seem to be so angry?

Angel: I think it might be related to the issues at the renovated swimming pool.

Ophelia Otter: That’s exactly why I’m so mad. My kids love to go to that pool. It’s the only one with real river water. I thought they were just doing routine maintenance.

Angel: What happened?

Ophelia: The first time we went back, my son Jeremy jumped right in. Then he jumped right back out, screaming that his eyes hurt. And he smelled weird.

Bonnie Beaver: Same thing with my kids. Someone had dumped chlorine in the pool.

Angel: Why would anyone put chlorine in a pool?

Ophelia: That idiot coyote hired someone who mainly works with humans. Apparently humans are so dirty, they have to bleach themselves when they get in a pool.

Angel: Eww! Are the kids okay?

Bonnie: Fortunately, we could go home and use the pond in the backyard.

Timothy: We got an electric bill from the City. It said we owed $200 for our electricity. All we use it for is our heating lamp. It used to be $15.

Shelley Sheep: We received a letter saying that our son was at risk of being expelled from school for truancy. Our son graduated last year.

Angel: What’s going on?

Timothy: They hired a firm to update the city’s communications systems. The company just moved all the data over in a massive dump, so now everything is confused and mixed up.

Shelley: I heard that they need to go back to the old data and start over. Hopefully, nothing was lost.

Suddenly, Mayor Pauly walks through the crowd and pushes the camera aside.

Pauly: That’s enough for tonight. We’re handling the issues.

Angel: Mr Mayor, how are you going to address the allegations?

Pauly: Accusations. That’s exactly what they are. No one has proven anything.

Ophelia: My child jumped into a pool full of chlorine.

Pauly: We’re looking into it. It might have been a mistake by a new employee.

Angel: Mr Mayor…

Pauly: I said this was over.

Pauly pushes his way through the crowd as Angel wraps up her microphone.

Shirelle: Well, that was abrupt.

Tyrone: Everyone, remember to follow this breaking story on WCHZ7.com and come back here to follow what Angel learns.

Next week: What will happen to Pauly and Clayborn?

(Ed. Note – Cat is finally healthy and will be back to reading your posts. Thank you for your patience.)

All pictures generated by Gemini AI

17

Cheeseland Day Camp – Parents Day

|

The campers at Camp Muckamac had been working hard all week getting their skits ready for their parents The plan was for the parents to arrive after lunch on Friday and take the young animals home after the program.

It’s finally Friday, and everyone is very excited. There was a hike in the morning followed by cleaning. Finally, it was time for the skits. They always held the end-of-camp gathering in the Chow Hall in case of bad weather.

Ms Kimmy: Hello, everyone! In case I haven’t met anyone, I’m Ms Kimmy, director of Camp Muckamac. I’ve had the pleasure of being with your children for the past two weeks, and I’ve really had a good time. We didn’t have to send anyone home for not following the rules, and there were no major medical emergencies.

The parents applauded. The campers, who were sorted into their skit groups, looked at Ms Cate. They were waiting for the signal that it was time to start.

Ms Cate (whispering): Not yet. She needs to introduce the counselors first.

All of the counselors, except Ms Cate, lined up behind Ms Kimmy. Ms Kimmy introduced them one-by-one to continued applause. After they were introduced, they went back to the campers.

Ms Kimmy: Now it’s time for our program. Let’s give a big welcome to the first group: Mr Arthur and Forest Safety.

Two young raccoons run in with a banner saying, “Forest Safety.” They stand at the back of the stage. A kitten and a guinea pic walk onto the stage. They take turns reading from a paper.

Kitten: The forest is a wonderful, magical place, but you need to respect it.

Guinea Pig: Yes, you should always pay attention to where you are.

A group of young animals run onto the stage and stop. They start looking around.

Puppy: Do you guys know where we are?

Goat: Not really. We made a lot of turns.

Lamb: It’s kind of dark in here. I don’t like it. I want to go home.

Groundhog: Me too. I’m getting hungry.

Puppy: Should we blow the whistle?

Bear Cub: Don’t be a loser. We’re not lost. I live around here.

Hedgehog: So, which way do we go?

Bear Cub (pointing): That way.

A couple of minutes later.

Bear Cub: I don’t think this is right.

Kitten: I’m hungry.

Bear Cub: Just eat some berries.

Puppy: Wait a minute. Are those safe to eat?

Kitten: I don’t think so. Besides, cats don’t eat berries.

Puppy: That’s it. I’m blowing the whistle.

Two rabbits come out with an easel saying to always know where you are, don’t eat anything you don’t know, and bring something to help others find you if you get lost.

The audience applauded. The young animals bow, collect a few flowers that were thrown, and run off the stage.

Two young wolves run in with a banner saying, “Forest Foods and Medicine.” They stand at the back of the stage. Two meerkats walk on stage with a piece of paper. Mr Joseph stands at the side of the stage.

Meerkat 1: The last group talked about being safe in the forest. We agree you shouldn’t be careless.

Meerkat 2: But if you study the forest, it’s full of tasty things and things that can make you feel better.

A group of young animals come out dressed to forage.

Young Goat: First, you need to know what is dangerous to your species.

Puppy: We can’t eat onions or garlic.

Kitten: Us either.

Bear Cub: But for me wild leeks are delicious.

Young Goat: Pretty much anyone can eat dandelions.

Groundhog: And you can eat almost all of it. Starting with the leaves. They make a delicious salad.

Hedgehog: Did you know you can make wine from the flowers and a hot drink from the roots?

Capybara: You can add broadleaf plantain to your salad or cook them for a side dish.

Lamb: Ostrich Fern can be added to the salad or cooked too. I wonder if anyone cooks them with Broadleaf Plantain.

Bear Cub: Don’t forget wild berries. They are delicious!

Alpaca: Broadleaf Plantain can be used as a poultice for wounds and insect bites.

Kitten: Yarrow can be used for wounds and fevers. It’s not poisonous, but don’t eat too much.

Gopher: We can’t forget all the mushrooms that are safe to eat: morels, chanterelle, hen-of-the-woods, oyster, golden oyster, chicken-of-the-woods, and giant puffball.

A puppy walks in with a sign, “Know what you are eating.”

Kitten: That’s all for us. But we want to invite Mr Joseph out here for a surprise.

Mr Joseph had been whispering with Ms Cate at the side of the stage. Her group was going to do a skit about the Teddy Bears’ Picnic as soon as the current skit was over. Mr Joseph walked out onto the stage.

Kitten: We didn’t know how much Mr Joseph knew about native plants. We had a really good idea, and he helped us do it.

Everyone clapped although no one understood what was going on. The group left the stage. Two young foxes walked out with a banner the said, “Teddy Bears Picnic.” The stood at the back of the stage. A badger walked out and read from a piece of paper.

Badger: There is a song called “The Teddy Bears’ Picnic.” We thought it would be fund to do a skit about a picnic.

A group of small animals came onto the stage carrying picnic baskets and blankets. They spread the blankets on the ground and started to open the picnic baskets.

Lamb: What food did we bring on our picnic, Mama?

Sheep: I’m not sure. I didn’t pack it.

The audience laughed.

Squirrel: That’s weird. My basket is empty.

Ms Cate was not amused. They had rehearsed an entire skit that was not centered on food.

Voice from Offstage: Hello? Hello? Did someone order picnic food? I have an order for a party of teddy bears.

Bear Cub: I didn’t order any food, but I’m a bear.

Voice: That’s good enough for me.

Suddenly, the stage was full of small animals carrying salads, bowls of berries, pots of honey, and other foods. Ms Cate was very confused. Mr. Joseph explained what was happening.

Mr Joseph: The kitten in my group is friends with the kitten in your group. Some of the older campers thought it would be funny to see what happened if they switched up the skit. Sort of a senior prank. The others didn’t agree. My group wanted to help, so they asked if we could actually gather what we were talking about.

Ms Cate: They did an amazing job.

Kitten: Ms Cate, would you please come out.

Ms Cate walked out, trying to avoid the munching animals. There was a group of animals holding bouquets of catnip.

Kitten: We all wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for our program.

They handed her the bouquets, and Ms Cate walked offstaghe.

Ms Kimmy: I’m not happy that a few campers decided to change things around without telling anyone, but all’s well that ends well. It looks like there is still a lot of food if anyone wants some.

Ed Note: The plants referenced are native to Michigan forests.

21

Cheeseland Day Camp – Week 2

|

Everyone made it through the first week of day camp. The campers made sand castles and sand candles. They had learned camp songs and how to tie knots. They had been on hikes in the woods and learned how to make simple shelters.

The session on forest plants had been a little rough. No matter how many times the leaders said, “Look but don’t touch.” someone always tried to touch. It wasn’t too bad, except when Felice (a Golden Retriever) got a poison ivy rash on her muzzle. Her brother said she had too much fur to worry about that. He was wrong.

There was also Julius (a bear cub) who ate some nightshade berries because he thought they were a different kind of blueberry. Luckily someone saw him do it and stopped him before he ate them all. He had a very uncomfortable afternoon but was fine by the time his mother picked him up.

 

On the second Monday of camp, everyone was gathered in the Chow Hall.

Ms Kimmy: Welcome back to Camp Muckamac. I’m glad to see you all again. I think we had a very good first week. Did your parents like the crafts we sent home?

Joachim: My mom says we need to use better glue. My macaroni heart fell apart as soon as we got home and some birds ate it.

Ms Kimmy: That is unfortunate.

Kenzie: My sister really liked the friendship bracelet I made for her. Unfortunately, the dumb dog that lives next door got it and ate it. Then he got sick and threw it up.

Benny: Maybe dogs aren’t dumb. Maybe cats are dumb for leaving their stuff laying around.

Kenzie: I didn’t say dogs are dumb. I said that dog is dumb. But I do think dogs are dumber than cats.

Benny: They are not. Dogs are smarter than everyone.

Petunia: That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Pigs are smarter than both of you.

Ms Kimmy: Okay. That’s enough. Let’s keep things moving. I want to talk about Parents Day at the end of the week. We have something special planned that we are going to work on every afternoon. Ms. Cate has some very special talents that she is going to share with you. She has experience in the theater.

Ms Cate: Hello everyone. We thought it would be fun to put on a couple of skits for your parents.

Ms Kimmy: Doesn’t that sounds like fun?

The young animals look at each other. Finally, a small voice speaks up.

Nikki: Ms Kimmy, what’s a skit?

Ms Cate: Skits are like short plays, and they are usually not too serious. I was thinking about dividing you up into three groups. The first group will be led by Mr Arthur, and it would be about forest safety. The second group will be led by Mr Joseph and would be about what kinds of foods and medicines are in the forest. I will lead the third group. I have two ideas: either what happens when you don’t communicate on a walk through the forest or something to do with The Teddy Bears’ Picnic.

Campers (very loudly): The Teddy Bears’ Picnic.

Kimmy (whispering to Mr Joseph): Did she really think they wouldn’t take teddy bears?

Ms Cate: Okay! We have our skits. Let’s divide you up into groups.

Ms Cate stayed at the front of the room. Mr Arthur and Mr Joseph each took one of the back corners. The other camp counselors were split between the groups The campers were split into three groups.

Ms Kimmy: Okay, everyone. Take a few minutes to discuss your skit before we get started on today’s activity. We’re going to learn how to not get lost in the woods.

An Adult Voice: We probably should have done that last Monday. It would have saved campers getting lost on the way to the latrine.

In one corner:

Mr Arthur: Hello, campers. We are going to act out what happens when someone breaks a safety rule. Any ideas?

Charmaine: I know! Don’t touch anything you can’t identify.

Jillian: Don’t eat anything you can’t identify.

Max: If you’re in a strange place, don’t wander off alone.

Steve: Don’t go in the water by yourself.

Mr Arthur: Those are all excellent points. We can start working on them right after lunch.

In another corner.

Mr Joseph: What are some of the things in the forest that are good to eat?

Helene: Berries!

Jackson: Mushrooms!

Clive: Insects!

Mr Joseph: That’s very good. And there are also many kinds of plants that you can use for a stomachache, a headache or other problems. We can talk about it more this afternoon.

At the front of the room. 

Ms Cate: I was thinking that we could put on a little play about the teddy bears getting ready to go on their picnic.

Hazel: What kind of food will we have?

Ms Cate: This is make-believe. There won’t be any real food.

Maria: It won’t be a picnic if there isn’t real food.

Ms Cate: It isn’t really about food. It’s about the teddy bears going out and having fun while the humans are busy.

Maria: How can they have fun if there isn’t any food?

Jesse: We definitely need food. What kinds of games are we going to play?

Ms Cate: We’re not going to play real games. It’s not a real picnic. We’re just pretending so your parents can see how much fun you’re having at Camp Muckamac.

Maria: It won’t be any fun if there are any food or games.

All pictures generated by Gemini AI.

25

Cheeseland Day Camp

|

Cheeseland Day Camp was a summer tradition that parents looked forward to every summer. For two weeks, they could look forward to having the days to themselves. Every morning, buses picked up the campers from several drop-off locations and took them to Camp Muckamac for a variety of activities.

The campers were divided by age, and each age group had a leader and a co-leader with several volunteer assistants for each activity. Today is Paint Day. Ms Cate is the leader for the youngest group with Mr Arthur as the co-leader. Three young otters are volunteering: Heather, Suzy, and Emma.The otters meet the bus when it arrives at camp.

Emma: Good morning! Over here, Team Green campers.

A few of the campers go to their assigned color, but most of the small animals continue chatting with their friends. Finally, Ms Kimmy, the Director of the camp, blows a whistle.

Ms Kimmy: Listen up campers! We have a big day ahead of us. e, not all going to be painting today. Please go to your assigned color pole

There are four color poles segregated by age: green, blue, yellow, and red.The assigned color was on each camper’s name tag. It was an unfortunate choice for identification. Some of the animals had trouble distinguishing colors. Someone had chosen the tags online, not realizing it was a human site..

Jasper: Ms Kimmy, my mother said that I couldn’t make a mess. She said I couldn’t do the painting. What else can I do?

Ms Kimmy: Every camper had to have their parent sign the same form. If a camper is not allowed to participate in an activity, it is their responsibility to bring something to do. Or the camper can miss that day.

Mimi (Jasper’s twin): My mom says that’s your responsibility. She’s paying good money to have us here, and you have to find something for us to do.

Ms Kimmy: How many other campers won’t be able to paint today?

She looked around. No one else raised their hand.

Ms. Kimmy: Okay, Jasper and Mimi. You can stay in the meal hall and color. We don’t have the money for two sets of activities.

Jasper: All day? That sounds really boring.

Mimi: Yeah. Can’t we watch TV?

Ms Kimmy: I’m afraid not. I’m not sure why that’s here. There is no signal at Camp Muckamac. Maybe the cook can find something you can help with.

The cook and her assistant glare at Ms Kimmy

Ms Kimmy: Or maybe not.

Jasper: We don’t want to be free help anyway.

Ms Kimmy, Jasper, and Mimi head for the meal hall. Everyone else goes to their place at camp.

Ms Cate: Okay, campers. Find a seat at the table. We’ve placed brushes and paper at each seat. Put on the smock on the seat

Antwan: What’s a smock?

Mr Arthur: It’s like a shirt.

Heather: It keeps the paint off your fur,

Celia: What if I want to paint my fur?

Mr Arthur: Unless you have a signed letter from a parent saying you can paint your fur, you’re not allowed to do it.

Zak: That’s not fair. They didn’t say I couldn’t do it.

Mr Arthur: Sorry, buddy. Rules are rules.

Delilah: I can’t put this on.

Suzy: It’s pretty easy. Just put the loop at the top over your head.

Delilah: I want help. It’s all twisted.

The leaders looked at their campers. A couple had figured it out and even snapped it closed, but several were struggling.

Ms Cate: Let’s get you all situated here so we can get started.

Soon everyone was sitting at the table, ready to go and chattering.

Ms Cate: Okay, everybody. Have you all thought of something to paint?

The small animals nodded.

Ms Cate: That’s great! We have three pots of each color, so we’ll need to share. Everyone will pick one color to start with. When you are done with that color, you can take your next color. Mr Arthur, Heather, Suzy, and I will be walking around if you need help.

After some minor disagreements, everyone has their first color.

Vince: Ms Cate, I want to paint my house, so I need the blue to start. I got stuck with brown.

Ms Cate: There must be something in your picture that is brown. What do you mean stuck? There are plenty of other colors available.

Vince: But I want blue.

Mr Arthur: Then you’ll need to wait until someone is done with it.

Mr Arthur turned around to say something to Ms Cate, when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Emma was leaning across the table for a pot of paint.

Emma: No! Don’t do that!

Josh was tipping a pot of red paint onto the table.

Emma: Why are you doing that?

Josh: I want to paw-paint. It will be amazing!

Emma: We’re not paw-painting today. We’re brush painting.

Josh: That’s no fun.

Emma: We don’t want to send you home with red fur.

The painting progressed well until Mr Arthur saw a small lamb crying.

Bethany: I couldn’t find the green paint, so I painted the leaves on my bushes yellow. Now everyone’s laughing at me.

Mr Arthur: They’re wrong, Bethany. You can paint the leaves whatever color you want. (Louder) Campers, quiet down. I want to show everyone Bethany’s beautiful picture. It’s a house with yellow bushes in front of it.

Clara: Leaves are green, not yellow.

Ms Cate: Actually some bushes do have yellow leaves. And some green leaves turn yellow in the fall here in Michigan. That doesn’t really matter, anyway. Bethany can paint things whatever color she chooses. It’s a lovely picture, Bethany.

Bethany: Thank you Ms Cate.

A bell rang in the distance.

Mr Arthur: Who knows what that means?

Everyone: Lunch time!

Ms Cate: Leave your paintings here, and go with the girls.

The campers ran off with Heather, Suzy, and Emma. Ms Cate and Mr Arthur cleaned up the table and got ready for the afternoon.

All pictures were generated by Gemini AI.

17

Road Trip With the Tabbies – Part 3

|

Where we are: Thomas Tabby has chosen to be with his family (wife Tina and two kittens) rather than stay in town to attend a meeting Mayor Pauly Porcine is having with the Cheeseland Garden Club. Pauly wasn’t accepting no for an answer. Thomas asked Sgt Stripes to fill in, leaving his departure a secret until he was out of the office.

 

Thomas had asked Sgt Stripes to sit in his office on Friday with his back to the door, thinking that they were both grey mackerel tabbies, and no one would look closely. Sgt Stripes wasn’t sure, but agreed to do it. In fact, the office was almost empty and he left after a couple of hours. He texted Thomas and told him the plan had worked.

 

Thomas was having a great time at the beach with Tina and the girls. They had a cabin on the water. It was the first time the kittens had been on vacation, and they were very excited.

Emily: Ooh, look at the ocean. It’s so pretty.

Eva: And so big! Can we go in the water?

Tina: I guess so. I’m really not a fan of water. Ask Daddy to take you down.

Eva: Please, Daddy! Can we go in the water?

Thomas: Do you even like water?

Eva: I don’t know. I’ve never seen this much. Please???

Thomas: I don’t see any reason why not. Do you want to come Emily?

Emily: Yeah!

The family found a place on the beach. Tina stretched out on the blanket for a nap as Thomas took the kittens to the edge of the water. He swung Eva up and placed her gently in water covering her paws.

Eva: Eww! It’s cold! I don’t like it!

Emily bravely entered the water on her own. She made it a few steps past her sister when a small wave touched her tummy.

Emily: Ooh! I don’t like this. Daddy, get me out, please!

Thomas grabbed the kittens, and they went back to their blanket.

Thomas: I have an idea. Let’s build a castle in the sand.

The girls took their buckets and began piling up sand. Thomas got some water to dampen the sand. They worked while Tina slept. Finally, the girls woke her up.

Eva: Look, Mommy! Look what we made.

Tina: You guys did a great job. Let me take a picture to show your friends, then we can go to dinner.

Meanwhile, in Cheeseland…

Pauly: Hey Thomas. Did you have a good weekend. Hope you’re not too upset about missing the family vacation.

Sgt Stripes: From what I’ve heard, he’s having a great time. They’re right on the beach, so the kittens love it.

Pauly: Hey. You’re not Thomas. You’re that other tabby, the one on the Communications staff. Why are you in Thomas’ office?

Sgt Stripes: No, I am not Thomas. He sent you an email about what’s going on this week. Didn’t you read it?

Pauly looks at his phone.

Pauly: Nope, I didn’t get an email.

Sgt Stripes: That’s odd. I saw your name on it. Are you sure?

Pauly: Look for yourself.

Pauly handed his phone to Sgt Stripes. The big tabby looked at his email and started to laugh.

 

Sgt Stripes: Is this the way you always use your email?

Pauly: Of course. How else would I do it?

Sgt Stripes: You have it set to Primary. The phone is only showing you the emails it thinks are important. You need to set it to ALL. Oh my goodness, you have 500 unopened emails.

Pauly: I guess maybe all those folks were right that they had sent me messages.

Sgt Stripes: Here’s what we’re looking for.

Pauly looks over his shoulder.

Pauly: This is outrageous! It says he’s going to be gone all week, and if I have questions I need to talk to his assistant.

Sgt Stripes: That’s me.

Pauly: I hope you’re ready. We meet with the Garden Club in two hours.

When Sgt Stripes arrived at the meeting, everyone was ready to start. Mayor Pauly introduced him.

Pauly: This is Sgt Stripes. He’s sitting in for Thomas who is out of town. My understanding is that you are refusing to let Parks & Rec utilize the corner of Potter Park for a municipal pool.

Cecilia Capybara: That’s been a memorial garden for generations.

Pauly: Can’t you move the memorials?

Ignatius Iguana: With all due respect, do you understand what a memorial garden is? Animals purchase plants and trees in memory of loved ones,

Pauly: Couldn’t they just buy that stuff somewhere else?

Sgt Stripes was beginning to see why Thomas was needed at Pauly’s meetings. Once he made up his mind, it was almost impossible to change it. The other animals began whispering angrily to each other.

 

Sgt Stripes: Maybe I can help. I was looking over a map of the park. It looks like you have open land near the entrance of the park. Could we use that for the pool?’

Pauly: The original space I chose is much more desirable. It’s away from the playgrounds.

Gladys Groundhog: That’s why it’s perfect for the Memorial Garden.

Pauly: I suppose I could talk to Tony over at Parks & Rec.

Ignatius turned to Sgt Stripes.

Ignatius: Sgt Stripes, you seem to understand. Will you please talk to Parks & Rec?

Sgt Stripes looked at Pauly. Pauly nodded.

The ending: The Garden Club kept the Memorial Garden. Thomas and his family had a great time at the beach. And the Cheeseland City Council is interviewing candidates to work as Chief of Staff for Pauly.

All pictures generated by Gemini AI

17

Road Trip With the Tabbies

|

Things are a little tense at home for Thomas Tabby. Thomas had seriously underestimated how much of his time would be needed as liaison to the humans. They had designed the position as a way for the animals address issues with their humans for those animals  who live with humans. Or work with humans. These animals are a small percentage of Cheeseland residents.

The first few incidents had gone so well that the mayor, Pauly Porcine, had started inviting Thomas to sit in on issues that were entirely animal-to-animal. Cheeseland loved Thomas; he was much more popular than Pauly. They also had not foreseen the recent lawsuit by a humans to get a job in Cheeseland. Thomas had been heavily involved in the entire process. And Tina Tabby was not happy.

Thomas: I’m home! Where is everybody?

Tina: The girls are asleep. They have school tomorrow.

Thomas: Rats! I didn’t realize I was that late.

Tina: It’s the second time this week.

Thomas: You remember that human who insisted on working in Cheeseland?

Tina: I thought that was settled.

Thomas: So did I. This morning I had to go over to the plant. Turns out he doesn’t like the smell of manure. He wanted to be transferred to a part of the plant that, in his words, “Didn’t smell like cow @*%#.”

Tina: What did he expect a fertilizer plant to smell like?

Thomas: Apparently, humans make some kind of fertilizer that doesn’t use animals. At any rate, he deeply offended some of his coworkers. We ended up with a meeting between the humans and the supervisor, who happens to be a cow.

Tina: Oh, my. That probably didn’t;t end well.

Thomas: It did not. Yvette, the supervisor, came in and the human started sniffing the air. He told her she smelled like the fertilizer, and he couldn’t stay in a room with her. They called security and escorted him from the premises. He won’t be back.

Tina: Maybe you can spend some time with your family now.

Thomas: Pauly has some things coming up that he needs me for.

Tina: I don’t care about Pauly. I’ve rented a car, and we’re going to the beach.

Thomas: Let me talk to Pauly.

Tina: Talk all you want. The girls are out of school in a couple of weeks, and we’re going to the beach. They want you to come too.

Thomas: That sounds really nice. I’ll see what I can do.

By the time Thomas got to the office the next morning, he still didn’t have a plan.

Sgt Stripes: Morning, Boss. You look terrible. What’s wrong?

Thomas: Tina wants me to go on vacation with her and the girls, but it’s at the same time as the mayor’s big beautification project.

Sgt Stripes: What’s the problem? You’re not involved with Parks & Rec or the anti-graffiti folks.

Thomas: He told the beautification team that they’re less important than the neighborhood safety team, and they’re all angry with him.

Sgt Stripes: Ouch. He can be a little outspoken.

Juana Iguana walked up.

Juana: I couldn’t help hearing what you guys were talking about. Has Tina already planned the trip?

Thomas: She rented a car and reserved a beach house upstate.

Sgt Stripes: I didn’t know Tina could drive.

Thomas: She can’t. She got one of those smart cars that drives itself.

Juana: Is that safe? I’ve heard really scary stories about humans using those things. Maybe they should take a train.

Thomas: She wants to be able to get around after they get to the town. Are they really that dangerous?

Sgt Stripes: New technology is always scary. Especially when it involves humans.

Juana nodded. Thomas went to his office to think. A few minutes later, Pauly Porcine stopped by.

Thomas: Hi, Pauly. How are things?

Pauly: Not bad. I think the head of the Beautification project, Shelly Squirrel is talking to me again. At least she didn’t immediately hang up on me.

Thomas: That is a good sign. Speaking of the project, I may not be able to be here for the kick-off. Tina made reservations at Emerald Lake that week for a family vacation.

Pauly: Can’t she change them?

Thomas: Probably not. It’s a really popular place.

Pauly: Thomas, I really need your support on this. You know I’ve offended some of the animals working on it, and I need a smooth start. Talk to Tina and see if you can change her mind.

Thomas walked home in a gloomy mood. He knew he didn’t stand a chance changing Tina’s plans. Suddenly, he heard screeching tires. He looked up in time to see Tina drive past in a bright red car. She was headed for their house.

Next week: Can Thomas make both Tina and Pauly happy?

All pictures are generated by Gemini AI

21

Does Cheeseland Discriminate Against Humans? Part 2

|

Where we are: Cheeseland has received notice of its first-ever lawsuit. The city is being sued for discrimination in its hiring practices. Cheeseland is being represented by JJ Gorilla, widely considered the best animal for the job. David (the human) wasn’t as lucky. He’s talking with a couple of friends.

David: Pete, you told me this was going to be easy. “How hard can it be? They’re just a bunch of dumb animals.” I can’t even find a lawyer.

Steve: Why not? It should be simple. Obviously, a human is more qualified than a polar bear to sell tickets at an ice arena.

David: You would think. But apparently that’s not true if the customers are all animals. They say that some of the animals are afraid of humans. I’m not sure, but I think they said rabbits and deer.

Pete: Did you tell them you’re not going to eat the customers?

David: The whole thing didn’t go well. When they said Animal English, I thought it would be like talking to someone with an accent. It was a really strong accent.

Steve: What are you going to do? Give up?

David: No. I think the animals need to see that humans deserve jobs too.

 

Steve: Are you going without a lawyer?

David: No, they’re required to give me representation.

Pete: Are you getting a gorilla too? Or a shark?

Steve: Or a snake? That would be cool.

David: Um, no. The free representation is provided by animals just out of school. And they’re trying to open the profession up to a wider variety of animals.

Steve: So what is it?

David: She’s a French Poodle. Her name is Abbie, and she’s really smart. She’s meeting with that gorilla this afternoon.

David’s friends laughed, and the conversation moved on. Meanwhile, JJ and Abbie were meeting.

JJ: Thank you for coming to my office, Abbie. The judge prefers that the two sides meet before the court date to see if they can find common ground.

Abbie: Of course. I can’t believe I’m in the same court case as JJ Gorilla. Your book on compromise is required reading at law school. You’re a big part of why we have so little legal conflict in Cheeseland, Mr Gorilla.

JJ: Please call me JJ. It’s very kind of you to say that.

 

Abbie: Do you think we can find a compromise? My client wants either a job or money.

JJ: Sounds like a human. Does he know that money isn’t really used in Cheesland the way it is in human cities?

Abbie: I tried to explain that working in Cheeseland probably wasn’t a good move financially because we do a lot of barter here, so he may not find a job in his expected compensation range.

JJ: And even if he wins his suit, he isn’t going to get a lot of money.

Abbie: Do you have any idea what he might Goget if he does win? I don’t think he’s really qualified to get a job where he talks to animals. I’m having a lot of trouble understanding him. He uses some type of human translator that isn’t very good.

 

JJ: Then he’s not actually qualified for customer service positions. We’ll assume he’s doing that human thing where they expect us to pay to have him not go around telling everyone how horrible it is to be a human in Cheeseland.

Abbie: You are correct. So how much would Cheeseland be willing to pay him?

JJ: He wants $500,000, which is totally ridiculous. We don’t really care if his human friends don’t want to come here. Luckily for him, animals are a little more ethical. We try to do the right thing.

JJ starts to work on his laptop while Abbie looks at the books in his office. After a few minutes, he invites Abbie over to look at his screen.

JJ: Since your client doesn’t really have a case, here’s what we can do. Fifty thousand dollars in cash, one year’s free pass to all Cheeseland municipal events and parks, and a lifetime supply of fertilizer.

 

Abbie realizes that she will need to speak to her client, and he will not be happy. She goes outside to present the offer. She comes back a few minutes later.

Abbie: My client has refused your offer. He says it’s either a job or he’s going to sue for $1 million.

JJ: Any type of job?

Abbie: Yes. He says that he has to have a job or he’s suing in human court.

JJ: That would be very unfortunate. Let me make a couple of calls. You’re sure he would take any job?

Abbie: That’s what he says.

JJ talks to a couple of animals while Abbie waits outside. She returns after JJ opens the door.

JJ: I have two job opportunities for your client. Can we call him together? I’ll link him into AnimalView.

Abbie called her client and nodded to JJ.

JJ: Hello David. I’m JJ Gorilla, and I’m representing Cheeseland. Can you understand what I’m saying?

David: Yes…you hear me?

JJ looked at Abbie. She nodded again.

JJ: I understand that you want a job in Cheeselabnd and will sue us if you can’t get one.

David: That’s correct. It’s my right as a human being.

JJ: Okay. I have two offers to choose from. If you take either of them, you need to sign a form saying you will not sue Cheeseland. Do you understand?

David nodded.

JJ: After reviewing your qualifications, we’ve found two jobs that match. You have to choose one of the jobs if you want to work here. You want to be treated exactly the same as the animals, correct?

David nodded again.

JJ: The first job is at the fertilizer plant. Your job would be in client relations for the human accounts.

David: That sounds pretty good. What’s the other job?

 

JJ: That one is on an apple farm. You would be responsible for building maintenance. It’s a pretty physical job, but you don’t really have to worry about talking.

David: The first job, definitely. Thank you for straightening everything out, Mr. Gorilla. Thank you, Abbie.

After the details were ironed out, JJ called Angel Cat to tell her she could report on the outcome of the lawsuit.

Pictures generated using Gemini AI

19

Does Cheeseland Discriminate Against Humans?

|

Hello. It’s Angel reporting to you outside of Cheeseland City Hall. Something unprecedented is going on inside. From what we’re being told, a human has filed a lawsuit against the city for discriminatory practices in hiring. We’re waiting to learn more about this unusual development.

There was a small group of animals surrounding Angel as she spoke in front of a camera. Soon Sgt Stripes, head of communications, walked up to Angel.

Angel: Hello Sgt Stripes. Can you tell us what’s going on with the lawsuit?

Sgt Stripes: I’m not sure that I can. As far as we can tell, Cheeseland has never had a lawsuit before.

There were murmurs from the crowd.

Squirrel: Should have known it would come from a human.

Angel: We had thought that having a liaison with the humans would avoid this type of thing. Can you tell us what went wrong?

Beaver: I knew it was a bad idea to trust the humans.

Husky: Me too. I thought we should just ban them from Cheeseland.

Grizzly Bear: One of them turned my great-grandpa into a rug.

Fox: And they think that foxes are for making fur coats.

The crowd was growing and getting more agitated.

Sgt Stripes: Calm down everyone. No one wants this to turn into something ugly.

Angel: So how is Thomas Tabby going to handle this. He is the liaison to the humans.

Sgt Stripes: Thomas is reviewing the allegations with Cheeseland’s top attorney, JJ Gorilla.

Lion: That’s good news. He’ll know what to do.

Meanwhile, Thomas and JJ are meeting in Thomas’ office.

Thomas: We have to fix this. We said that our relationship with the humans would improve. Now they’re suing us.

JJ: Don’t get so excited, Thomas. It’s just one humans. They do this kind of thing to each other all the time.

Thomas: Really? I’ve never heard of an animal doing that.

JJ: That’s nothing. You should see what they do when they loan each other money.

Thomas: Maybe they don’t really like each other.

JJ: I’ll never understand them.

Thomas: Did you read what the human said? What’s his name?

JJ: David Mason. He says that he’s applied for three jobs with the city and hasn’t gotten any of them.

Thomas: Why would he want a job here? He’d be the only human.

JJ: Apparently, he’s been having trouble finding a job in the human sector and thought he’d try Cheeseland.

Thomas: What jobs did he apply to?

JJ: That’s the odd part. It looks like he’s interested in positions that work with the public, and our public is overwhelmingly non-human. We’re very animal-centric.

Thomas: What did he want to do? Is he even qualified?

JJ: I would say, technically, yes. For example, he want to work at the front office at the municipal ice arena. There’s no reason why a human couldn’t do it.

Thomas: Except humans aren’t considered cold-weather animals and some of that population can’t work anywhere else.

JJ: But does that make them any more qualified?

Thomas: I think so. The ice arena runs very smoothly. What else did he apply for?

JJ: Two jobs at City Hall. One answering the main phone line and one in Parks & Rec.

Thomas: Does he speak Animal English or Ur Animal? Many of our constituents don’t speak anything but their native tongue.

JJ: He says he knows that everyone at City Hall has an AI translator in case there are communications issues.

Thomas: You know that we prefer not to use them. AI was created by humans and doesn’t really work well with animal dialects. He’d have to be hooked in the entire time he’s at work. That is not a good idea. Who knows what he’d say without knowing he’d said it?

JJ: The hearing is next week. What do you want to do?

Thomas: Set up a meeting with the Director of Hiring. Find out why he wasn’t chosen. Hopefully, it wasn’t just because he’s humans.

JJ left the meeting and went outside. There was a large group of animals protesting against humans in Cheeseland, The TV crew was filming everything. It wasn’t going to be easy proving there wasn’t an anti-human bias. He’d have to think of something else.

(Ed. Note: Apologies to Sgt Stripes and Angel fans. We couldn’t figure out how to get their pictures right in Gemini. We’re going to keep working on it.)

Next week: Can JJ defend Cheeseland’s hiring practices?