SORRY! MY COMPUTER WASN'T WORKING!

Etcetera's Christmas:

Etcetera slid silently past Jennyanydots as she made presents with the mice and cockroaches. She slipped into the cupboard. She smiled to herself. She had been smart. Over the last three days, she had been planning a way into this cupboard, with one mission on her mind: discover her Christmas presents.

Etcetera was an impatient kit. They say time waits for no man, well, Etcetera waits for no time. If it wasn't now, it was never. That's why felines usually called her reckless and foolhardy, though it never bothered her. In her mind, it was better to be called rash, than timid. ("Though there's nothing wrong being timid!" Demeter shouts at me as I write this)

Etcetera sucked in her breath as she heard Jenny pad past her. Her heart beat loudly in her ears as she waited. When Jenny had returned to her spot in front of her little workers, Etcetera began to dig in the cupboard. There were a lot of presents in the room. Some had Jemima's name on it, some with Alonzo on it, even one with Tugger's name, which Etccy clutched to her chest as she thought, dreamily, about her idol.

None in the cupboard seemed to have her name on it. That meant that the presents were at Etcetera's mother, Jellylorum's den.

Etccy, as quietly as she could, pushed the door open.

She inwardly groaned. Crap!

Jenny had not gone back to her spot, and was instead facing the door, which was the only way in and out of the den. She was trapped.

In life, you have two choices: Stand back or take the risk. This was the dilemma Etccy was facing at this exact moment. Did she stay and wait for Jenny to leave? Or did she risk being caught? If she stayed put, Heaviside knows how long she would have to stay there. If she got caught, she'd be grounded til the next Christmas.

Stay? Leave? Stay? Leave? Stay? Leave? Stay? Leave? Stay? Etccy left. She was a risk taker, after all. She nonchalantly padded past Jenny, who immediately looked up.

"Etccy…" Jenny began and Etccy's heart fell to her feet. Crud. "What were you doing?"

Etccy racked her brain for a plausible lie.

"I-I was… sneaking past you… to… get… a… ball of yarn."

Jenny narrowed her eyes. "Really?" she asked. Etcetera nodded her head as convincingly as possible, while her mind was wiring with one word: Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap.

Jenny then smiled. "Okay then."

Etcetera let out a sigh of relief and trotted out the door.