The Clumsy Cat

Once there was a clumsy cat named Ouch. People say that cats always land on their feet. Not Ouch. She always landed on her head. This is how she got the name “Ouch.”

Her brothers and sisters teased her. They jumped down from trees and from roofs. They landed on all four feet. “Jump, Ouch! Jump!” they cried. Ouch jumped down from the tree. She landed on her head. “Ouch!” she said.

With bruises and sores, the clumsy cat went to her father. “I need to learn how to land on my feet,” she said.

Father Cat thought and thought. Then he spoke. “Climb up to the top of that tree,” he told Ouch. “Jump into the air and do a somersault and a half-twist.”

Slowly, Ouch climbed the tree. She jumped into the air. Then she did a somersault and a half-twist. Like magic, she landed on her feet. “Hurrah!” she cried. “Thank you, Father!”