George & Bernie


			George & Bernie Move House


			George and Bernie lived in a small cottage on the outskirts of a quiet village. They shared the house with their owners, Mr and Mrs Chalk and little Jack Chalk. Sometimes Jack is cheeky and tugs George�s tail or pulls Bernie�s ears. But most of the time they all play together happily and Jack is always ready to give them love and cuddles.


	One sunny morning, Bernie woke up with a start. He rolled over in his basket and tapped George on the head with his paw. �Wake up George�, he whispered, �something�s going on�. George stretched out his paws and yawned, he sat up blinking in the sunlight. Bernie was right, something was going on. The kitchen was full of large boxes. At the end of the room, Mrs Chalk was busy taking things out of the cupboards and off the shelves. �Bernie�, said George, �wash behind your ears, then eat your breakfast, I�m off to investigate. Wait for me here, I�ll be back in a minute�.




	As the day went on George and Bernie went to say goodbye to all their old friends, while the Chalk family loaded the full boxes into a large lorry. By the time the two cats had got back to the house it was almost empty. George and Bernie strolled from room to room. �You�re right, George,� piped out Bernie. �It doesn�t look like our home any more, it�s just bare walls and floor.� �I told you so,� smiled George.

		Just then little Jack walked in. �Come on you two,� he chirped. �Time to go.� He picked the cats up a little roughly, one under each arm, their legs dragging behind them. Mrs Chalk put each cat into a special cat box with a small window, and loaded them into the car.


	Bernie did as he was told and soon enough George came bounding back towards him, quite breathless with excitement. �We�re moving Bernie�, puffed George. �Moving what?� asked Bernie. �Moving house�, George replied. �That�s what all the boxes are for.� Bernie looked puzzled. �We�ll never fit the house into those boxes.� �No silly!� said George, �the house stays where it is, but everthing that is in the house gets put into boxes and moved to another house. I hear we�re headed for the city.� �But I like this house�, whined Bernie, �I want to stay here.� And a big tear rolled off his nose and plopped onto the floor. George nestled up to Bernie, �It�s not so bad,� he soothed. �Mr and Mrs Chalk are coming with little Jack, so we�ll still be together!�

	�But I�ll have to leave my garden and my friends, it just won�t be the same,� sobbed Bernie as another big tear ran down his whiskers. �You�ll have a new garden Bernie and make new friends in no time, try to remember that is isn�t the house that makes the home, it�s the people who live in it.� Bernie gave a large sigh and promised to try.


		The journey took a long time. George and Bernie watched the world go past the window as they drove. Soon they were out of the countryside and into the big city, the fields were far behind them. Now they were looking at large buildings and fast cars. They two cats had never seen or heard anything like it. Eventually the car stopped outside a tall, thin house. The lorry carrying the boxes was already there. Opposite the house was a park with trees and flowers. Mr Chalk carried the cats into their new home and opened their boxes.

George and Bernie scampered around the house. It was a four storey building, very old, with plenty of nooks and crannies to play hide and seek in. It was getting dark now. Mrs Chalk took little Jack up to his new bedroom to go to sleep, while Mr Chalk put George and Bernie�s basket in the kitchen and gave them a bowl of dinner.

Bernie licked the last bit of cream from his nose, he was quite exhausted from all his exploring. He snuggled up to George in the basket, �isn�t moving house exciting, George� he whispered.

�Yes indeed,� replied George.

�I think I�m going to like it here after all,� murmured Bernie, and with that his eyes closed and he fell asleep.

Bernie and George were to find that they loved their new home just as much as their old house. It was to be a place of grand adventures.........but that�s for another story.



	Copyright (c) 2000 Jenny Bayliss. All rights reserved.


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	Copyright 2000 Xanadu Literary Agency. All rights reserved.