Benjamin, The Guardian Of The House Of Books pt5

Fifteen years passed by very quickly – sometimes he even saw Nellie venturing in now and again.  She grew just as he knew she would because he had grown and so did humans grow.

The first day she had appeared, he sidled up to her as she recognised her cat from long ago.

“So is this where you came to that day, you naughty pussy cat.  But I guess you really aren’t naughty because I heard tell in the village what a fine mouser you are.  You are very popular so I forgive you for running away like you did.  The stories people tell of you – I often wondered who they were talking about so I came into town with mama and papa today just to see.  And here you are. Oh Benjamin – I hear you saved all of these beautiful books from being endangered.  What a proud person you have made me.  I am so glad you have found your calling even though we do miss you at home.  I know you can’t ever leave, you are so important around here.  Will it be okay if I come visit you now and again?  It is a very long way, so I won’t be able to come too often, but I will come see you sometimes, will that be okay?@

And with that Benjamin rubbed his head along her legs before spying another long tail which had him scampering off in the direction it was going.

Yes, fifteen years.  He lay quietly revelling in that smell, thinking of all the wonderful meals, and adventures he had had in this House of Books.

“My friend,” he called, “it is time for me to leave.”
“ Leave Benjamin?  Why are you leaving us?” the smell sadly replied.

“Because my work is done now and I am going to where all cats go to a place where there is always sunshine and love.

“Ah, I understand Benjamin, I guess time has passed and cats are not immortal as are we who stand here yellowing in the temperature cooled air.

“Yes, we have been special friends all of these years and now it’s time for me to say goodbye.  You will have to go searching for another such as I.  I will wait until you return, but be quick, as I can hear another calling me just as you did that day so many years ago.”

And without further ado, the smell quickly ventured out into the snow to find another such as Benjamin.  “Ah, thankfully, I do not have to go far this time, as Benjamin made sure he would have someone ready when it was his time to go.  Oh, yes, there she is, just over there.”

And so it was that a statue was erected to the fond memories of Benjamin so kindly  thought of even to this day of the safety and security he had brought to the House of Books.

And ever after his progeny has continued to safeguard those very same books – many, many years into the future….

And that is the story of Benjamin, The Guardian of The House of Books.

Debbie Nicholson

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Benjamin, The Guardian Of The House Of Books pt4

He thought and thought and pondered and pondered and wondered and wondered.

Going back to Nellie meant he would lose this smell and he just couldn’t, he just couldn’t.  It had captivated him.  It had led him here. And now it was telling him he was desperately needed here.  “Nellie won’t mind,” he thought to himself, “no Nellie won’t mind.”

“Alright, what is it that you want me to do, my friend?  Tell me so I can make my decision.”

“Oh Benjamin, we so badly need you to guard us against the rats and mice that come in here any time of the day. We need you to be on the constant lookout for any who might hurt our leaves and our covers. We need you to patrol our shelves and hunt them down and help us to be rid of them once and for all.  Would you do that for us Benjamin, would you help us?”

Benjamin suddenly noticed at the corner of his eye a very slight movement followed by a very long tail.  He pounced and quickly took his fill as it had been a very long journey.  Why, he hadn’t eaten for such a long time, he couldn’t even remember the last dish of food Nellie had put out for him. Or to drink.  Mmmmm, that was tasty he thought, very tasty.

See Benjamin, you are already doing what we need you to do.  Will you stay with us and help us Benjamin, oh please say you will.

Then he saw another tasty morsel slipping quietly by in full view of him.  Stupid mouse, he thought, doesn’t he know that he’s in danger?  Doesn’t he know I am the champion mouser in all our houses?  Doesn’t he know that Nellie brought me up right and showed me what it is that a cat is needed for around the houses and farms?  And with that, he pounced again, this time taking his time to savour his meal.  Three more pounces and he was hooked.  Yes, he could stay here with this beautiful smell, protecting them from all harm from these stupid creatures. This was what he was born to do.  And they were so easy to find here in this place of books.  Their tails gave them away very easily.

And so it was that Benjamin became the Library cat.  The Village cat.  The Favourite cat.  Everywhere he went people stopped and patted him telling him what a good job he was doing.  Everywhere he went he smelled that intoxicating smell – it belonged everywhere.  And so did he.

End part 4

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Benjamin, The Guardian Of The House Of Books pt3

“Where was he,” he thought?  “What is this place?  I’m sure Nellie has never been here.  I have never been here.”  And all around him was that smell – that glorious smell – it was everywhere in this place.  It had brought him here and he was surrounded by everywhere he sniffed and looked.  This was obviously where it lived.  So now I must find it, he thought.  “Where are you my friend, where can I see  you?”

“I am everywhere Benjamin, just look up and around, I am everywhere.  We need you here Benjamin.  We so badly need your special skills.  Here we have the most precious house in all the world and there is danger lurking just out of our reach that could destroy all of these beautiful books one by one if we are not careful.  So they sent me out to search for a gentle heart to come protect them from the danger.  The rodents come in droves especially when it is cold and dark outside and they make nests among the pages of our fine books and have their young who eat the pages too – oh Benjamin, how I looked and looked and then one day I found you with your Nellie. I am sorry she wasn’t able to come with you Benjamin, but we so badly need you and your skills here to protect us all.  Will you stay with us? Benjamin, will you be our protector?”

Well, Benjamin didn’t know what to say. He just knew that he couldn’t leave this fantastic smell.  He just knew he had to do something so that he could always be around this wonderful mesmerising smell.

“What to do, what to do,” was his next thought.  “Will Nellie miss me?  Of course, she will miss me – she has raised me from the time I was born.  Yes, she knew I was special when she chose me.  She always tells me what a cute little kitten I was and now I am a full grown cat., well nearly anyway.  I am only many months into a year so that must make me a full grown cat – I look like one anyway.   I am no longer small like I was when I was a kitten so I must be a full grown cat.  And when you are a full grown cat, you must be able to make your own decisions.  Yes, a full grown cat is allowed to make their own decisions”.

“Oh that smell, it is so tantalising.  I don’t want to lose it, I really do not. What to do, what to do.”

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Debbie Nicholson

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Benjamin, The Guardian Of The House Of Books pt2

“I can’t leave Nellie,” he thought once more as he moved along to catch that smell once again – “just a little whiff will be fine ,”he thought to himself. “ Just a little way.  I ‘ll  follow it just a little way to see where it’s going.  I so badly want to be friends with it, I really do.”  And without a backwards glance at Nellie, he trotted along with his nose up in the air sniffing that wonderful smell, that beautiful smell, that alluring smell.

“Benjamin, where are you going you silly cat?  Will you be long?  Will you be back for tea?” he heard Nellie calling out after him.  “I don’t know Nellie, I have to go you see,” he called back to her. “ I’ll bring him home with me and all of us can enjoy this beautiful thing that I have found.  I won’t be long Nellie, truly, I won’t be long.”

And that was the last he ever saw of Nellie ever again.

On he went up hills and down dales, along roads, and through the forest. The sun rose and fell, night approached and still on and on that smell continued to take him. He never tired, he never wimpered.  He just had to have whatever it was that was taking him away from his beloved Nellie.  “She won’t mind,” he said to himself.  “When I catch it, I’ll take it home to Nellie and she will tell me what it is and we’ll both have such a lovely time with it.  She won’t mind,” he kept saying to himself all the while dancing along with the smell in the air taking him further and further away.

This new village added to the smell that he was so pleased to be following.   “Yes, there are things here in this village that belong to this new friend I am going to find soon.  It’s all around me.  Oh yes, how very, very exciting” he thought as continued to amble along after the smell.  “yes, I can feel that this is where he lives, this is where it spends its days. Oh how wonderful to find such a grand place as this – and soon he realised he had climbed many white steps and was now inside a building such as he had never seen the like.  All around him he could see books, thousands upon thousands of books all perched neatly in rows upon rows.  The shelves were filled with wondrous colours and sizes of books – thick ones, thin ones, some on their sides, many standing tall.  It was a wonder to behold.

End part2

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Benjamin, The Guardian Of The House Of Books pt1

 

One sunny afternoon Benjamin rounded the corner of High Street following a smell that was particularly attractive to him.  He had already traced it several blocks and without further thought of how far it might take him, he sauntered along lifting his nose into the air every now and again to make sure he was still on track.  “Yes, that’s a fine smell alright,” he thought to himself when he first picked it up miles back along the road.  “a very fine smell,” he said again.

Around him the usual countryside scene had been replaced by shops and cars and buses and busy street corners. People milled around looking into shop windows, feeding parking metres, and chattering over coffee outside busy cafes.  He had never experienced the like before.  “What a busy place this is,” he thought as he suddenly became aware of his surroundings.  “My, I must have come a long way, a very long way indeed.”

“I wonder how Nellie will be when she sees that I have gone?” he mused to himself as he continued along the path that led to “that smell.”  Oh it was intoxicating – every last breath he took was so divine, he just had to find out what it was that had lured him so far from his home.  He had never smelled it before until that morning when above his nose, he had sniffed, and then sniffed some more.  To his delight it was just there – just above him and moving in a direction ahead of him – just as if it was asking him to “Come along Benjamin, come play with me.”

Oh what rapture.  Oh what pure delight. Oh what the heavens had blessed him with – he could not even imagine what it was, it was so exhilarating.  It made him feel giddy. It took his breath away.  It was exciting and thrilling all at once.  It made him want to dance on his hind paws. It made him want to do things he had never imagined a cat could do.  But it did.  And it kept on at him – that smell – wavering this way and that on the air just above his nose. And then it started to move. It started to move away from him.  “Oh, now, please don’t go away,” he had cried out loud.  “Please don’t leave me.”  “Well come along Benjamin, we haven’t a moment to lose, we must be going.”  “But where are you going,” he said as he looked this way and that, wondering what to do.

End part 1

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Debbie Nicholson

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