🐶 The Cat Who Wanted to Bark

Mabel the cat thought dogs were very impressive. They had big, loud barks. "Woof! Woof!" When the dog next door barked, everyone looked.

"I want to bark too," said Mabel. So she practiced. She opened her mouth wide and said, "Wuh... wuh... mew." It came out as a meow.

She tried again, louder. "WOOF!" But it came out as "WOO-mew!" A bird on the fence laughed so hard that it fell off. "Sorry!" it tweeted, flying back up.

Mabel went next door to ask the dog, whose name was Biscuit. "How do you bark?" she asked. Biscuit thought about it. "I just... take a big breath and let it out. Woof!" Mabel's whiskers blew back.

Mabel took the biggest breath of her life. She puffed up her cheeks. She made her tail stand straight up. And she let it out. "Purrrrr..."

Biscuit tilted his head. "What was that?" he asked. "That was a purr," said Mabel, a little embarrassed. Biscuit's eyes went wide. "That's amazing! It sounds like a tiny engine. I can't do that at all."

He tried. "Prrrr... woof." He tried again. "Woof-rrr." Mabel giggled. Biscuit giggled. Soon they were rolling on the grass, laughing.

From then on, Mabel stopped trying to bark. Biscuit stopped trying to purr. But sometimes, when they sat together in the sunshine, they made a song: woof, purr, woof, purr. It was the silliest song in the street, and their favorite.