One Sunday, Leo the Cat’s family was having friends over for a visit. Leo enjoyed it very much when guests came to their house because they would always play and cuddle with him.
Leo would be the center of attention the whole time. If he was lucky, someone would hold him and rub his ears for hours.
That day, there were delicious smells coming from the kitchen. The family was preparing waffle batter. Leo especially loved the milk that went into the batter. He could sniff it from anywhere in the house.
Leo was very good at observing. Nothing escaped him and today was no different. He sat down on the tile floor of the kitchen and closely followed the waffle preparations.
Of course, he was always hopeful that he would get some scraps. Maybe something would spill on the floor and he would get to lick it up? But not this time. What a pity!
He dreamed of tasting the milk. But Leo’s family always fed him at specific times. They worried that he might get too fat.
When the delicious-smelling waffles were ready, his Mom sprinkled them with powdered sugar and served them to the guests. Unable to resist sweet things, Leo ran to each guest in turn, meowing affectionately to see if he could get them to share their waffles.
But every guest followed the rule about not feeding the cat. With a sigh, he took one last sniff of the delicious scent and retreated to the sofa.
That’s when he had an idea. He would wait for the next day when everyone went to work and he had the whole kitchen to himself. Then he could do whatever he wanted! That night he could hardly sleep because he was so excited.
The next morning, the family said goodbye to Leo the Cat. As usual, his Mom said, “Be a good boy, have a nice day, and we’ll see you tonight!”
“Meow,” Leo replied like always, which meant, “Of course I will.” As soon as the door closed, Leo got to work.
“I’m going to have waffles of my own for once,” he thought to himself. Leo grabbed an apron like his family always did and tied it around his waist.
“Here we go! First, I’ll need a bowl, but it’s all the way up in the cupboard. I need a ladder!” he thought to himself.
“Phew, how exhausting!” grumbled Leo as he gathered the flour, sugar, butter, eggs, milk and a pinch of salt. “It’s a good thing I watched so closely yesterday. They make it look so easy.”
Fortunately, the waffle iron and mixer were still on the countertop, all clean and shiny from the day before. “Perfect!” Leo thought as he started to mix the batter.
He was quite proud of his results until he noticed that the flour had dusted the entire counter top. Suddenly his nose itched. Oh no! “Ahchoo” Leo had sneezed so hard that dough stuck to his mustache and flour covered the floor around him.
“Meow, I’ll clean that up later,” he thought. He grabbed the mixer and started whisking the dough.
“Oh my, it’s splattering everywhere!” Leo was covered in batter, but he was happy to lick it off and continued diligently.
As he tasted the dough with his paw, he thought, “Meow, a little more sugar would be good.” Leo kept tasting and adjusting until the dough was nice and sweet.
Now it was time to turn on the waffle iron and cook the waffles. He scooped the batter with the ladle, but he was no longer sure how much to use! The batter spilled onto the countertop.
“Never mind that,” Leo thought to himself, “I just finished my very first waffle!” It was a little burnt, but Leo ate it with relish. And so it went until several waffles later, the cat grabbed his belly and doubled over in pain.
“Meow, all those waffles are making my tummy hurt,” he whined. “I need to rest a bit before I clean up.” He climbed up his cat tree with the last of his strength and lay down. But he could hardly relax.
He looked at the kitchen clock and thought, “Meow, it’s almost 5:00!” The family would be home soon and he still had to clean up.
With a terrible stomach ache, he got up and rinsed all the dishes in the sink and put them away. He mopped the floor furiously and swept it with his tail. But even after all that, everything was still so sticky.
Just as he was done cleaning, he heard the key in the lock and watched as the front door opened. His family called out to him like usual and he heard his mother say in surprise, “It sure smells like waffles in here…”
She went to feed Leo who usually couldn’t get enough of his food. But today, he wouldn’t eat a thing. He was exhausted and his belly was sticky from all the sugar.
She scratched Leo behind the ears and said, “You’re all sticky. What did you get up to today? Are you not feeling well, Leo? I think you should go to sleep early and get some rest.”
“Meow, meow, meow,” Leo the Cat quickly agreed before jumping into his basket so she couldn’t ask him any more questions.
“That was close! I’ll never do anything like that again!” he thought as he fell asleep.
