Reading time: 8 min“It’s about time we did some organizing in the basement,” grumbled Leo’s father. ‘I can hardly get to my workbench anymore.’ He pushed his way through the many boxes, cartons, and sacks that were scattered all over the basement.
Just as he got his leg stuck in an old wicker basket and almost tripped, he let out a muffled sound. “Ouch!” At that moment, his wife came rushing down the stairs.
“Oh!” she exclaimed. ”I know it’s a bit crowded down here at the moment, I’m sorry. The ladies from the sports club suggested setting up a stand at the flea market and donating the proceeds to a good cause. After all, it’s almost Christmas! Of course I’m taking part!”
When she saw her husband looking at her quizzically, she continued. “Yesterday I already started sorting out a few things. Some of our Leo’s old toys too. Unfortunately, as you can see, I didn’t quite finish.” She paused briefly and looked around the room.
“Oh yes, and I just wanted to ask you if you could maybe get rid of a few things that you no longer need so urgently?”
“Sure! You can hardly move, it’s so cluttered here.” At that moment, he began to open a large black sack and throw all kinds of old things into it.
The two were talking so loudly that Leo, who was sitting in the warm kitchen, overheard their conversation about the cleanup and the preparations for the flea market.
“Flea market?” Leo’s ears pricked up when he heard the word. ”Did I hear that right? A flea market? What on earth is that? Do my humans want to collect these little, itchy beasts and then bring them here?”
He wrinkled his nose and shuddered slightly at the thought. “Yuck, that would be awful! My beautiful fur! I can’t possibly let that happen.” Immediately, his curiosity was piqued, and he began to listen intently as his humans continued to talk loudly about the preparations.
The basement wasn’t exactly Leo’s favorite place, but when his humans were down there, there was usually something exciting to watch. And since there was nothing more exciting to do, Leo decided to keep them company.
So the cat crept cautiously down the stairs and saw his master. Quietly grumbling and standing on one leg, his master was struggling with a wicker basket that he had stepped on earlier.
It had apparently become entangled in his foot and now he couldn’t quite get free of it. Leo found the sight very funny, but decided to refrain from meowing gleefully.
After Leo had made sure that there was nothing left in the boxes that he could still use, he crept back upstairs a little worried and lay down on his windowsill.
“The air is pretty thick down there today. They didn’t really notice me at all. I’d better make a quick getaway,” the cat decided.
But he couldn’t really relax. His thoughts kept returning to the fleas. “Why on earth would they choose to visit a flea market of all places? Couldn’t it be any other kind of market? Somehow I can’t let them do it!”
He spent the whole night brooding and had trouble falling asleep. His fur was already itching at the thought of the little pests.
The next morning, a friend from the sports club came over for breakfast to discuss further details. Leo listened attentively to the two women while waiting under the table for tasty morsels to fall. “Maybe a piece of salmon will find its way to me?” he hoped secretly.
“Great that you were able to convince your husband! We can use all the helping hands we can get,” he heard the friend say.
“By the way, there is a small flea market nearby today. We could take a look around and get some ideas for our stand. What do you think?”
“That’s a great idea. Then let’s go straight after breakfast,“ Leo heard his mistress answer.
“I can’t miss this,” the cat thought to himself and decided to follow the two women from a safe distance.
After the breakfast table had been cleared and Leo had managed to get hold of a few delicacies, he crept out onto the terrace in time not to miss the start.
When the two women left the house, he also set off, naturally wanting to remain undetected.
Leo was surprised to find that the market was actually taking place in the immediate neighborhood. Although he was reluctant to leave his territory, he felt reasonably safe here.
“Just a few meters to the house, I could always go back if the nimble fleas got too close,” he tried to reassure himself.
The two women, meanwhile, were engrossed in a deep conversation and didn’t even notice that the cat was secretly following them on velvet paws. When he arrived at the flea market, Leo first took a look around.
But when he couldn’t see any fleas at first glance, although he was looking for them specifically, he slowly began to have doubts. “They seem to be hiding very well,” the cat thought, while he carefully examined the stalls and their vendors.
“But if you can’t see them anywhere, how can you sell them, let alone buy them?”
Leo was surprised because he could only see traders with old vases, chests of drawers, dusty paintings, lots of books and all kinds of other odds and ends.
The cat crept cautiously from one stand to the next, always careful to maintain a sufficient safety distance.
After changing sides several times and even inspecting some of the stalls from below, Leo concluded: “Far and wide, no fleas in sight! Hmm… sometimes I just don’t understand these humans! But anyway. At least I don’t have to worry about any unpleasant housemates.”
Relief set in and Leo was even able to really enjoy the rest of his walk through the small market.
But after a short time, he began to get a little bored. It was only when he suddenly came upon a cat tree that his curiosity was piqued again. “That smells good!” Leo realized.
The cat crept up as close as he could, sniffing it from all sides and looking around cautiously. After making sure that no one was watching him, he leaped up with a swing and gave the climbing a try.
Once at the top, he took a comfortable sitting position and enjoyed the view of the market below.
“I did find something useful at this flea market after all! And apparently this market has nothing to do with real fleas,” Leo summed up. ”And I really like it up here! Meow!”
In the next moment, a very loud barking sound could be heard. Two dogs had noticed the meowing and were circling the cat tree with loud yapping.
The barking attracted the attention of the vendors and market visitors, who gathered around. The two women looked in that direction too.
“It can’t be!” exclaimed Leo’s mother. ‘That cat up there looks just like our Leo! Please let’s go closer.”
“Meow!’ came the pitiful sound from the cat tree.
Meanwhile, the barking had stopped and the dogs were put back on their leashes by their owners. Leo found the whole situation very unpleasant. He jumped down from the cat tree as elegantly as possible and sprinted straight home.
Completely exhausted from the excitement, he looked for a shady spot on the terrace and breathed deeply. “Meow, everything went well and without any fleas!”
A short time later, the two women arrived home and discovered Leo on the terrace.
“Well, we were obviously mistaken! Look how comfortably Leo is dozing,” said Leo’s mother, laughing with relief.
