“Oh, I always havegreat dreams, Mr Chapman,” Snuggles miaowed, yawning. “Being Super-Snuggles the Wonder Cat is the most fun ever!” But then he sat up and thought hard. His dream hadn’t felt quite so exciting today.
Snuggles felt a bit upset. He could hardly eat any of the tuna that Mr Chapman offered him.
What was the matter with him? He alwaysloved being Super-Snuggles in his dreams. So why hadn’t he enjoyedthis dream? What had changed?
The kitten decided to go back to sleep. Maybe he could find out.
Chapter Five
Super-Snuggles bounded over the fences into every garden in the street. At Number 21, Barney was waiting for him.
“Hello, Super-Snuggles,” Barney woofed quietly. “Welcome to my garden. I’ve got a big fish for you from my owner’s fridge.”
“Thanks.” Super-Snuggles ate the fish and then leaped over the fence into the next garden.
Mrs Foster’s Boxer, Jason, was sitting there with a whole roast chicken in front of him. “I hope you like it, Super-Snuggles,” he woofed politely.
“It will do,” Super-Snuggles miaowed. And he ate the whole lot. Then he jumped over two more fences into the garden of Number 27, where Mr Lane’s mongrel, Sally, had a pork chop waiting for him.
“You’re my hero, Super-Snuggles,” Sally woofed, wagging her tail at him.
“Hang on a minute.” Super-Snuggles sat down. “Something’s not right here,” he mewed miserably.
“Oh no! It’s happening again!” Snuggles miaowed as he woke up. It had been a great dream – all the scary dogs in the street giving Super-Snuggles his favourite food!
But Super-Snuggles just wasn’t enjoying himself any more. And Snuggles didn’t know why.
“Snuggles, what’s wrong?” Mr Chapman put down his newspaper and gently scratched the kitten’s head. “You don’t look very happy.”
“I’m not!” Snuggles mewed miserably. No matter what Super-Snuggles did, the dreams weren’t so exciting. They didn’t feel veryreal.
But Snuggles was determined not to give up.“Maybe I should sleep evenmore,” he mewed. “Then I might be able to get my lovely, exciting dreams back!”
Snuggles thought that this was a really good idea. So he curled up on Mr Chapman’s lap again.
“Oh, Snuggles, you’re not going to sleepagain!” Mr Chapman exclaimed. “You’ve only just woken up!”
Just then the doorbell rang.
“Aren’t you coming to see who it is, Snuggles?” Mr Chapman asked. He lifted the kitten off his lap and slowly stood up. “It might be Mark.”
“I can’t,” Snuggles miaowed, keeping his eyes tightly shut. “Ihave to have a really good dream …”
“Hi, Mr Chapman.”
Snuggles recognised Mark’s voice. The kitten longed to rush into the hall and say hello. But he stayed where he was.
“Mum wants to know if you and Snuggles would like to come to lunch today,” Mark went on.
“We’d love to,” Mr Chapman agreed. “If I can wake Snuggles up, that is!”
“Oh, is he asleep again?” said Mark, coming into the living room.
Snuggles kept his eyes closed and pretended to be asleep, even when Mark crouched down to stroke him.
“Don’t you want to play, Snuggles?” Mark sounded very disappointed.
Snuggles felt guilty about not getting up to play with his friend. But he didn’t move.
“Never mind, Mark,” said Mr Chapman. “You’ll be able to play with Snuggles when we come over for lunch.”
“OK,” said Mark. But he still sounded upset. “Mum says to come over at about one o’clock.” Then he went back next door.
Snuggles felt very mean. He didn’t want to make Mark unhappy. He loved Mark nearly as much as he loved Mr Chapman, now.
The kitten decided that he would play with Mark all afternoon to make it up to him.“But now Imust get to sleep,” he sighed.
Super-Snuggles stood looking up at the huge tree. Its branches stretched right up into the sky. It was a long way to the top, but Super-Snuggles knew he could do it.
He began to climb. He leaped lightly from branch to branch, getting higher with every jump. The tree swayed gently in the breeze, but that didn’t worry Super-Snuggles the Wonder Cat. He just kept right on going.
“I did it!” Super-Snuggles miaowed, as he jumped up onto the highest branch. “I climbed the tallest tree!”
It should have been one of the best dreams ever.
“But it isn’t,” Super-Snuggles miaowed sadly. He looked down into next door’s garden. Mark was out there, playing with his little sister. He was chasing her round the garden, and they were laughing happily.
“You know what?” Super-Snuggles the Wonder Cat miaowed. “I wishI could play with Mark!”
Chapter Six
“OH!” Snuggles woke up with a jolt.
“Snuggles!” Mr Chapman was staring at his kitten, looking puzzled. “You made me jump! What’s the matter?”
“It’s OK, Mr Chapman,” Snuggles mewed. “Now I know why my Super-Snuggles adventures aren’t such fun any more.”
Mr Chapman stared down at his excited little kitten.“What onearth is the matter with you, Snuggles?”
“My real world is more exciting than my dream world, now that I’ve got Mark to play with!” Snuggles explained happily.
He jumped off Mr Chapman’s lap, and charged to the front door, tail waving madly. “I’m tired of dreaming. Can we go and see Mark now?”
“Snuggles, what’s the matter?” Mr Chapman came out into the hall. “Don’t scratch the door!”
“Please, Mr Chapman,” Snuggles mewed.
Mr Chapman picked up his kitten, then looked at his watch.“Let’s go next door,” he said. “It’s nearly time for lunch. And at least that will stop you scratching my front door to pieces!”
As Mr Chapman carried Snuggles outside, the kitten’s heart thumped with excitement. How could he have thought that silly old dreams could be better than havingreal adventures, playing with Mark?
Mark was looking out for them. His face lit up and he dashed outside to open the front gate.
Mr Chapman handed Snuggles to him.
The kitten rubbed his furry cheek against Mark’s. “Sorry, Mark,” he purred. “Playing withyou is the best fun ever!”
“Woof! Woof!”
Snuggles turned round and saw Barney the Alsatian walking down the street with his owner.
“Grr!” Barney had spotted Snuggles, and was trying to pull his owner towards him. “I don’t like cats!” he growled fiercely.
Snuggles’s fur bristled in fear. But he couldn’t let smelly old Barney spoil his fun with Mark. He knew he had to be brave. What would Super-Snuggles do?
The kitten arched his back and lowered his ears, hoping it made him look fierce.“You’d better not talk to me like that, Barney,” he hissed. “Or I’ll chase you right up the street!”
Barney was so surprised that he stopped barking at once.
“You showedhim, Snuggles!” Mark laughed, as he carried the kitten inside.
“Yes, I did, didn’t I?” Snuggles purred, rather surprised himself.
There were delicious smells coming from the kitchen which made Snuggles’s whiskers twitch.
“Let’s go into the garden, Snuggles.” Mark put the kitten down, and went to open the back door. “I’ll show you my new tree house.”
“Great!” Snuggles purred happily.
Mark’s tree house was perched in the branches of the tallest tree in the Bournes’ garden. Snuggles could see that the tree was even taller than the one Super-Snuggles had climbed in Mr Chapman’s garden. There was a long ladder leading up to the tree house.
“Shall I carry you up there, Snuggles?” Mark asked, bending to pick the kitten up.
“No,” Snuggles miaowed bravely. He shrugged away Mark’s hand. “I’m going toclimb up the tree– just like Super-Snuggles would!”
“You’ll never get up there!” someone miaowed rudely.
Snuggles turned round and saw Timmy the tomcat perched on the fence, his tail swinging.