Stories of the Underground Tunnels- by Jack McDonald

I remember when my mom would tell me stories about underground tunnels in my backyard. The stories were about my cat and my friend’s cat. My mom would look into my eyes. Her eyes were bright blue, mine turquoise. Her voice came out loud and clear over the table. It went into my ears and into my mind. I could imagine it all. It was amazingly awesome.

I remember this one story about my cat. This is how it goes:

Once Demitas, my cat, went over to Cheetoh’s house (Cheetoh is my friend Ellis’s cat) to play. But Cheetoh was not there, so my cat went into the tunnel opening in the middle of the garden. She got into the tunnels. She followed the sound of bubbles and happy meows. T0hen she found Cheetoh in a lava bath. She asked Cheetoh to play. Cheetoh said, “Yes,” and they walked away happily…

I think my mom’s ideas for the stories came from our trip to Train Town. At first, I asked her to tell me Train Town stories, and then she started to change them and tell about underground tunnels. My mom remembers telling me stories, but she doesn’t remember what they were about because she was making them up as she went along. But I remember her stories vividly—they inspired me to write my book series called Lightning Cat. I think it’s cool how my mom mixes imagination and real things in her stories.