Meow Sigh

My daughter has been a huge fan of the "Warriors" series of books for a few years now. I would go so far as to say that these books were the turning point in my daughter's view on recreational reading. Prior to this cat-centered series, Cara would read and even enjoy books, but she had never really experienced that "can't put this book down" feeling until the Warriors came along.

For those of you that are unaware of this collection of Erin Hunter books, the Warriors tales are centered around different "clans" of cats and their various adventures in the wild. These cats have elaborate stories that follow these clans from birth to death (and sometimes beyond).  They have names like Thunderpaw and Shadowfang and Moonlightburps and they fight and forage and follow extensive codes of conduct, all of which Cara has committed to memory.

Oftentimes, Cara's passion for all things Warrior seeps into her daily life.  The rigidity that comes from having memorized the adventures contained in dozens of chapter books doesn't really allow her to enjoy these stories outside of when she's actually reading.  Connor has tried to "play Warriors" with Cara, but having not read a single book, he is not privy to the dos and don'ts of the cat world. He often chooses the "wrong" clan or behaves in a way that the cat he selected would not play.  Yellingmother often has to intervene and direct her kits to play something different.

Right now, Cara is in a holding pattern for new Warriors books. They just don't seem to write them fast enough for her. It was during this down time that Craig found a well-loved tissue sitting on the counter in the bathroom with a kind of code written on it.  Now, we're not sure if this was an attempt to take notes from a previous episode she read or even if this was a made up key that she was going to provide her brother so that they might play an unobstructed game of Warriors.  Whatever its purpose, this Kleenex is classic Cara. 

It reads:
     Meow - I'm cool with you
     Hiss - Get out of my territory
     Meowmeowmeow - I'm leaving
     Meow Long - Where are you / I'm here
     Meow cough - I'm hurt. Get over here