A very special story written by Babcia Alina 

I

Stewie shook his grandfather long and hard. ‘Granddad…GRANDDAD wake up!’

‘Sorry, Stewie,’ mumbled Granddad. ‘I must have fallen asleep waiting for you. But now you’re here, what would you like to do?’

‘Granddad, can we go on an adventure?’

‘Of course, where would you like to go?’

Stewie thought, but only for a short while. ‘Let’s go to Madagascar.’

‘Why Madagascar?’ asked Granddad.

‘Well,’ replied Stewie. ‘I’d love to see a real lemur. You see I’ve a book about a lemur and a toy. But I’ve never seen a real live one. And Mummy told me they lived in Madagascar.  And Daddy said we would have to sail there.’

‘Madagascar it is!’

‘Yeah!’ Stewie’s face lit up. ‘And can we take Percy with us? He could be our guide and cook and …Where is he? Percy! Percy!’

Stewie called and called, but Percy was nowhere to be seen. Finally, Stewie found him under the table, too busy eating Granddad’s sardines to answer. Sardines and prawns were his favourite food. That’s why his fur was so glossy and thick. Well, that’s what Granddad said.  

‘There you are, you naughty cat!’ Stewie laughed as Percy tried to pretend that he hadn’t eaten the fish. He stood up, made a serious face and strolled away with his tail straight up in the air. He was a very handsome cat with a ginger and white coat. Granddad found him a long time ago, when he was a tiny stray, lonely and lost. He brought him home to stay and gave him to Mummy.

‘Percy! We’re going on an adventure! We’re going to Madagascar to have tea with the lemurs. What d’you think of that?’

‘Rrumm, rrumm,’ purred Percy. And Stewie just knew he was excited about going on an adventure with him and Granddad.

‘Now, Stewie. Since you are the leader of the expedition, how shall we get to Madagascar?’

‘Why we’ll sail, of course, like Daddy said. Look there’s our boat.’

Granddad looked and there, as if by magic, waiting for them, was the most beautiful sailing boat he had ever seen. Its hull was white, as were its sails, which were trimmed with the deepest deep blue. It looked like a sea-bird, ready to fly away.

‘Anchors aweigh!’ shouted Stewie.

‘Hurrah!’ shouted Granddad.

‘Rrumm, rrumm,’ purred Percy. And Stewie just knew he was excited about going on an adventure with him and Granddad.

They sailed away towards Madagascar. News reached many sea creatures that Stewie was coming. A huge pod of dolphins swam up to the boat to say ‘Hello!’. And they stayed for a long time, diving under the boat, flipping themselves over it and even standing on their hind fins. Who squeaked louder, Stewie or the dolphins was very, very hard to tell!

‘Land ahoy!’ shouted Granddad. The dolphins said, ‘Goodbye. See you again’ and went on their way diving through the waves. Granddad guided the boat into harbour.
 
II

Once on shore, the intrepid trio found themselves is a mysterious rain forest. Huge trees and plants cast green shadows over the ground. They could hear strange noises and rustling.

Suddenly, Granddad tapped Stewie on the shoulder. ‘Look up into the trees. What can you see?‘

‘I can see a pair of yellow and black eyes. Lemur eyes!’ shouted Stewie.

‘Shh. Don’t shout. They are very shy and don’t like noisy people.’

The three of them stood very still, quietly and patiently waiting for the lemur to climb down from the trees. Stewie couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. Black and grey with a magnificent striped tail. Percy, in fact, was a little jealous of the tail, it was bushier and longer than his, and it could curl itself round the branch of a tree.

More and more lemurs came down, each carrying a piece of fruit or a plant. They were inviting Stewie and Granddad to have tea with them. Percy was a bit disappointed there were no sardines or prawns, just fruit and berries, but, as he was a well-brought up cat, he didn’t complain.

After tea, Stewie watched the lemurs climb the trees and swing from branch to branch, as if they were flying. It was like watching acrobats in a circus. Mummy lemurs showed him their babies, which he gently cuddled.

Finally, and sadly, it was time to go home. The sun was setting and lighting up the sky with magnificent colours of purple, orange and red. The three of them boarded their boat and sailed back home.

‘Granddad’, said Stewie before he fell asleep. ‘Can we go on another adventure, some day?’

‘Of course! We could go to a far-away land to see a real live volcano. And we could go by balloon.’

‘Mmm.’ murmured Stewie sleepily.  ‘And it’ll be your turn to be the leader of the expedition. What do you think Percy?’

‘Rrumm, rrumm,’ purred Percy.  And Stewie just knew he was excited about going on a new adventure with him and Granddad.