The Taming Of the Stray

ACT ONE

Scene I- On a dusty gravel road.

Enter Mama and Halayah

Halayah. Hark! Dost thou hearest that noise?

Mama. Ah. It seemest to be the sound of a feline.

Halayah. It has moaned most piteously these three times we have passed here. Dost thou thinkest it could be in distress?

Mama. Let us investigate the matter. Come! The cries sound forth yonder in those trees!

 

Scene 2- At the Edge of the Woods

They advance to the edge of the woods, and gaze into the trees searching for where and whence the cries come.

Halayah. It appearest that the sounds come from that tree yonder.

Mama. Thou art right. Look there it liest, in that branch!

A gray and black striped kitten gazes at them from the branch in the tree and continues to moan.

Halayah. The poor creature! I would go to its aid, but I fearest the results, for this is not our estate.

Mama. Yes, and also it dost appear to be no friendly kitten we have happened upon, but the offspring of a bobcat!

Halayah. A bobcat’s young! Let us flee from this place!

Mama. Hold! Have no fear, it is only a poor abandoned cat, see that its tail now falls down long yonder beside the tree.

Halayah. Ah, yes. Well, assuredly, the feline shall probably get down upon its own.

Mama. Without a doubt.  Let us proceed on.

Exit Mama and Halayah.

 

                

            Scene 3- Next Morning at the establishment of the Cox Family. Front Porch.

Enter Halayah and Nathaniel

Halayah. Where couldest thou Grammy, or otherwise my mama, and Aunt Jayla be, Nathaniel?

Nathaniel. Ount’ noh (I don’t know).

Halayah. I am persuaded I sawest them return…

Nathaniel. ‘Mimi!

Nathaniel points to the end of the driveway at Grammy.  He and Halayah watch as Grammy and Jayla approach. Behind them follows a kitten.

Halayah. Distinctly, it is the same tiny creature that was fixed in the bush yesterday! Let us proceed and perceive what the rumor be!

 

                Scene 4- Afternoon on same front porch.

After many long hours of coaxing, the kitten finally warms up to its new surroundings and begins to eat bits of turkey from the hands of the young girls and toddler boy who watch it with interest.

Moriah. Look! It dost trust me now most wholeheartedly!

Galilee. Moriah, pray let me determine if it will ingest some bits from mine own hand.  

Halayah. Move most slowly. It is still affrighted.

Enter Jayla. Here be a trickle more meat for the humble creature.

Nathaniel. (Making clicking sounds in his cheek.) Chk chk. Kitty. Mouw. Holds out his hand with turkey.

Unique. Whatever shall it be designated?

Enter Mama/Grammy/‘Mimi. Alas, the creature’s moniker shalt be Okie, on behalf of Oklahoma.

 

ACT TWO

Scene 1- Present Day Farmstead in Oklahoma

The kitten dubbed ‘Okie’, for Oklahoma, its native land, is now a proud member of the Cox Family Menagerie.  A beautiful gray and black ball of fur, Okie, the now tamed stray, shares their farm with the three other cats, two dogs, chickens, guineas, and goats that already make their residence there.

 

ACTS THREE through FIVE

Scene 1- Waiting to be told as the future is not yet seen.

The story continues to unfold. . .