A King, a King, and a Kitty

Today, we have for you a king, another king, and then a kitty. Does that make sense? Let's start with the Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge, in which you'll meet our first king of the day.

Our hosts for this fun and fantastic challenge are none other than Angel Sammy and Teddy. Each week, these boys and their mom give us a photo prompt to help us with our poetic endeavors. The photo for this week is this one right here:

Look at that fresh produce! When I see market scenes like this, though, I always immediately think of markets from medieval times. I don't know why, other than the simple fact that I always enjoyed learning about the Middle Ages in school. So, I guess that could serve as the brief explanation for this here random poem:

The Market of Marquette

Marquette was a quiet land,

Built by to the sea upon the sand.

Marquette was ruled by King Pierre,

Who sat upon the royal chair.

King Pierre was like a mystery.

His people could not truly call him mean,

But they also could not deem him one of chivalry.

King Pierre simply kept to himself,

And kept his thoughts high on a shelf.

Given that he was a man of royalty,

King Pierre had people who served him with loyalty.

There was one little fellow whom King Pierre did employ,

As none other than an errand boy.

This little guy was eight years old and went by Louie,

And he was known to run faster than a buzzing bee.

One fine day, King Pierre sat down for breakfast,
Only to realize that in his kitchen there were no hot peppers left.
He simply could not enjoy an omelette without them,
And so for little Louie he did send.
After all, the boy was the fastest in the land,
And so with his help King Pierre would soon have breakfast in hand.

 To the market beyond the castle Louie ran,
Knowing that the best peppers around were sold by one man.
His name was Paul,
And Louie was looking for his market stall.

The Market of Marquette was a busy place that morn,
With folk peddling everything from bread to toys to corn.
One woman tried to sell Louie a pair of britches,
But on new clothes was not how Louie was to spend the king's riches.

Then, finally, Louie caught sight of his target.
Today, Paul's Peppers could be found at the far end of the market.
But just as Louie approached the stall,
Something nearby let out the tiniest, most pitiful call.

Louie looked left and looked right,
And it was a little orange kitten that came into sight.
It mewed and meowed and sounded so sad,
Because it was being heckled by a group of boys badder than bad.
The little kitten tried and tried to escape,
But the bad boys would simply not let it get away.

"Hey, stop that!" little Louie did yell,
"Let that kitten go!" the bad boys he did tell.
But of course his words were not even slightly heeded,
And instead the kitten was gripped tighter by one of the heathens.

"It's just a broken kitten," one of the bad boys guffawed and said.
"See? He's only got three legs and is better off dead!"
They were right about only one part of that,
That the little kitten was indeed a three-legged cat.
Louie fumed as blood rushed to his cheeks,
And he told the cruel boys that their attitudes reeked.

"Finders keepers," another ruffian laughed and proclaimed.
To which, angry and desperate, Louie did say,
"Give me the kitten. Here, I can pay."
He held out his hand with the royal coins in a last-ditch effort,
Even though the coins were meant to buy King Pierre's hot peppers.

The bad boys gazed and gawked at the offer,
 And Louie hoped that to him the kitten they would proffer.
He let out a sigh of relief when, finally, they did.
Louie took the kitten and gave the hooligans the coins worth more than a quid.

Louie hugged the kitty and was glad for its safety.
Without the hot peppers, Louie headed for the castle ever so bravely.
Louie was certain King Pierre would shout, "Off with his head!"
But at least the kitten was neither injured nor, worse, dead.

Before long, Louie and the kitten arrived at the castle,
And through its gates together the two did travel.
To the dining hall Louie boldly dared go,
Though his fate he did not know.

King Pierre still sat waiting to break his fast.
"Thank goodness, boy, " he said, "you've returned at last!"
He tied his bib and readied his fork,
And a bottle of wine he even did uncork.

Louie stood frozen in place.
How could he even look the king in the face?
"I'm sorry, Your Highness," was all he at first could say.
"I did not get your peppers at the market today."

King Pierre scrunched his nose and looked up at the boy,
Asking, "Why not? Is this some kind of ploy?"
Then the orange let out a mew and spat,
And the king asked, "And what in tarnation is that?"

Taking a deep breath, Louie replied,
"If I had bought your peppers, this kitten would surely have died."
Then Louie told King Pierre the entire tale, from beginning to end.
He told the king exactly how he'd met his furry, three-legged friend.

At the end of the tale, Kind Pierre scratched his head.
"Well, I guess that's that," was what he then said.
Louie cringed and awaited his surely doomed fate.
But, to his surprise, these were the words that King Pierre did state:
"Here, take more coins and try for the peppers again.
And take a guard in case those mean boys are still causing mayhem."

Speechless, Louie took the coins and tucked them safely away.
Just as he was about to head to the market for the second time that day,
King Pierre called him back and did say,
"Here, take this gold coin to Fisher Street,
And get your new friend some nice tuna to eat."

Louie could not help but smile,
And he did just that with every passing mile.
King Pierre became Louie's good friend that day.
Oh, and Pepper became his new furry friend's name.

Just as with last week, since we have an A to Z Challenge doodle to share today, we'll be sharing our doodle for the above poem on Sunday. This is actually quite fitting, though. For more reasons than one, our post for Sunday will be all about another specially abled orange boy that we know. So, this doodle should fit right in.

Also, I just wanted to say that the above poem was also a bit inspired by a news story I read a few months back. This story involved a woman who rescued a puppy that she witnessed being used in place of money in a drug deal outside of a gas station. The brave woman offered to pay these classy folk for the puppy, and she was successful in this. Thanks to this woman, the puppy made it into safe hands. So, this also loosely inspired me as I wrote the poem above.

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Next up? That would be our A to Z Challenge contribution for today.

As we've said before, our theme for this challenge involves altering classic story titles, of course with animals in mind. Today is all about the letter K, and this is where yet another king makes an appearance in this here post. We had King Lear by William Shakespeare in mind for this one, but of course we had to change it up a bit.

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Now, this Thursday post wouldn't be complete without Thimble, or without Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

 Can you tell what Thimble is thankful for today?

Yeah, that's right, she's grateful for that shiny, bright, and blinding sunshine!

All of us here are so thankful that spring has finally (finally!) started to make an appearance. We nearly reached 60°F yesterday. There's even a rumor that we might hit 80°F this weekend!

Of course, on this Thankful Thursday, we're all also incredibly grateful for this wonderful community, which is filled with all of you!

Have a beautiful day, friends!

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Our Tip of the Day:

Though rare, did you know that our furbabies can get lice? The lice our kitties and pups can get, though, are not the same that we humans get. In fact, lice are species-specific. Humans get a certain kind of lice, dogs can become infested with a different kind of lice, and yet a different type of lice affects cats. In other words, we cannot get lice from our furbabies, and they cannot get it from us. Again, though, lice in our furbabies is not terribly common. Still, it is important to know that it's not impossible.

Signs of lice might include your furbaby itching, scratching, or biting at affected areas of their body. You also might even be able to see the lice or their eggs, more or less white in color, on your furbaby. A lice infestation and its symptoms will likely more heavily affect cats or dogs who are sick, elderly, or have a compromised immune system.

Just as we have noted with all of the parasites we've previously discussed, if you have any concern that your kitty or pup is infested with lice, of course have them seen by your veterinarian as soon as possible. Your veterinarian will be able to prescribe a treatment for eradicating lice. In addition, don't forget that with parasites such as lice, your furbaby's environment will also need to be rid of the infestation. As always, discuss any and all concerns with your veterinarian.