The cat flap

The neighbours

I looked out of that cat flap nearly every day. I always noticed the same things, the wet grass, the scattered twigs and weeds and the old oak tree, at least I think it was an oak tree. But I couldn

't be definite, there was mint green moss covering just about every one of the tree's nooks and crannies. And there's always crisp golden leaves hanging from each of it's branches, surprisingly even in the summer. There was a mysterious looking black cat that wondered around as if on patrol duty every day. It never even placed one paw out of step, as if it must stay on the invisible line that made it's way from plot to plot about the lawn. But some how it always managed to disappear, I've always wondered where it used to go to and who it's owner was, but I guess I'l never know. It seemed like a great place to go exploring but it wasn'

t really mine to nose around.

You see me, my Mum and Dad, moved here to our end of terrace at 7 Cheap Dale last year, 10 months ago to be exact. When we moved in we had neighbours, they were an old friendly couple called Frank and Brenda. They often invited us round for cups of tea and biscuits and we used to enjoy chatting about general subjects and things that would be of interest to them. One day about 4 months ago in the winter, Frank unfortunately died from a unexpected heart attack while out jogging, leaving Brenda on her own. She began to become ill and couldn

'

t cope on her own and with no family she went to live in a elderly citizens home up the road. As soon as she had settled into her new home the council decided to put her house up for sale due to the market failing to put an offer in on the house. We still go to visit Brenda sometimes and she is gradually getting better, but we still miss having no neighbours.

Strangely the cat flap in the kitchen door has been there since we moved in. Something strange must have been going on for the neighbours to have a cat flap leading into their neighbours house, weird if you ask me! Sometimes I fantasize about us buying the land next door and making it into the most exciting attractions just for me so that I can play there all day. But I have no way of getting to the lawn as I cant exactly fit through the cat flap and I

'm not climbing the fence! So ok, that'

s enough about my street let me tell you a little about me!

My name is Mary-Anne, I was named after my Nan Mary and my Auntie Anne. I

'm told that my last name is confusing, Cornelius but I think that it sounds nice when you say them all together. Mary-Anne Jamie Cornelius, I'm 11 years old and just encase your wondering I have brown hair and green eyes. Yeh, so much for the blond hair blue eye stereo type, typical but there's nothing boring about me, I'm full of surprises ! And as for my Mum, she's just a typical Mum loving, protective and often annoying. As for my Dad he's off work pretty much all the time as Mum has a full time job as a nurse, he is also a typical father figure. Dad often takes us out and we have a great time being a family together! I have no brothers and sisters but it's quite fun being an only child. Most people say you get lonely but because I have no siblings to play with I have to make my own entertainment using plenty imagination! So ok now you know about me I'll tell you a little about Gracie!

Gracie

Nobody really knows about Gracie. She

When I asked Dad he just referred me to Mum, Mum being Mum said no but she agreed to give her better accommodation than before. So then she lived in a large green plastic box lined with bubble rap and tissues, she had her own food bowl and water container which I filled up every day! She had grown to become my best friend and I decided to name her Gracie. You would be amazed at how long frogs live, normally around 4 years, great or what! So she was officially my pet frog, my Mum, Dad and my best friend Daisy were the only ones who knew about Gracie. But sometimes I regretted telling Daisy because I had always feared that she would tell someone or think that I was strange. But Gracie was the best pet ever, just as nice as any hamster or rat or rabbit or any of the other fancy pets my friends had had. But one day I found out the most amazing secret, about Gracie I mean! Well I know you

's my pet, well not exactly. I'll explain, last year when I first moved in to 7 Cheap Dale I was exploring the new house, trying to find something exciting but mainly because Mum was un-packing and I had got really bored. Well, I was exploring the garden going about my own business when I found a frog who looked very ill. And she seemed to be staring at me in a way as if she needed help, I couldn't just leave her there so I decided to lend a hand. I took out a card board box and filled it with tissues and newspaper and took it out to her along with a bowl of water and some fish food. Yeh, I know why would a frog want to eat fish food but you'd be amazed, they love it! After getting through a few packets of fish food and some water, she was better than ever. Every day I would go and visit her in the shed and one day I thought to myself why don't I ask Mum and Dad if I can keep her as a pet.'l never believe me but one day …

I was looking through the cap flap and I saw Gracie slide through a hole under the brown fence that was separating our house from Frank and Brenda

Surprisingly I was the only one out of Me, Mum, Dad, Frank and Brenda that noticed the transformation, and I intended to keep it that way. So don

's. I saw Gracie look around with out turning her head, just rotating her eyes as frogs do and then after around 10 seconds. She began to grow and grow until she was the size of a cat and then her black warts began to expand, until her whole body was black. Gracie was now in the form of a black cat and climbed swiftly up and over the fence into our garden. This was the first time I had ever seen that cat in our garden, she was always next door as I only ever saw her through the cat flap. Gracie began to walk at a fast pace towards our shed, where she dug up something golden and shining with her claws and then ran to the fence, climbed over it and buried it in the far corner of Frank and Brenda's garden. She then began to shrink, her spots gradually getting small and clearer until she was once again a frog. Once again she squeezed under the fence and hopped across the garden, to the shed and into her plastic home! 't go telling anyone otherwise you never know the rest of me and Gracie's story and trust me you'll regret it awfully! So why, well I suspected that there was something extremely strange going on next door that only Frank and Brenda knew about. And because Frank and Brenda where no longer around for an explanation, I guessed that I'd have to figure it out for myself and it didn't seem like it was going to be an easy mission.

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