To the end of the Earth and beyond.

Another fine day thought Cat as she stretched and purred in the sun. Perfect day for a morning stroll. Panda continued to sleep on. He was in training for the Big Trip. He was adjusting his body clock so he would be able to operate on GMT the moment the plane landed. Cat was in awe of Panda's dedication. How he managed to sit up until 2-3am every night and raise himself up each midday showed the true dedication of a conscientious athlete. Thankfully, they had Foxtel and Panda could force himself to stay awake though every known football code. It occurred to Cat that Panda must have been planning for this particular Big Trip all his life.

Cat set off on her walk and came to the hill that led to Woo's cabin. Woo had been ill again, not wounded in action against the bubbles, she was cold sick and  feeling poorly. Cat stood at the bottom of the hill and wondered if she really cared enough to struggle up and visit Woo. In the end the chance of a fitter Cat for the Big Trip won out and she began the journey up Wheezy Hill.

Woo's house was quiet, even Axel the guard was missing in action. Truley it was only 2 am in London but surely now at 11am (Brisbane) she should be awake, thought Cat.

The door to the cabin swung open and Dr Si invited Cat in.
"How is the Woo today, Dr Si?"
"She is better but still poorly" replied the good Dr.
Cat heard a deep wet cough from the hallway and Woo dragged her self into the room. She coughed again and Cat winced. Nasty fur-ball, thought Cat.

Dr Si sat down and the three began to talk about the Big Trip. The kettle boiled and Dr Si brewed up some peppermint and lemon tea for Woo and himself and dandelion for Cat.
"Are those Anzac biscuits?" asked Cat.
"Yes", said Dr Si proudly, "from Coles for $1.99, a bargain. I am surprised Panda did not pick them up".
"No, he prefers Aldi. Though these are particularly nice biscuits", said Cat as she carefully dipped her biscuit into her tea.

Dr Si and Panda could talk for hours over bargains gained and lost. It seemed to both Cat and Woo a strange ritual as they both shopped on a seen and needs basis. Having seen a product they then know they need it - price no object. Panda and Dr Si were much more discriminating. If it was cheap and a bargain they bought it. Of course the fact that no one wanted to eat that much cabbage, or past due packets, was never as important as the realization that this was a bargain meal. Cat and her pandaroos would often sit before a plate of something suspicious while Panda would proudly boast that he could feed a family for less than a $1 each. Cat and Woo suspected Dr Si and Panda were locked into a competition in which neither Cat nor Woo could win.

Woo started to feel better and brought out some brochures and travel maps for consultation. Cat measured the distance from Brisbane to Singapore and Singapore to London.
"Does not look that far, as the crow flies" proclaimed Dr Si.

Cat an Woo laughed until Woo began to choke on her cough and Cat was caught between sympathy and delight at Woo's misery. It was a moment of pure sisterly love and delicious betrayal. They both knew crows could not fly in a straight line. Cat's father (Woo's perhaps father) had been a crow and he could not often walk a straight line let alone take wing and fly straight. Their same mother had often told them that father could not even lie straight in bed. They both cackled to each other.


Dr Si adjusted his spectacles and looked at the two rolling on the couch laughing.

"Naturally,"he pontificated "it only looks like a straight line on the map. It is, however, much further as the earth is, of course, spherical in shape".

Cat opened her eyes wide and smiled a creamy smile. Woo began to feel agitated as she knew the nature behind the smile.
"Really!" smoothed Cat. "The earth is a ball".
"No it is a sphere, which is like a ball but a little squashed" he condescended from a great height built entirely of empirical knowledge.

Woo began to nervously flutter "any more tea?" Cat nodded mercifully toward her cup. Woo hurried to the kitchen and buried her head in the sugar bowl.

"So! Good Dr, how do you explain that the earth is round when quite clearly it is flat. Just consider as evidence the map before you. Brisbane, Singapore and London laid two dimensionally before you".

Dr Si spluttered his disbelief, "surely you cannot believe the Earth is FLAT!!!"
"I did not say I believed it to be so. I merely asked  you explain it to be otherwise".

Woo surfaced at the same time as both Cat and Dr Si saw the last remaining Anzac biscuit. Woo heard Cat purr, "Winner takes all" before plunging again int the safety of the sugar bowl.

Dr Si PhD (Physics major and  Wizard of the computer and all things mathematical ) began his lecture with great seriousness. First he laid out the Greeks, then onward and unrelenting from Columbus to Newton. He paused to catch a breath and then went on to the entire Apollo mission, as he reached for his lap top to complete his discourse by visiting Google Earth.

Cat held up her paw, as if to surrender the argument and let the conversation go. Dr Si smirked, satisfied, he eyed the biscuit.

"OK, Dr Si", she sighed. "OK just one thing how then do you explain two things. Firstly, the photo at the beginning of this story", she held up the photo of the four travelers, "definitely two dimensional.  Also this photo of the Earth still two dimensional. Ergo, ipso facto, the earth is two dimensional and, therefore, flat as a tack".
Dr Si spluttered and stammered "Its a proven scientific fact the world is sphere hanging in space".
Cat smiled again and lifted her paw allowing the argument to escape again.
"Of course you are right Dr Si" she smiled ,"I know the earth is not flat".

She leaned towards him, "After all I climbed the Wheezy hill to get here didn't I". As she leaned forward she deftly picked up the biscuit and licked it, placing back on the plate carefully. "You win!" she declared and looked up triumphant as Woo returned with a tray of tea and sugar crystals stuck to her eyelashes. Dr Si sat in a state of shock having won the argument and lost the prize.

Cat indicated the biscuit on the table, "Are you going to take the last Anzac, Dr Si?"
He shook his head, still trying to work out what had  happened.

Cat sat back and nibbled on her prize. She sat thinking that she could have told Dr Si the truth, that there were two hills to Woo's place. The one going up and the other coming down. However, she would leave that until next time, no need to destroy him as he was, truly, such good sport. Best leave that for another day.

Came the time to leave. Cat said good bye to a crushed Dr Si and whispered in Woo's ear "Neither science nor magic, truth or justice can stand in the way of of a good story or the last Anzac biscuit. Now cough up that fur-ball and get well for there is only 20 more sleeps to go".
Woo nodded a cloud of sweet understanding, "victory is indeed a sweet thing" she murmured in reply.

Cat stepped out into the sun and allowed it to give her a silky warm caress. Yes indeed this had been a good walk this morning.