Hi! I’m Owen Meany, staff kitten here at Tales of the Lonesome Pine Used Books and Internet Cafe. This is my human mum’s blog, but she was very tired today and said I could do it, if I promised to pay close attention to my spelling. (We have been working hard on foniks this week.)

My job here at the bookstore is to make the customers feel happy. I let them pick me up and rub my tummy and nuzzle me with their faces. I don’t mind; most of the people who shop here smell nice–like meat, or candy.

There are a lot of kittens here, more than I have paws, so I don’t know how many that is. They are all looking for homes. I came here with a group of kittens looking for a home, too, but I just kept quiet and worked really hard at learning to use the box and keeping my fur clean and bright-white. I also learned a nice way of meowing very quietly that Mum says is endearing. So I got to stay.

Mostly all the kittens go away again, to a place where they get tutored or played, Mama says, and then they go to live with someone who wants to give them a nice home. All the kittens get named after famous books or famous characters. There’s been a Bronte series, and a Harry Potter series, and a Louis Gibbons series, and a lot of others. The kittens right now are “Shades of Grey,” because they’re all grey, I guess.

We have a lot of bookshelves here, which is fun because if I’m careful I can squeeze over the tops of the books between the shelves. It’s like a secret tunnel system through the shop. I run through the tunnels and jump out into customers’ laps when they’re sitting down looking at the books. Once I did this and a lady screamed so loud Mama came running. The lady was not pleased. I think it had something to do with the sign above her head: “P-A-R-A-N-O-R-M-A-L R-O-M-A-N-C-E-S.” Mama says I will get tutored soon, so not to worry about what R-O-M-A-N-C-E-S spells.

I like it here at the bookshop; every day I make the rounds to be sure everything is tidy. If there are bits of fluff or fur on the floor I bat them away. I also keep the shop dogs in line; someone has to! And then when we open I run around the customers and make them happy. It’s a very good life, being a bookstore staff kitten. I hope my friends back at the shelter get a good life like this one!