'Tell me a story', asked an 8 year-old boy the other day who was recuperating from a mild case of chicken pox. 'How about the story of a boy called Peter and a cat that he met?' I replied. From the young invalid: 'I really prefer dogs but is the story a true one?'. 'I believe it is, and it happened many years ago before you were born'. 'Alright', replied the ailing child, 'but I will let you know if I find it boring'. And so I began:'Peter was your age and living in London with his parents and nanny after a big war; WWII actually, and most of the big cities in Europe were damaged after the fighting was over. He lived in a small house in a neighborhood with a park and every day he would go out with his nanny. His father was busy with his work in the army, and his mother whom he loved very much, was beautiful and used to go out to parties in lovely evening dresses so she didn't have much time for him. Peter had friends his age, but he spent a lot of time with his Scottish nanny who was strict and he was lonely. Oh, and he loved cats! He knew all the cats in the neighborhood and he wanted one of his own. Sometimes Peter would find a lost one and hide it in the house for a day or two, but his nanny always found it and threw it out in the street because she was allergic and didn't like them'.'One day when Peter was out walking with his nanny, he saw a lovely striped tabby across the street sitting in the sun, and he ran into the road and had an accident. Peter couldn't remember what happened when he opened his eyes again, except that he had heard his nanny scream and now his shoulder hurt him very badly. And that was when he found out that he had turned into a cat. Well he didn't know if he was dreaming, where he was and he was frightened so he started to run and run through the streets of the city and it was all very scary. He could still read signs and he remembered his address, but he didn't know how to get help and the streets were full of people who kept walking, and one or two gave him a kick and his ears hurt because of all the busy traffic and city noise. But Peter had no place to take shelter or rest, so he kept on going and was terribly hungry and drenched in the rain until he finally collapsed in exhaustion after running into a big bully of a cat who told him to get lost.''The story might have ended there for Peter except that when he woke up, he found that he was alive and had been saved by a small feral plain cat with large luminous eyes that glowed in the dark. Her name was Jennie Baldrin and she taught Peter all about cats and how to become one.Now Peter after listening carefully to Jennie's own life, understood how she felt and tries to restore her faith in human beings whom she distrusts. This is when the story really begins and the two of them set off together on a big adventure. They even go on a ship and earn their keep, and at times their adventures are a lot of fun and might make you laugh. It's all about a great friendship and how Peter swears to Jennie that nothing will ever separate them, or come between them. No matter whatever happens, they will always be together (here I took a pause). 'What's the matter? Your voice sounds a bit funny and your eyes are sad', interrogated my young listener who was now propped up against his pillow. 'It's nothing', I told him, 'just a bit of a cold and I will put on my sweater...'Paul Gallico, the late author of "Jennie" was born in New York City, and has been somewhat forgotten today. Readers often think that he is British judging from his writing style. A sports editor, a columnist and an assistant managing editor for the New York Daily News, he settled down in Devon for a year in 1936 with a Great Dane and twenty-three assorted cats. Famous for his classic novel "The Snow Goose", a small story of Dunkirk (1941) which became a world-wide bestseller, Gallico's "Jennie" came out in 1950, and addresses the case of stray cats and their behavior in a fascinating way, with a multitude of tips for cat lovers and how to better understand them.While written as a children's book and much enjoyed by youngsters at the time, it is also a story for grown-ups with a dark edge to it. Jennie's world, as seen through the eyes of young Peter, is real in the matters of love and courage, friendship, perseverance and endurance. The loss that leaves Jennie bereft at the end of this short novel, reminded me curiously of the realism of Theodore Dreiser's 'Jennie Gerdhardt' and is haunting, for Peter in Jennie's World and in his Dream, hears both her voice and his mother's calling him to come back.This one for you, Jen, and your set of whiskers Miss Cleo, after we found each other again after forty-seven years this past winter when it was snowing in British Canada. 'Mice and Mumps', and many happy returns to you!