Magic Muse Gets A New Team

Written by Dr.Laxmi Iyer

Magic Muse was nowhere near even close to being the prettiest department store in the town. It wasn't in the busiest place of Whirlwickshire nor was it located in a prime commercial area, the uptown part of Whirlwickshire .

In fact, Magic Muse was located in a small, suburban place in a building that was half a century old. The place had once been a part of a manor. Ornate arches and pillars with elegantly painted stained glass windows embroidered the walls of the building.

Magic Muse was still a little unruly, a little scruffy, department store with a still old fashioned system of keeping inventory and quite a bit of things cluttered here and there.

Yes, they did have a beautiful soft toys division, a good in-store cafe to play games on the computer.

So, what made it special? Why was Magic Muse the busiest department store for little kids in Whirlwickshire ? And, why was Magic Muse so irresistible to the tiny tots? It was the kids below seven who were its most frequent buyers.

Well, the store had a pack of 7 cats who roamed the corridors of the store like as if they were cruising country roads but that really hadn't added much value. It was not every kid who went out in search of the cats.

What did the cats do? In fact, they actually did a lot. They did three grand rounds of the store each day...once at ten in the morning, at two in the afternoon and again at six in the evening.

Cats being cats. The seven of them never walked together. Each one would be out on his or her own doing the detour.

The cats were without doubt a majority and the best of breeds too. There was one Persian called Persis, one Egyptian Mau called Cleopatra, two Siamese sisters called Georgina and Elizabeth, one American curl called Marilyn, a Burmese called Siamese Queen and a beautiful Havana brown called Sir Walter Scott.

They actually had more interesting names and better pedigree than the dogs, yet the kids didn't spend much time with them. And neither did the cats.

What did the kids do? Sometimes they talked to them. Sometimes they cuddled them...but most times they ignored them...because the cats had chosen the wrong time and the wrong place to be around.

To do the grand rounds of the toys and games section with all the kids glued to their soft toys or games did not turn any eyeballs towards the cats.

The dogs were the real stars - the super salesmen of the shop. They were the crowd pullers.

A mixed breed dog who looked like a cross between an Irish setter and a Doberman named Rover, an albino Dalmatian named Groovy and a Labrador named Happy - who were all from the local animal welfare shelter formed a happy trio - cheerfully greeting each little kid, - sniffing them and their toys when they were about to leave and of course shaking hands with them and then rounding it off with a little pat on the head.

That was what made the kids feel so special.

They had all positioned themselves strategically. Rover sat at the exit point of the cafeteria. Groovy sat close to the entrance of the store while Happy sat close to the exit door.

The three dogs would lounge down on either their huge, expansive bean bag chairs or a nice specially designed arm chair. Each dog had a tiny little swing close to him in case he wished to have a change from the routine.

The kids would troop out of the shop with hands full of goodies and hearts filled with their ear to ear grins full of glee. Neither the kids nor the dogs were ever tired of this daily rigmarole.

The kid who was here yesterday would be there at the shop the next day and the next - with pocket money stretched out to as many visits as was possible in a month.

However, one Sunday afternoon things were about to change for the cats. A playful little mixed breed kitten had just discovered the new cat haven. She quickly climbed into the large, empty window of the showroom and started playing with confetti and strings scattered inside the window.

In no time, the gang of seven were there curiously watching the new kitten. It had been ages since they had played a game.
As Cleopatra kept watching the new kitten, an idea struck her. She ran to quickly return with a little table tennis ball in her mouth.

Hesitatingly, she tossed it around. In no time, the eight of them were heartily enjoying a cat version of football inside the gigantic window pane of the shop.

There was a standing ovation from both sides of the glass. A crowd outside had stopped to watch while inside the kids had all assembled together to cheer!