EHTARIA: A land of their own

By Barbara Woster

Do you every wonder where your pets go when you let them out to play? Find out with your host, Felicia Feline. Join Felicia and her friends on the adventure of a lifetime.

A first chapter book for ages 6 and up.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barbara Woster
• Release date: Jul 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781733660228

Book preview

DEDICATION

For my children.

My Inspiration.

This was initially released in 2012 under the title Freepetopia. After some corrections and a fresh new cover, it was rereleased in 2018.

For more titles by this author, visit: www.LiteraryAdventures.net

FOREWORD

Hello folks! My name is Felicia Feline, and this is the story of Ehtaria.

You’ve never…what do you mean you’ve never heard of it? It’s the most fantastic place in the world and you’ve never heard of it? Wow! I’m super surprised. I thought for certain that some pet somewhere would spill its guts over enticement of a freshly caught tuna fish. I know I’d have difficulty keeping it a secret…oh, that’s right, it is a secret…or it’s supposed to be.

Ok, admittedly, it is a place for animals only, so you may not have heard of it, unless your pet had been there and told you about it—under threat of a fresh tuna fish.

Why are you suddenly looking at me like you think I’m crazy? I’m not making it up. It’s definitely a real place. Besides, do you think I could just make up a name like Ehtaria off the top of my head? I’m a cat, not a genius.

Okay, well, actually I did make up the name, but I had to call it something! I couldn’t just keep calling it ‘that really awesome place that animals go to play’, could I? But that doesn’t mean the place isn’t real…and it is a really cool name.

It’s a wonderful place where cats talk—like me—and dogs walk upright; where fish fly and birds swim…I’m serious, so stop rolling your eyes. Don’t think because I’m a cat that I don’t know what that means!

Listen…I’ll make this simple. It’s the place where us animals go to get away from you humans every once in a while; where we can be more than just the barking, meowing pets you expect us to be. Wouldn’t you humans like a place like that? Where you could fly like a bird, or swim like a fish…well, you can’t come to Ehtaria, so don’t even ask.

Just think about it for a minute though…haven’t you ever wondered where we pets disappear to for hours at a time when you let us out to play? Ah ha! You do wonder that, don’t you? Well…

…we head to Ehtaria!

It’s kind of like your human vacation, only we get to go to Ehtaria whenever we want, when you decide to let us out of the house. I feel kind of sorry for those pets that never get to come because they never get let outside or have to spend all of their time in a fenced back yard.

Still, I do want to set the record straight over one thing though. Whenever you’re standing on the front porch at the end of the day, whistling and whistling, trying to get us to come home—it’s not that we don’t hear you. We do. We’re just not ready to come back yet, but we always do—come back, that is (unless you constantly smack us on the nose with a newspaper or forget to feed us regularly; in which case, we may just stay in Ehtaria).

I know what you’re thinking now. You want to know why we don’t just stay in Ehtaria, if it’s so great, even if we do have really super great masters. Maybe we will—someday—but for now, we come back because you humans provide us with a different sort of entertainment. You don’t realize how funny you are to us animals, do you?

Sometimes when we bark or meow, we’re really just laughing at your antics. Goodness, but you humans are strange beings! We animals are lucky to have such funny masters.

Of course, not all animals that visit our fair hideaway have masters. Some come from places I’ve never even heard of, just to see what Ehtaria is all about. Word does get around. Sometimes the animals that show up are not-so-nice bullies. You know what I mean. You have people bullies, too. I’ve witnessed a dog step in to protect a child from a bully. Brings a tear to my eye.

Other times the animals that visit are really, really scary—like that three-eyed lizard-looking thing that showed up one time. Boy! Was that something! I’m just glad it was nice.

Most times, it’s just us pets.

Anyway, I didn’t mean to get off track. Now, where was I? Ah, yes! I was trying to explain how Ehtaria is a great place. It is supposed to be a secret though, so you may want to know why I decided to share our secret place with you humans. Well, I could say that my