Reading to Max

“This Saturday, we’ll be visiting cats at the animal shelter. If you’d like to join us, here’s a flyer,” said Ms. Delgado, the school librarian.  

Ben loved cats, and he had always wanted one. He hurried to grab a flyer. Then Ms. Delgado added, “We’ll be reading to the cats.”

Ben stopped. Reading was hard. Still, he really wanted to visit the cats, so he took a flyer anyway.

After school, Ben showed the flyer to Dad.  

“That sounds great,” Dad said.

On Saturday, Ben and Dad met some of Ben’s classmates and their parents at the shelter.   

“This is Max,” the shelter worker told Ben as she handed him a gray cat.

Ben carried Max to a beanbag chair. When Ben sat down, Max settled onto his lap.  

“Here’s my book,” Ben told Max. He had taken a book he’d been working on. He started reading, and Max purred. After a few minutes, Ben looked up. Some of the cats stayed on his classmates’ laps, but other cats roamed the room while the kids read.  

Ben stroked Max’s back. I’m glad Max is staying and listening to me read, he thought.

On the way home, Ben told Dad, “Max is the best cat ever.”  

“I’m glad you two are buddies,” Dad said. All week, Ben waited for Saturday. When it arrived, Ben got to read to Max again. Ben read and read while Max purred and purred.

“What if someone adopts Max?” Ben asked Dad later.  

“I guess you’d read to a different cat,” Dad said.  

But I don’t want a different cat, Ben thought.  

Ben even told his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Patel, about Max.  

“Max sounds like a special cat,” said Mrs. Patel. 

Ben agreed.  

Every Saturday, Ben read to Max. “I wish we could adopt Max,” Ben said to Dad. He knew they couldn’t. Mom had allergies.

Dad nodded. “But it’s nice you can see Max at the shelter, right?”  

“Yeah,” said Ben.  

One day at school, Ben realized that reading seemed easier. Still, he was surprised when Ms. Delgado gave him the Most Improved Reader award. “I want to show my award to Max,” Ben told Dad.  

But on Saturday, Ben couldn’t find Max at the shelter.

“Someone must have adopted Max. What if I never see him again?” Ben said, frowning. Just then, Mrs. Patel walked into the visitors’ room, carrying Max.  

“Max is a special cat,” Mrs. Patel said. “So I’m adopting him. You can come over every day to visit him.”  

Having Max next door will be almost like having him as my own cat, Ben thought. He smiled at Mrs. Patel.  

“Now we can read every day,” Ben told Max as he stroked the cat’s back. 

Max purred.