Month: May 2023

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space: The Search for Cat Haven.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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Captain Cod set Kipper up with her own bunk in the barracks and personally pinned one of the golden sailing ship lapel pins on her tunic.  It made her feel very official.  Officially an honorary otter.

There were also some electronic forms; Trugger helped her fill them out.  As far as she could tell, she was registering to pay taxes on the modest salary Captain Cod afforded her.  She wondered if there was any way for the dogs down on Earth to claim a portion too.  She hoped not. Continue reading “Otters In Space – Chapter 13: Kipper Flying Through Space”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space: The Search for Cat Haven.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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Kipper couldn’t remember falling asleep, but she could tell she had just woken up.  She was stretched out on a thin but cushy mattress, a bottom bunk in a room full of bunks.  There were otters occupying some of the other beds, but none of them had noticed her yet.  Well, she was sure they knew she was there.  But none of them had noticed she was awake.  She didn’t want them to.  She wasn’t ready to deal with a room full of strange otters yet.  She had too much to deal with inside of herself. Continue reading “Otters In Space – Chapter 12: Kipper Joins the Crew”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space: The Search for Cat Haven.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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Trailing Luce would have been easier for Kipper if bulldogs weren’t so much shorter than otters.  Between Luce’s short, boxy shape and Kipper’s own limited height, Kipper felt constantly on the edge of losing Luce in the crowd of irritatingly tall otters.  Of course, on the flipside, the large (albeit generally lanky) stature of all the space station natives kept Kipper from having to duck and weave too much to stay safely obscured from Luce’s view.  “Too much” being a relative term. Continue reading “Otters In Space – Chapter 11: Kipper and the Manta Ray”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space: The Search for Cat Haven.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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As the bill was already settled, Kipper had herself dressed and back out on the main drag in no time.  She caught herself looking at the otters around her, trying to catch their reaction to her in their eyes.  She wove between them, staying as far away from the artificial river as she could manage.  She didn’t want to get tripped or pushed into the water again.  The otters, by and large, gave her a respectful amount of space.  Perhaps they understood what she was doing.  She imagined herself walking in the paw steps of all the other cats who had come to this station and who carefully edged their way away from the water. Continue reading “Otters In Space – Chapter 10: Kipper in the Red Quarter”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space: The Search for Cat Haven.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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Kipper folded her tunic, trousers, and scramball jersey into her little purple duffle and stowed it beside Maury’s desk.  She wrapped the white sheet around her, under her arms, and pushed the pink curtain out of her way.  Maury was arranging the tools of his trade on the work table beside the closest reclining chair.  When he noticed her, he patted on the chair’s Naugahyde seat, inviting her to take her place there. Continue reading “Otters In Space – Chapter 9: A Whole New Kipper”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space: The Search for Cat Haven.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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The door opened, spilling space station light into the hold.  Kipper could hardly wait to set paw on the light-kissed ground.  The closer she got to otter space, the more buzzed she got.  She wanted to get out there and see what Deep Sky Anchor was really like.  She wanted to join the otters, swimming in their “rivers in the sky.”  Continue reading “Otters In Space – Chapter 8: Kipper on the Deep Sky Anchor”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space: The Search for Cat Haven.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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Chip was a harsh task-master.  He kept Kipper lugging crates of shrimp, tanks of crabs, and other sea-farmed delectables along with trunk after trunk of passenger luggage until her agile cat-spine ached.  Cats weren’t built for hard work, and this work was back-breaking. Continue reading “Otters In Space – Chapter 7: Kipper Rides the Elevator”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space: The Search for Cat Haven.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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The next few days were a blur of countries outside Kipper’s window.

Guatemala became El Salvador and then Honduras.  The terrain grew mountainous, green, and jungly.  Wild rainforests alternated with farmland, growing sugarcane and coffee beans.  Kipper slept through Nicaragua and most of Costa Rica, but she took the wheel through all of Panama and down into Colombia.  South America at last! Continue reading “Otters In Space – Chapter 6: Kipper in Ecuador”

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space: The Search for Cat Haven.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

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The guard flicked his ears in the chill desert air.  Mornings were cold, but it would be hot when the sun got overhead and started beating down.  During the day, it was no place for the thick, full mane of a rough Collie; but, right now, it was a bit nippy for a smooth one.  The guard dog scratched the barrel of his rifle against his chin.  A car was coming. Continue reading “Otters In Space – Chapter 5: Kipper in Mexico”