Flat Pete - a sad story

with a happy ending

Pete likes living close to the edge.

He figures that cats have nine lives.

So, he figures it's okay for him to do things that creatures with only one lifetime really should not do.

But Pete came very close to cashing in his ninth life.

Right now we are in Cappadocia - it's an amazing area of southern Turkey filled with "fairy chimneys" (land forms created as a result of volcanic eruptions and erosion).

Even more amazing, people have been carving homes out of these "chimneys" (our hostel room is a cave) since Christians were hiding from Roman soldiers in the first centuries AD.

                               

There are houses - kitchen areas, dining rooms with built in stone tables and chairs, sleeping areas, storage areas.

Back to Pete.

Pete was posing by an evil eye tree.

The evil eye goes back to pagan times when the symbol was believed to scare away bad luck.

It did not work for Pete.  It brought him bad luck.

A gust of wind blew him out of the tree and down a steep cliff.

                                   

I called to Pete to come back up.  But it was so steep he could not climb back up.

I got a stick and tried to reach him.  Sadly, no luck. 

Two nice German men tried to help Pete.  Still No luck.

Then my bus was going.  I told Pete to be brave.  I would come back for him.

And back we came.  Pete was still on the cliff.  And it was not safe to climb down to him.

We had to get Pete down to the bottom of the cliff, and then we could rescue him from there.

My fearless husband, rescuer of Blue Cats, found a stick to push Pete down the hill.

It was not long enough.  He found another stick and some rope.  We put them together and we could almost reach Pete.

A Turkish store owner came to help with a a stick, some pipe and some packing tape.  

this is my handsome Flat Pete rescuer husband
not the kind Turkish store owner

Hooray!  Pete sped down the cliff, and the kind Turkish man was not far behind.

Pete was saved!

He was allowed to go exploring inside fairy chimneys, 

                                 

but he will not be allowed to live so close to the edge again!