Wheeler, Les
Ferms can be gey muckie kind o places. Fit wi the dubs an glaur o the weety weather, an the styoo an stoor fan it's affa dry, a lot o the muck can be cairriet intae the hoose. The men fa work on ferms hae tae be canny fan they come in fae their work that they dinna drag ony dirt in wi them.
On a lot o ferms they affen hae a room that is only used on special occasions. It's sometimes ca'd the sittin-room or the parlour on affen jist 'the room'.
The men on a ferm wad only be allowed intae the parlour fan they were neat, clean an tidy an nivver in their workin claes!
Noo, ae day, it wis rainin an Brockit decided he wid jist bide in the hoose an content himsel wi lookin aroon tae see fit there was tae see. The ferm-wife had been working in the parlour an fan she'd feenished she'd left the door open. That wis too gweed an opportunity for Brockit tae miss!
Noo, the ferm-wife liked nithin better than tae mak her ain claes, dress-makkin wis her hobby, an in the parlour she kept a lang lookin-gless, or mirror, that was that lang that it streetched fae the fleer nearly tae the roof.
Usually she covered the mirror fan she wisna using in, but, that day, she was tae come back tae her shooin eence she'd made the fermer's denner, sae she'd left the cover aff o the mirror.
Brockit pokit his wee neb roon the door an lookit at the parlour. Noo, the ferm kitchen had a steen fleer, but the parlour had a thick, soft carpet. There wis a piana, although Brockit didna ken fit that wis, a settee, twa big, comfy airm-cheers an the lang, lang full- length lookin-gless!
The mirror caught Brockit's een an he strode ower tae hae a look. Michty! Fit a shock he got! He lookit in the mirror an there wis anither cat lookin back at him! Brockit got sic a fleg that he loupit ahin the settee!
He crawled slowly forrit, lifted his heid, lookit in the mirror again an the ither cat was still there. Brockit cooried doon tae think this een oot.
'This is nae gweed ava,' thocht Brockit, 'I'll show him fa's boss!'
Brockit took a loup up intae the air an threw himsel at the incomer. Brockit got anither affa shock fan he hit the gless! His paws hit the mirror wi a dunt an sae did his heid. Brockit fell doon on the fleer, keekit up an saw naething. He thocht the ither cat had run awa, but fan he rose up an lookit, there it wis again!
It wis then that Brockit heard somebody lauchin ahin him. It wis the ferm-wife fa'd been watchin Brockit's antics wi the mirror. She fair thocht they were funny.
She took the cover an happit up the lookin-gless an syne the ither cat disappeared. The ferm-wife pushed the mirror back intae its corner an, sure enough, fan Brockit lookit, the ither cat wis gone!
Brockit gave a wee purr o satisfaction. He didna ken fa that ither cat had been, but he wis affa gled that it had run awa an he'd showed it fa wis the boss!