Adventures of Café Au Lait and Beignet

To Amy and Phoenix,
You both complete my life.

Introduction

Before you start reading, there are a few helpful things I think I should pass along to you.  “The Adventures of Beignet and Café Au Lait” is set in New Orleans, which is a place that has some funny words and funny ways to say them, like:

Café Au Lait (say it: cafay o lay) means coffee mixed with half a cup of hot milk.

Beignet (say it: Ben yay) is a warm square French donut covered in powdered sugar.

New Orleans (say it: New Orlins) is a beautiful old city in South Eastern Louisiana.
No matter how you say it, though, Café Au Lait and Beignets in New Orleans can’t be beat!


    Café Au Lait was a light brown cat who lived alone in the alley behind the Café Du Monde in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  She didn’t have a proper family to take care of her.  She ate what she could find, and slept on the wall at the back of the old coffee stand.
    Her best friend was named Beignet.  He was a big shaggy brown dog with large white spots, the exact same color of the donuts he was named after.  Beignet’s owner was an artist who painted pictures of people, if they wanted.  Most of the time, Beignet lay at his artist’s feet and watched the hectic world move along.  The artist was the only family Beignet needed… other than Café Au Lait.
    Beignet loved Café Au Lait.  He’d let her ride on his back when they walked around the French Quarter to say hello to the many friends they knew.  Like the man at the hot dog wagon, the kids who danced on the corner, and the lady who sold hats.
    On a beautiful spring morning, Café Au Lait found Beignet sitting next to his artist’s easel.  With a nod, Café Au Lait jumped onto Beignet and they were off for their usual wander.  Many people laughed to see a cat riding on a dog’s back.  A sight like that can always cause quite a stir.  Some visitors from up north even took their picture as they pointed and laughed happily.
Café Au Lait and Beignet passed in front of the St. Louis Cathedral.  Café Au Lait used to get dizzy looking up at the high, peaked roof of the church.  Now, she just didn’t look up.  There were people all around them, people sitting at tables looking at funny cards, people painting pictures, people laughing, people dressed in silly clothes… all part of the scent of the city.
The pair paused at a restaurant’s kitchen door and the cook tossed some roast beef out for them.  “Here you go puppy and kitty.  You both look too skinny,” the man said with a pleasant smile.  When they were done, they woofed and meowed a thank you, and continued on their way.
    As they turned the corner onto a street busy with more people, Café Au Lait felt a few drops of rain and knew what was coming.  She raised her small nose to the sky and smelled the storm close by.  She saw the lightning and when the thunder came, Café Au Lait dug her sharp claws into Beignet’s collar.  He ran fast, scared by the loud noise.
    He ran as quickly as he could, across streets and around corners.  All Café Au Lait could do was hang on tight, and hope he’d stop soon.  Beignet darted from behind a parked car and around a mailbox.  The rain poured down heavily on them as he ran.  Then, as suddenly as it started, the shower ended, and the sun peeked out again.  Café Au Lait looked around, but didn’t recognize any of the buildings.  She knew they were lost.
    Beignet roamed the streets slowly and whined softly to himself.  He was sure he would never find his way back home, and never see his artist again.  He sat down under a balcony, panting sadly and Café Au Lait tumbled off his back.  Beignet shook the water out of his thick coat, the looked sheepishly at the soaked cat next to him.  She purred and rubbed herself affectionately against his warm side to show him he was forgiven.  He lay down and allowed Café Au Lait to lick his face and ears.  She really was his best friend.  He felt they’d be just fine as long as they were together.
    After resting a few minutes, Café Au Lait tugged on Beignet’s collar to get him onto his feet.  They strolled, side by side, trying to find their way back.  The sun started to set casting their long shadows, Beignet knew his artist would leave soon to go home.  He thought about the big soft pillow he liked to sleep on and his dog dish that the artist always filled with his favorite food.  His shaggy head drooped down low.  At least he wasn’t alone; Café Au Lait was with him.
The dog and cat meandered from street to street.  Sometimes they looked into shop windows, but mostly kept their noses open for something familiar to guide them.  It seemed that all of the streets looked the same, gray and strange.  Beignet sighed; his big pillow and dog dish seemed impossibly far away now.  He wondered if he’d ever see them again.
    Then Beignet suddenly picked up a familiar scent, a scent that reminded him of the time when he first met Café Au Lait.  It was a sweet doughy smell… it was the donuts he was named after!  His artist painted right next to that smell!  Café Au Lait saw Beignet pause and sniff deeply.  She jumped onto his back just in time as darted off.
    Café Au Lait’s claws gripped tightly onto Beignet’s collar again because he ran so fast.  She smelled the donuts, too.  It was the smell of the wall where she liked to sleep and her favorite place to sit by the statue of the lady.  It was the only home she ever knew.
    Beignet dashed across the street and startled a mule that was pulling a carriage of tourists.  He ran right to his artist and licked his hand eagerly.  The artist patted his bushy head and closed the easel.  “I wasn’t sure where you got to, boy.  Let’s go home.”  Beignet knew he was safe and looked around for his friend, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Café Au Lait was already dozing on her wall.  Beignet happily trotted after his artist.  He knew that Café Au Lait would be in the same place tomorrow.