Horton Hears a Who: A Day with the Cat

Chapter 1: Ned McDodd, the Mayor's Son

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Have you ever wondered how Mayor Ned McDodd,

One of Whoville's greatest heroes, although just a bit odd,

Met the love of his life, Sally

The Who whose last name was once O'Malley?

Well though together they belong,

At first the two did not get along.

But let's set aside all this bad poetry,

And get to the story about how Ned met Sally!

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Little 6-year-old Ned McDodd innocently looked back and forth at his near hysterical mother. His head tilted to the side as she scrambled for her things, his big blue eyes following her wherever she went. Cradled in his skinny little arms was his pet goldfish, Thidwick, swimming silently around his fishbowl. Ned's brow furrowed as his mom frantically tried to put on her makeup and best dress.

"Oh, oh dear me. How could I have forgotten tonight, of all nights?!" Mrs. McDodd wailed.

Ned sighed quietly, placing his beloved pet fish on the dining room table and taking a seat. He propped his head upon his hands to watch his silent fish friend swim around.

Apparently Ned's mother had had a dinner meeting planned for her boss tonight, and she had completely forgotten to get everything ready… again. So as always, ever forgetful Mrs. McDodd needed to get everything ready before anyone arrived, getting so wrapped up in her last minute plans that she forgot her poor son was even there.

"Let's see, I'll have to get the entrees! Can't forget the food now, can we?" Mrs. McDodd pulled out a notebook and a pen to jot down some notes, "So that includes Who-cakes, beazlenut drink, green eggs and ham… Am I forgetting anything?"

Ned sighed again and ran his index finger along the surface of the water in Thidwick's fishbowl, making small ripples roll from his finger to the edges with little splashes. The fish stopped to look at the young Who, and affectionately nibbled at Ned's finger. Ned couldn't help but smile to himself.

So the mother wrote it all down.

The things she needed to buy were in town.

She had to mark it.

She knew what to do.

"I'll just have to run to the supermarket! Yes, that's what I'll do!"

Her knew task fresh in mind, Mrs. McDodd ran to the door to head off to the supermarket. She was almost halfway out the door when she realized that she had overlooked one important detail.

She had totally forgotten about her son, again.

She slapped her forehead. Barreling back into the house, she scrambled for their neon blue telephone, rapidly punching in the desired phone number. Ned blew a stray brown lock of hair out of his face and looked down at his feet, kicking them back and forth. How his mother could be so forgetful was beyond him.

"Hello? Cassandra? Yes, this is Mrs. McDodd. I need you to watch over my son for a little while." Mrs. McDodd paused to listen to the other end of the line and afterwards sighed in relief, "Yes. Oh thank you. Thank you Cassandra!"

Ned's brow furrowed and he let out a small whine.

Not Cassandra.

Not Cassandra O'Malley. Anyone but her.

Out of all the babysitters in the entire world, Ned was certain that she was without a doubt the worst one of them all. She always treated Ned like he was just some little kid. Well, okay he was a kid, but that was beside the point. And furthermore, she always brought her little sister with her. Ned stuck out his tongue in disgust, remembering what his friends at school had told him about girls having cooties.

Ned walked over with Thidwick in his arms and looked up at his mother, his eyes pleading to her not to leave.

"Mama, please don't let Cassandra come over. I don't like her…" He all but begged.

"Now none of that Ned." She reprimanded, "I'll only be gone for a little while, so I want you to stay here and be a good boy while you wait for Cassandra to get here. Now remember the rules."

Ned resisted the urge to role his eyes. Oh boy, here we go.

"No sweets, no scary movies, and no getting into mischief." Mrs. McDodd emphasized the last rule, making sure that Ned understood.

Ned winced at his mother's stern look, and looked down sadly at his feet. He solemnly nodded, knowing he had no choice but to obey her. Mrs. McDodd smiled as she kneeled down to kiss her son on the forehead before grabbing her purse and heading out the door to the supermarket.

Ned looked after her, his blue eyes wide with hope that she would come right back through that door, babbling about having forgotten something yet again. That hope shattered when he was sure that she wasn't coming back until her errands were done. He sighed again and went into the living room. He set Thidwick's fishbowl on the plush carpeting and lied down on his stomach, watching the fish as he swam around his glass home.

So for a long time Ned would sit.

Just sit, sit, sit, sit,

And with a sad sigh he'd say,

"I don't like this, not one little bit."

Poor little Ned just couldn't get a break today. To put it plain and simple, the young mayor's son was just having a bad day, mostly induced by his mother's flighty mind. And guess what?

"MRS. MCDODD!"

It wasn't about to get any better.

Ned nearly jumped out of blue fur, groomed in the shape of a small coat over his tan and brown fur. He picked Thidwick up out of habit and whirled around. He cringed in sheer terror and annoyance. Cassandra O'Malley.

Sure enough, standing in the doorway was a fairly overly peppy-looking teenage Who with long auburn hair tied back in a tight high ponytail and frighteningly bright blue eyes. Her fur was an obnoxious shade of hot pink, groomed unnecessarily to look like a semiformal dress. She wore a smile that could terrify small animals, her teeth shiningly bleached white, and Ned swore that she had on one of her stronger perfumes.

Blegh. He hated her perfumes. They made him want to gag.

"I'm here Mrs. McDodd!" She called in her usual sickly-sweet shrill, "I'm here to watch your precious son!"

"She's not here."

Cassandra perked at the small, nearly non-existent sound. She looked down to see meek little Ned looking up at her with both caution and disdain, Thidwick's bowl held protectively in his arms.

"Beg pardon?" Cassandra asked in her shrill.

"She already left." Ned said with a twinge of annoyance, "You're a little too late."

Cassandra frowned in a pout and snapped her fingers. "Darn it. I was hoping to get a tip before she left with a little brownnosing." She said, her voice now not holding the sickly-sweetness.

Ned resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Same old Cassandra. You can all guess how much of a good babysitter this witch was. Or at least I hope you can, because if not, then the irony of all this is lost on you. We don't want any lost irony, do we now?

"Alright twerp, here's the deal." Cassandra said in a threatening tone, "I don't like you, and you don't like me, so let's make sure we're clear here."

Ned tried to retain his indifferent expression, failing miserably as he was most visibly intimidated by his ruthless babysitter's towering stature, as Cassandra kneeled down to above his height.

"I'm just here to make some dough, and I wanna make this experience as painless as possible. So like always; no noise, no snacks, no TV, no fun. Got it?"

Ned resisted the urge to run in terror, not exactly comfortable with Cassandra standing about two inches away from his face. He quickly nodded, backing up a few steps. Cassandra smirked and stood up full height, dwarfing the six-year-old.

"Good. I'm glad we understand each other."

The sinister babysitter smirked and walked past the mayor's son into the living room where the television was. Ned sighed and blew a little bit of his brown mop of hair out of his face. He then made his way to the large winding staircase, up to his room where he would most likely spend the rest of the evening.

"Oh! And before I forget…" Cassandra began, catching Ned's attention, "Make sure my twerp of a sister doesn't get into trouble, alright?"

Ned's pupils shrunk and his eye widened in fear. Oh no. Please, someone tell the poor boy that Cassandra didn't bring her little sister with her.

"Cassie!"

Aw clover puffs.

Ned whirled around, coming face-to-face with a young 5-year-old Who girl with long auburn hair, pulled into a high ponytail like Cassandra, and with half of her bangs combed back out of her face. She had a cute button nose, large chocolate brown eyes, and had her fur groomed to look like she was wearing a pair of orange overalls with a yellow shirt underneath.

And there she stood,

Just as pretty as could be.

There stood the one, the only,

Miss Sally O'Malley.

Ned's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets, his knees beginning to knock. The adorable face of Sally O'Malley was staring straight back at him, scaring the poor boy out of his wits. He clutched Thidwick's fishbowl closer to his chest and swallowed a large lump in his throat, fighting down a sudden rush of red and heat in his cheeks.

Sally barely took any notice as she turned to pout at her older sister. "I told you to wait for me Cassie."

"You're slower than molasses Sally." Cassandra waved an uncaring hand, "I had to get going or else there'd be no tip, and unfortunately because of your lolly-gagging, there was none."

Young Sally rolled her eyes. "Oh, so sorry." She said sarcastically, which was rather rare for a Who of her young age.

Cassandra paid her bright little sister no heed as she went back into the living room, prepared for a free afternoon of "babysitting", or in her case just sitting on her lazy rear while watching TV.

Sally shook her head at her irresponsible older sister and turned around, facing Ned. Ned let out a small squeak and turned his attention to his shoes. Sally blinked, having just noticed Ned for the first time. She smiled warmly held out her hand to Ned, who nearly jumped three feet in the air in surprise.

"Well hey there. You must be Ned, the Mayor's son. I'm Sally. Sally O'Malley!" She said with a chipper smile.

Ned thought he'd melt right on the spot. On the one hand, he was absolutely petrified to see a girl, Sally O'Malley none-the-less in front of him, but on the other… he couldn't help but stare in pure awe at the angel standing before him.

"Uh, u-uh…"

You see, Ned and Sally's parents had enrolled the two kids into the same elementary school, which was where Ned had first laid his eyes on Sally. He couldn't say he particularly liked Sally, mostly because she made his insides turned outside and he knew as well as any other Who boy that Who girls have cooties, but at the same time there was something about Sally that not only scared Ned, but left him speechless.

"What's the matter?" Sally grinned, pressing a finger to Ned's lips, "Cat got your tongue?"

Petrified, Ned felt his cheeks go red hot, and began mumbling non-sequitors as he clutched tighter to Thidwick's fishbowl, as if it were the poor boy's only life-line. Sally slowly lowered her finger, her grin widening into another smile, her hands tucked behind her back in a rather cute way.

Ned stood there, completely mesmerized by the sudden glow he noticed surrounding Sally, but then he quickly shook his head of those thoughts and looked back down at his feet in embarrassment. Sally only giggled at Ned's antics. Thidwick looked back and forth between his master and Sally, scratching his head with his fin.

It was then that the two children and fish jumped in a start at a loud noise, like coins grinding in a blender. Sally plugged her ears, her teeth grinding from the vulgarity of the sound. Ned wished that he could do the same, but he was holding Thidwick and preferred not to have shattered glass, water and his pet fish all over the carpet. So Ned just grimaced and scrunched up his face, wishing he had some earplugs.

"Ugh! What's that awful sound?!" Sally wailed.

Ned turned to his left and deadpanned.

He pointed. "There's your answer."

Sally looked at him and then followed his finger, deadpanning once she saw what he saw. Indeed the answer was where Ned was pointing, for he was pointing at none other than Cassandra, snoozing on the couch with the TV on, drool hanging from the side of her mouth. Goodness she was a loud snorer. Her snores were loud enough to wake the dead.

The two children looked at each other, and couldn't help but snicker.

"Well, that's my sister for ya!" Sally said between giggles.

"No kidding." Ned nodded with a laugh.

Ned's laughter was cut short when Sally grabbed his hand, freezing him on contact. Ned stared wide-eyed at the Who standing before him, a mischievous smirk on her face.

"W-wha…?" Ned managed to squeak.

"Let's go have some fun while Cassie's out cold." Sally's smirk only widened.

Ned found himself unable to respond, an inner conflict going on in his head. Either he could run away and live another day embarrassment-free, or he could agree to follow her and let himself be humiliated by the girl.

Decisions, decisions.

Sally didn't wait for a reply and simply tugged on Ned's hand, forcing the six-year-old to follow behind her. A black expression on his face, Ned followed her like an obedient dog, his arm still wrapped around Thidwick's fishbowl

So a smirk on her face left him speechless.

The two went outside to play.

But little did the two young Who's guess

Something interesting would happen on that day.

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Wow. Really random fandom, no? 0.0; Heh heh, guess I have some explaining to do, but then again I guess that's a given. You see… a while back, I went to see Horton Hears a Who! in theaters, and I absolutely fell in love with the movie. I'd have to say that Mayor Ned McDodd and Horton the Elephant are by far my two favorite characters. XD Those two made me laugh so much.

So now I'm also obsessed with this pairing of the Mayor and his wife, Sally O'Malley Mcdodd. Seriously, those two are so good and cute together. Blame it on Cheesecakery's awesome fanfics and jsterwartsintern's awesome art.

Now, for all my friends out there, I plan on finishing this as well as another story I'm working on, but don't worry. I haven't forgotten my other stuff either. This is just something I really wanted to write. Oh, and if there are any misspellings, please inform me. I try to find them all, but every now and then one little bugger manages to get through. XP But I ramble :)

Disclaimer: I neither own Horton Hears a Who, nor the characters within it. They all belong to either Blue Skies Animation or the amazing Dr. Seuss.

Read and Review!