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‘Last one down the sand dunes loses,’ George said. He became childlike when we visited Seabreeze and it made me feel nostalgic for my kitten. Of course I loved him more than ever and was very proud of the amazing tom he had grown into, but seeing him now made me think of how much time had passed. By letting my thoughts of the past take over, Gilbert had already started down, George tried to catch him up but he slipped and fell.

‘Yowl!’ he screamed as he slid down the sand dune on his bottom. On the upside, he won.

The holiday was the tonic we all needed; we began to relax and unwind. George was no longer fretting too much about his kittens and was enjoying the time we spent exploring with Gilbert; sunbathing in the font garden and watching the world go by. He was also relieved, because the old next door neighbours, which included a cat called Chanel, who was his first crush, had moved. It was a very humiliating time for him and although we became civil with Chanel over the years, George now he was a father, felt a little awkward. Now a new family had moved in; Claire and Jonathan met them, they had two older children and a puppy. George and I decided to give them a wide berth.

Mornings at Seabreeze cottage were a little more calm than at home, mainly because Jonathan didn’t have to get to work – and didn’t keep complaining about lost socks and things – and the children didn’t have to go to school, so didn’t rush to get dressed. We all enjoyed a leisurely breakfast as they planned the day’s activities.

We had a few human friends down here now but because of the Covid and the rules, it was decided they could meet at the beach but only with social distancing. The children could play with their friends but only if they stood apart. Jonathan devised a sort of catching game which meant they could all do this safely. We cats were allowed to stand near anyone we wanted, so we didn’t worry about that.

We were lucky with the weather so far, and after almost a year of being cooped up inside, the whole family were making the most of being outside. Long walks, ball games, splashing in the sea – the children not us cats, I can’t stand water – you name it, we were all enjoying the feeling of being away. We all felt very lucky in fact.

Gilbert took us on walks through the safer fields; no charging sheep, unsteady cows or hungry pigs thank goodness. It was actually becoming the perfect holiday. We had fish and chip takeaways and George, Gilbert and I enjoyed a feast of fish. Also, the children managed to get ice creams from the famous ice cream van which was actually on the beach – Hocking’s it was called and it was very creamy. Jonathan would sneak us cats some for a treat. George declared it his favourite food ever, but I found it a bit cold on my tongue.

We were sunbathing in the front garden when there was a rustling in the hedge that divided our house from next door. I ignored it, thinking it was perhaps a butterfly or a bird even, I was too relaxed to chase it. A dark shadow loomed over me and I looked up to see this fluffy puppy, twice the size of Pickles standing over me.

‘Yelp,’ I screamed. Was it going to try to eat me?

‘Hiss,’ George said coming near me to protect me. Gilbert joined us. The three of us stood, facing the dog and ready for battle, although I secretly hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

‘Why are you here?’ the dog asked. It didn’t sound hostile.

‘We’re on holiday and this is our holiday home,’ I said.

‘I live here,’ Gilbert added.

‘But I haven’t met you?’ the dog said.

‘I like to keep myself to myself,’ Gilbert replied licking his paw. It was true he did when we weren’t here. It took us a while to make him sociable even with us.

‘Can I play with you?’ he asked. We relaxed, this wasn’t a danger kind of thing.

‘You can’t. You see unfortunately we are cats and you are a dog,’ George said. He tolerated Pickles but my boy wasn’t the biggest fan of dogs, and I couldn’t change his mind even though I used to agree with him.

‘But why?’

‘Why what?’ I asked.

‘Why can’t cats and dogs play together?’

‘You see,’ George said, shooting me a warning look. I raised my whiskers. I couldn’t help it if I was nice to everyone. ‘Cat’s don’t play. We only do very serious things. And anyway, dogs are not meant to be out on their own.’

‘We’re not?’ the dog looked concerned.

‘No, so you better go back home before anyone notices you’re missing,’ George said.

‘George,’ I chastised but he flicked his tail at me.

‘But they’ve gone out and I’m all on my own and I don’t have anything to do,’ he said dejectedly. I felt bad for him.

‘Well-‘ I started.

‘No, you must go home, otherwise you might get in trouble,’ George insisted, almost herding him back toward the gap in the bush, despite the dog being twice as big as him. The dog, who didn’t even get a chance to tell us his name, slunk dejectedly back, squeezing himself through the hole.

‘George that wasn’t kind,’ I said.