Chip grabbed the tool box off his bed and headed out the door.  “Bye, see you tonight,” he called to his three siblings.

Chip walked a few blocks to the office of Plumbers R Us.  Today was his first day on the job.  Graduating from CAT-U seemed like a lifetime ago, since Chip’s focus the past week was preparing for this job.

Chip found Mr. Hewey waiting for him at the front desk.

“Good morning, Mr. Hewey,” Chip greeted the plump black and white cat.

Mr. Hewey climbed off the chair and lumbered around the desk, “Hi, Chip.  Are you ready for your first assignment?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, here are your jobs for the day.  Normally, I try to schedule you 5 jobs each day, but since this is your first day, I started you off easy with only 3.   I will be following you to each home and assisting you if needed.  Any questions?”

“No.”

“Good, let’s go.”

Chip followed Mr. Hewey down the street as Mr. Hewey explained, “The first client has a stopped-up kitchen sink.  The garbage disposal has quit working as well.”

Chip nodded and rang the doorbell.

“Hello, I am Chip with Plumbers R Us.  How are you?”

“Good, come on in,” a tan tabby replied as she stepped aside so Chip and Mr. Hewey could enter.

The tan tabby led them to the kitchen explaining, “My kitchen sink is stopped up and the disposal stopped working.”

Chip opened the cupboards and checked under the sink and then in the sink.  “Give me a few minutes and I should be able to find the problem.”

The tan tabby nodded in pleasure and left the room.

Chip worked quickly as Mr. Hewey observed.  Soon Chip exclaimed, “I found the problem.”

The tabby came back into the room, and Chip showed her the large glob of cat food that was stuck in the disposal and sink drain.

“I am going to dislodge this here,” Chip said, as he positioned the plunger over the sinks opening.  He pumped it several times, before the glob came loose and Chip pulled back triumphantly.

He scooped the old food up and into the trashcan.  He then ran the sink and turned on the disposal.  The water ran easily and the disposal churned.

“You are wonderful.  I can’t believe you fixed it so fast.”

Chip beamed at the praise.

After the tabby had paid Chip for his service, she lead him and Mr. Hewey to the door. 

“Good job, Chip,” Mr. Hewey praised as they walked to the next job.

“Thank you, Mr. Hewey,”

At the next house, Chip knocked on the door, and a large black cat answered gruffly, “Yes, what do you want?”

“I am Chip with Plumbers R Us, sir.  I am here to fix your toilet.”

“Oh, right.  Come in.”

Chip followed the large cat through the house to the bathroom.

“The toilet is running a lot longer than normal every time it is flushed,” the black cat explained.

“Let me take a look at it,” Chip said.

The black cat nodded, but proceeded to hover as Chip looked for the problem. 

“I found the problem,” Chip exclaimed, after watching the toilet flush several times.  “I need to replace the flapper, so the water will stay in the tank.”

The black cat came closer to Chip and peered into the tank.

With a grunt, he backed away again, and Chip set to work

The client hovering made Chip slightly nervous, but he concentrated on his work.

Soon he had the toilet fixed and the toilet flushed and stopped much quicker.

“There you go, sir.  It is all fixed.”

“Thank you.  You are very efficient.”

It was only when Chip and Mr. Hewey were on their way to their next job, that Chip admitted, “The client hovering like that really made me nervous.  I was waiting for him to argue with me about how to fix it.”

“You handled him well, and he was obviously impressed by you.”

The last job Chip had that day was at the house of a young calico mother.  She greeted Chip and Mr. Hewey and ushered them inside.

As she led them to the bathroom she explained, “The shower has been slow to drain for a while but last night it stopped draining completely.”

As Chip listened and followed a trio of rambunctious kittens raced by them.

“I will take a look at it for you,” Chip replied smiling at the kittens as they circled him again.

“Leave Chip alone, please kittens.  He is here to fix the shower.”

The kittens scurried into the other room.

“Sorry about that, they are so curious,” she explained to Chip and Mr. Hewey.

Chip inspected the water filled tub.  He reached his paw onto the drain but the direct opening was clear.

“Must be a clog in the line.  I will run the snake down it and see of that will fix it,” Chip explained.

The calico nodded and went to check on her kittens.

Chip got the snake from his toolbox and set to work.

He loved working the snake down the drain.  He smiled feeling much more relaxed at this job.  The tub slowly started to drain and after the snake went a few inches further, it drained normally.

Chip retracted the snake and monitored the shower drain.  When the standing water was gone, he turned on the tub faucet and watched the water drain.  When he was satisfied that the clog was cleared, he called, “ All fixed.”

The calico appeared in the doorway shadowed by her three kittens.

Chip smiled at her and said, “ I think have cleared the clog. Is this how it normally drains?”

Everyone watched as Chip turned on the tub’s faucet.  The water poured out of the spout and flowed easily down the drain.

“That is wonderful.  Yes.”

Chip shut the water off.  After being paid, he and Mr. Hewey left the calico’s home.

“Good job today, Chip.  I am very impressed with you.  Are you ready for 5 jobs tomorrow?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Great.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

Chip waved bye to Mr. Hewey and hurried home.  He could not wait to tell his sibling about his first day.

The end