Guest Entry: The Beast
First of all, I want to make it clear that I'm
writing this because I want to, not as a favor to Her or because She told me to. I
don't do things for any other reason.
We've been together a long
time, She and I, since I was a tiny orphaned kitten and She was young herself, new
in town and in Her first apartment. I moved in with Her after Her neighbor rescued
me and my brother when the cops got our mother for vagrancy. Unfortunately, I
couldn't persuade Her to take my brother too, even though a few years later she
adopted the Interloper (more on him later). It was just the two of us in that
tiny apartment, fourteen years ago now, which is why we never call each ther by
our names. When She said "You,", I knew She was talking to me because there wasn't
anybody else there. I'm elegant now, but back then I was adorable, with long soft
black fur setting off china-blue eyes. I still have the beautiful fur, of course,
but as I aged my eyes turned yellow. (She says. I'm colorblind, or course.) She
hasn't changed much that I can see; She looks a little more weathered and She
keeps changing the length of her fur (why do they do that?) but she still smells
the same. Like pretzels, mostly.
We weren't alone for too long before
She let Him move in. At first He'd just stay with us, but then we moved to a new
place. I hate moving, but at least that place was a little bigger and I had stairs
to chase up and down. I used to like to nibble toes back then, and He kept his
outside the blanket, so that was something to do when they were sleeping. I'm
nocturnal by nature, you know. I didn't like Him so well when He was awake, though
I've realized now He probably wasn't the one who locked me in the closet that
time. She had to come rescue Him when He was fending me off with a tennis racket -
- I was a real terror back then, I was. Ask Her sometime about the time I
intimidated a Texas cop, when I was only half grown. Anyway, He's settled down
well, and has proved to be actually more trainable than She is. He's much more
willing to let me in and out of the back yard (if they'd only keep the door
open, or give me a flap I could open myself, we wouldn't have these issues) and
He's pretty good about not moving if I'm sleeping in the crooks of his legs, and
petting me when I want to be petted. She keeps wanting to pet me on Her schedule
or stop when I want Her to keep going -- She doesn't seem to realize that cats
ALWAYS set the schedule. She feeds us though, and She always gets us top of the
line food, as I deserve.
Yes, I said 'we'. After we'd been together a
couple of years, she started to get some silly idea that I might be "lonely". She
talked Him into agreeing, and one day they brought home the Interloper. At least
he matches me nicely, with his black and white coloring that they call "tuxedo",
but if they thought a short-haired cat wold shed less than I do they were sorely
mistaken. He kept wanting to follow me around and sit next to me -- well, wouldn't
you be annoyed? After all these years, I've given in a bit on that, and I admit he
does come in useful in washing the parts I can't reach, but I still don't see why
if She wanted two of s, She couldn't have taken my brother to begin with. I liked
him much better. Or better still, a nice friendly female .... not that I could do
anything about that, after that little trip to the vet (and She wonders why I
still don't like to get in my carrier. I know where we're going!) but still, a
girl would be nicer to snuggle with. That part was His idea, anyhow; He picked
this Interloper cat out because of his looks, and because He thought he was
"lively" from the way he ran around the adoption place. "Lively", my tail --
scared out of his whiskers is what he was. Can't blame him for that, but he's
still scared by every little noise they make and still whines all the time. They
like me better, of course.
One good thing about them is that they
give me the respect due my age. They don't laugh now that I'm having trouble
making high jumps onto things. I think they worry a bit about whether I'll stay
healthy. Don't take me to the vet and I'll be fine, that's what I
say.
It's a good life with them, I suppose. They feed us well and
sometimes we get bits of cheese or tuna or turkey. They go away almost every day
so the Interloper and I have the place to ourselves, and it's big enough that I
can avoid him when I want. Our favorite thing is when they come in (where do they
go all day?) they always look all tired .... so we open one eye, look at them, and
yawn. Just to rub it in. I enjoy being a cat.