She was small.
She was black and
white.
She walked in the awareness
of hazard. Always.
One dark damp November day she was
snoozing around at home. No one else was there but Mr. Baby Sir. But as usual even
he was outdoors doing a little desultory predating. She had the house to
herself. It was so quiet she could hear spiders snoring from wherever they lurk
in a house. Her mind was in a state of neutral zonk.
There was a subtle disturbance.
“Charley! Are you listening?” said the
disturbance.
“I don’t know anyone named Charley,”
she thought drowsily.
“Ah ha! You can hear me!” purred
Toots, seconded by Suzy.
“Wake up and talk to us. We’re here to
help!” said Suzy.
She opened her eyes and looked around
the room to see who was speaking. The room appeared to be empty. A mystery! Now
she was alert!
“We are inviting you into a Purr. A
PowerPurr™ Charley. We understand that you are having some issues when you go
visiting with your lady,” said Toots, firmly.
“Where are you, anyhow,” she said,
still searching the room. The chairs were all empty. No one was working in the
kitchen. No one was taking a shower or listening to music.
“Doesn’t matter, honey. You’ve proven
that you can hear us,” said Suzy.
“My name isn’t Charley! That lady
named me that! I’m not a tomcat!” hissed ‘Charley.’ “When I see her, I let her know
too.”
“Well, that in a nutshell, is what
this meeting is about. It has come to our attention that you have behaved
terribly, in an uncivilized manner, when visiting the home where your life was
saved!” said Suzy.
“Oh! You’re there aren’t you!” Now she
was really alarmed!
“One of us is! So, what does your lady
call you?” Toots asked.
“I love her, but she calls me Nips!
That’s not my name either,” mewed ‘Nips’ a bit sadly.
“I feel kind of crazy talking to the
air. Are you two sure you are real? I’m not crazy?” She curled up into a little
black and white ball.
“Hey, honey, what do you want us to
call you?” Both lady cats asked at once!
“Claudette,” said the tiny grumpy cat.
“Claudette?” inquired Toots and Suzy.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It’s fierce!” said Claudette.
“Why do you need to be extra fierce?”
said Suzy, who is a little jumpy herself, if the truth were told.
“My lady brings me to the Place Where
Bad Things Happened!”
“But, darling Claudette! It’s also the
Place Where Very Good Things Happened! Think on that! The big boy saved your
life. He kept you alive until you were strong enough to live with your lady!”
said Toots, who had heard the whole story.
“You should be nice. Purr! Don’t hiss
and spit and hit! They really do love you; you know?” said Suzy. “I know!”
“Do you think they still love me now,”
said Claudette.
“Oh, yes! It takes more than a little
hissing kitty to kill love, dear,” said Toots.
“I’ll try to be brave and remember the
Very Good Things,” said the little black and white cat softly.
“That’s a good girl! We’ll talk again, and
we’ll remember your name, even if the lady calls you Nips!” laughed Suzy.
It seemed to the girls that it had
been a very good Purr!
We can only hope that Ms. Claudette remembers her promise!