Reaching Out

 

🌊🤍💦

           It was this very day, well yesterday, and Suzy kept feeling like there was someone who wanted to talk.  But it didn’t seem like it was Toots this time. It felt like someone she didn’t know and who wasn’t very good at this interior conversation thing yet.

            But as you know, curiosity is the overarching character trait of these creatures. It is both a madness and a virtue. A cat must possess curiosity in order to do its duty, both as a hunter and a sort of caretaker of people. It is also curiosity that makes them shove things and toss things. Ah well.
            Therefore, she composed herself to listen and respond. She closed her eyes and opened her heart.
            “Hey!”, said the unknown voice. There were also some garbled transmissions.
            “I’m here,” said Suzy, purring intently.
            “It helps if you purr as loudly as you can,” added Suzy.
            “Oh, I’ll purr,” said the other, coming in better. It was like somebody had turned the volume up!
            “That’s better. Now, who are you?” purred Suzy.
            “My first name was Charley, even though I am a girl,” returned the voice. “Now, my lady calls me Nips. I think I would rather be Charley, if you don’t mind,” said Charley.
            “Where are you? You don’t seem terribly far away from me. I am near salt water and mountains. Charley seems like a good name,” said Suzy. “Though all these names are human inventions!
            “When I was small and in a little cage with Willie at the Seattle Feline Rescue, they called me something like Darcy! Darcy! What’s a Darcy?  I  had no idea,” laughed Suzy, remembering those days.  “They called my brother Fancy Lance! Can you imagine?” They both laughed as cats do, just by thinking funny thoughts.
            “I’m by a big river.  I know because she takes me walking along the river on a leash. The river is so big that I can’t see across it, and I see ships, she said those are ships, out in the water,” answered Charley. “I wonder if it’s the same water?”
            “Is it salty?” Suzy wondered.
            “It tastes like my water bowl almost, so I don’t think it’s salty,” said Charley.
            “Maybe it’s not the same water,” Suzy decided.
            “Were you born there? Do you know your mother? I barely remember mine. I was rescued out in the open in a field in Yakima, whatever that is.”
            “No. Something terrible happened to me. But I don’t understand it. When I was tiny a girl found me lying on a side walk. I was dirty and covered in fleas, Suzy! And I was starving. I would have died, but she brought me to Sam who saved me. He fed me and cleaned me and helped me grow strong until I was big enough to come to my lady. I was very lucky to be found!” Charley purred a happy but a little bit of a blue purr too.  It had been hard for her, and their two hearts understood that.
            “Hey Charley, I’m glad you lived,” said Suzy.
            “Sometimes I am grumpy,” said Charley.
            “That’s understandable,” said Suzy. “I am a little jumpy myself. Where we start seems to matter.
            “But how about this, would you like to know another cat, who is really far away and is my best friend? We could talk to her and then there would be three of us together.”
            “Yes. Please,” said Charley.
            “You know, the funny thing is, Toots has Sammie, who is all calm and easy. I have Willie, who is fat and thinks he’s funny.  Do you have another cat like that?”
            “Oh, yes, Suzy!  I have Mr. Baby Sir! Have you ever heard such a silly name? He is a big fluffy stupid goofball! He doesn’t give a rip for anything. You’d think the world was a swell and sweet place if you went by his attitude!” grumped Charley.
            “Oh, Charley! Let’s just ask Toots what she thinks about life, the universe and everything. She will have something to say!” said Suzy.
            So, they purred up Toots and put the question to her.
            After introductions and greetings, Toots said, “the funny thing is those sleepy happy cats have the best of the bargain. We might be having more fun if we could do some of that sleepy happy stuff. But it’s hard.
            “Maybe some day we three will learn to swing with the universe. Maybe we will be able to laugh at the things that used to make us jump or feel mean! A fine test of our nerves is coming up in just a few days isn’t it girls? The night of the banging of doors and the weird noises!” There were delicate shudders all around.
            “I have a good idea,” said Charley. “Why don’t we three join together during that night and see if we feel better together? Maybe we would be stronger that way.”
            “Yes. I think we would,” said fussy little Suzy.
            “Alright. Let’s,” said super wary Toots.
            It was decided then and there, well, in the virtual sense of “there!”
            So a fine plan was hit upon, and we can only wait to see how it all works out on the fateful day. But I suspect that together they will feel stronger. I think they will barely notice Crazy Night!