Oh, I have so much to tell you because so much has happened, it is hard to even wrap my Calico head around it….but it is all good.
As you know, my past sins of omission (rather than comission) left me with huge thick dread locks of fur gone wild, like camel humps, growing indiscriminately over my body…all because I was too paranoid to live upstairs.
No, my home, I decided, was in the dank, dark basement and crawl space, taking and obeying orders from the Dictator and Chief, Cat Mandu who left me behind while she socialized with the Two Footed upstairs, as well as to run in and outdoors at will. I only approached the top of the stairs to reach my feeding station and then I was obnoxious with any cat that came near, hissing and growling to drive them away. Still, I would venture upstairs at night to alert Momma if Mandu had gone outside and not been let back in because, well, I did not want to sleep alone….
But you know what happened…the Dictator and Chief, Cat Mandu caught her Pink Cloud to Paradise and like the Cheese in the Farmer-In-the-Dell, I was left alone. So, I had a meeting with myself and decided…really, get a grip, try it, you’ll like it….so as Momma liked to say, I did a metamorphosis from a caterpillar into a butterfly, like overnight.
I started slowly, hanging at the top of the basement stairs, stepping in to the kitchen, walking in further to claim the rug (that says the Cats Housekeeper lives here) in front of the fridge. Soon I was brave enough to stake out Jakita’s Doggie pillow under the kitchen table. I got a jaded look but no push back…Jakita is the sweetest dog ever. In no time I was eyeing the hallway to the dining room, then Momma’s bedroom.
I knew that was sacred ground, a Safe Zone, like a Refugee Camp, where you can feel safe and protected from the hostilities of the world.
The routine was born. Every day I would sleep away the hours on Momma’s bed. Every night I would sit in front of her bedroom, trying to corral her inside so that I could wedge myself beside her but even that has its own peculiar ritual. I start on her right side, then step over her body to the left side. In the morning as she stirs herself awake, I move over to the right side so I can purr and lick her awake. I am depending on her to be there for me so I have got to make sure she is alert. No more Cat Mandu to protect me… come to think of it, works for me.
Still, ten years of choosing to live in the basement wreaked havoc on my coarse fur… I looked like a Feral, albeit a fat feral (which there is no such thing) but Wonder Boy, had the patience, the fix… All I had to do was trust him and Abracadabra the camels humps of fur would be gone… Spread your wings, prepare to fly….for you have become… a butterfly (Walter Afanasieff , Mariah Carey paraphrase )…If only, you Believe…..
