Rolly’s Tale: #3

…True Stories…

© Alicia - May 2002

 

When the family moved yet again, our dog Buddy made a friend. His friend was a small dog that lived across the street. At the new house, the family had neighbors on all sides, so that I couldn’t go out exploring any farther than our own property if I didn’t want to meet people or other animals. There were a lot of dogs in the area now. Mean dogs, both small and large. Many of the dogs had families who owned cats. These dogs didn’t like their families’ cats. They would run as fast as they could chasing them. One of the dogs in the neighborhood would steal baby cats and carry them around in his huge mouth. He didn’t like any cats, and there weren’t any cats that would ever like him.

            Buddy’s friend was named Riley. He was supposed to be part Labrador, like Buddy is, but he doesn’t look anything like Buddy. He’s also supposed to be a black dog, but he looks mostly brown in the summer. Sometimes, when Buddy is with Riley, they will both chase my brother or me up a tree. They think it’s fun, because we can run so fast. My brother Thomas doesn’t like that very much, because he’s almost as big as Riley. When Riley is in our house sometimes, Thomas and I boss him around instead. After all, it’s our house, and we both know our family will protect us. Riley doesn’t want to hurt us, because Buddy is usually very nice to us, and Riley does whatever Buddy does. Riley was only a puppy when he moved in across the street, and Buddy can teach him a lot. Riley loves Buddy. Every morning he waits for him to come out of the house and play.

             One day, the grumpy cat that also lives in our house chased Riley all the way across the house, because she didn’t like the way he was looking at her. Everybody has to be very careful how he or she looks at the grumpy cat because she’s very sensitive. She can hiss and growl much longer than the rest of us. I think she’s so good at it because she’s been doing it for so long. She’s the oldest cat in the house, so the family is nice to her, even though she’s mean. Thomas and I were very proud of Oreo (that’s the grumpy cat’s real name) for standing up to Riley, but we couldn’t tell her because she doesn’t do anything for the rest of us cats. She would have hissed like she was yelling at us, because that’s what she always does. Patches, our adopted little sister, didn’t say anything to Oreo, either, because she hates it when Oreo does something she wanted to do.

            My owner, Alicia, the one I always sleep with at night (and sometimes during the day), says that Patches has “issues”. She means that Patches doesn’t know what she wants; she just does whatever comes into her head whenever it comes into her head. Sometimes she is mean and attacks the dogs even though they’re not mean back to her, and sometimes she rolls around on the floor or the counter and makes a funny trilling noise. She looks a lot like a weasel when she does that. A weasel that likes people. Thomas is bothered by Patches’ behavior, but I just let her be whoever she wants to be. The family is very protective of Patches. She’s not allowed to go outside most of the time, I guess because she’s so little and strange. Sometimes she slips outside when no one can stop her and she stays away all day and that night. We’re never supposed to be outside all night, and I don’t know why Patches wants to be. I think she might forget that she’s supposed to be inside because she usually hangs out with other cats from the neighborhood during the times she’s outside. The only time I get upset with Patches is when her friends come to our barn looking for her. She tells them she wants to see them, and then I have to keep them away from her and away from my family’s property. Sometimes, they don’t leave right away, because they think they’re stronger cats than I am. Sometimes Alicia comes looking for me and chases them away so that we won’t fight. I try not to be embarrassed, because I know she is just protecting her property, too.

            Patches thinks that the reason she isn’t allowed to go outside anymore is because she’s a girl. She wouldn’t really know, though, because the only other girl-cat in the house is Oreo, and she doesn’t even want to go outside. Once, I saw her step outside the front door just to eat some grass. I couldn’t figure out why she did that. I think she’s as strange as Patches. Maybe it is a girl thing.

            Oreo eats all the time. She even gets food from the table when the family is eating. Thomas figured that out recently and started sitting near Oreo whenever the family is having a meal. He thinks that anything she has to eat, he should have to eat also. Thomas loves to eat. He’s always hungry. Now almost everyone says he’s the biggest cat they’ve ever seen. A lot of things make Thomas nervous, and when he’s nervous, he likes to eat. He might be big, but he’s not always sure what to do when something is wrong. He’s so big, he can scare away bad cats and dogs when he’s outside, but sometimes he forgets and runs away instead. Sometimes big shoes frighten him, as well. He likes it when shoes stand still, so he can walk up to them and rub on them instead of worrying that they will step on him. Thomas is my age, because we were born the same day, but he still has imaginary friends. When he plays with them, he rolls around and grabs at them just like he does when he and I play together, but there’s nothing there with him. I don’t mind that he’s strange, either. He’s my brother.

            The mother in the house used to think that I needed something fun to do with my time, as well. She bought a plant called catnip and when she gave it to us cats, we decided to have a party. Catnip smells so good, it makes me want to eat it. It doesn’t taste as good as it smells, but that doesn’t matter to me. I like to chew on plastic wrap (for the sound) and curly ribbon (because it curls), too. Alicia even lets me knock over her trashcan when I’m looking for some plastic wrap to chew on. It’s not as much fun when she just gives it to me. I like to find it for myself. With the catnip, I don’t mind that Mom gets it out of a container from the cupboard (but if I can get into the cupboard myself, that’s even better). Even Oreo likes the catnip, even though she won’t play in front of the rest of us. Thomas likes to spy on her, and he told me she has fun in private. I’m glad, because I think it would be very sad to never have a fun moment.

            Even I can’t always be serious. I like to play with Thomas sometimes, but I stay away from him in the morning before he’s been fed. When he’s waiting for his breakfast, he runs all over the house checking to make sure everyone is waking up on schedule. One of the human boys in the house feeds us after he gets up, and Thomas doesn’t like him to take too much time between waking up and opening a can of cat food for us. Thomas gets excited every time he eats. I would prefer to stay in bed and sleep longer in the mornings, but Nathaniel (the boy who feeds us) insists I come eat every morning. Sometimes I go outside for a while after that, but then I go back to bed. I like it when Alicia is still sleeping. She used to always be in bed when I wanted to go back to sleep in the mornings, but then she started leaving a lot. I get lonely when she’s gone for very long. I’m always happy to see her when she comes back, but then I wonder how soon she’ll be leaving again. I don’t think she should leave me alone. She knows I want her to stay in the house all the time now, so maybe she will. But even when she does stay in the house, she is always sleeping. Our house is full of things that sit on desks. They’re called computers, and my family is always using them. None of us cats like them, because our people just sit there staring at them and not looking at us. We try to make our people pay attention to us by walking in front of the screen, but they just move us out of the way. Patches says she hates being so little that everyone can just pick her up and move her where they want her. Thomas is so heavy that people have to use both arms to move him. He likes that.

            When I’m bored, I go out to our barn. It’s not very far from the house, and I can sleep on the hay bales for most of the afternoon, as long as there aren’t any strange cats out there. I always come home when it gets dark because Alicia looks for me. When she sits in front of the TV at night, I can sleep on her lap. It’s our special time together, because I know she misses me when I’m not there to sit on her. Thomas has started lying beside Alicia when she’s watching the TV with the family at night. I try to make him leave, because I want Alicia all to myself. Alicia gets upset when I swat Thomas with my paw because it makes Thomas unhappy enough to go somewhere else, and then I have to leave too! Thomas will stop trying to take my place with Alicia soon, I’m sure, because he’s my brother.

            When Thomas is bored he goes outside, too, but he usually doesn’t go all the way to the barn. He likes to stay in the garage, because he can run back inside the house as fast as he needs to that way. When he wants to come in, he bangs on the screen door and someone opens it for him. Sometimes, Riley comes into our garage from across the street. He watched Thomas bang the door and learned how to do it, so that when the family opens the door for one of us cats, sometimes it’s him at the door instead and he can slip inside. He likes our house, because we have a nice family. Besides, he knows Buddy gets treats, like things to chew on. Riley wants our family to give him the same things they give Buddy, because he wants to be just like Buddy.

            When Patches is bored, she can’t go outside.  She likes to play with her basket of cat toys, when she remembers about them. Our family calls her collection her “babies”, because she carries them around the house in her mouth like they’re her kittens. When she sets one down somewhere, she only leaves it there for a little while until she comes back to move it again. When she finds something new she likes, she will adopt it for a new baby, but sometimes they’re not really her babies, they’re toys that belong to someone in our family, and then she can’t keep them. Usually, she doesn’t mind, though, because she forgets that she ever wanted it in the first place. She likes to do other strange things, like sleep on her head, and dig in Alicia’s clothing drawers and leave a mess all over Alicia’s room. Sometimes our family says, “she needs a hobby”. I agree, she does need something to do.

            I don’t know what Oreo does when she gets bored, but Thomas says she sleeps under the mom and dad’s bed. Sometimes when our family has visiting dogs in the house, they want to see Oreo, so they go into Mom and Dad’s room and poke their noses under the bed. Oreo gets mad and she frightens them so much they never want to visit again. Sometimes, Patches tries to do the same thing, because she wants to be as frightening as Oreo. When Patches is jealous of Oreo, she chases her down the hall to the mom & dad’s room. She knows she’ll get in trouble from the family for being mean back to Oreo, but she does it anyway. None of us think Oreo should get away with being so grumpy. When I’m bored and can’t go outside, sometimes Thomas or I play a game with Oreo where we chase her, too. Oreo doesn’t think it’s a game, though, and neither does the mother. If she gets really mad at us, we go and hide in Alicia’s room, because I don’t think she ever gets upset with us, even when she says she is.

            When Alicia started being gone more during the day and sometimes ‘til dark, I started learning how to annoy the family. I know that they will notice me when I sit on the table, or rub on the pictures on the wall, or scratch my claws on the sofa (especially the new one in the living room). My meow is perfectly pitched to make them feel sorry for me. I have a very sad meow, and I have just the right look on my face to go with it. Thomas doesn’t know how this works. When he wants something, his meow is like a howl. He doesn’t know how to beg, he thinks he has to demand. I am the only cat in our house that can do this, but the dogs know the secret as well. Buddy knows the family doesn’t like him to bark. He knows if he puts his ears up and widens his eyes or puts a paw over his nose, everyone thinks he’s cute. Riley knows that if he whines instead of barks, he will get more attention. Buddy knows if he pretends there is a stranger or another dog on the property that they need to chase, he can sneak in the house while Riley is looking the other way. And me, I have become an excellent pest.

            This is all started when Alicia started driving that big thing that I sometimes sleep on when it sits in the garage. When someone wants to use it, I have to hop off quickly and either go back inside or go to the corner of the garage because it’s loud, and smelly, and it moves. I’ve been inside it before and I don’t like it. Alicia gets in and it rolls out with her inside a lot now. I know now to expect her to be gone for a while after she leaves that way.

            Buddy likes to ride with her. Sometimes the family –Alicia, or the mom, or the dad drive it- takes him with them when they go. When he comes home, he’s always had an adventure and seen where they’ve been. When Alicia comes home, I can smell all sorts of strange smells on her clothes. I prefer for her to smell like me, or the other pets, and this house. Once in a while, she comes home smelling like other peoples’ pets. Sometimes I know whom the pets belonged to, because we have other company that smells the same way.

            Alicia also has a friend that comes to visit sometimes. I don’t like it when someone else sleeps in Alicia’s bed, because it’s my bed, too. I don’t see Alicia much when her friend is visiting, because I stay away from her room. I usually send Thomas in to see what is going on, because Thomas likes her friend. I don’t know how he can like a stranger, because he’s afraid of a lot of people, but when I send him into Alicia’s room, which is much more noisy than when Alicia is alone, he doesn’t come back for a long time, because he is being petted, or even brushed. Thomas loves brushes as much as he loves catnip. Whenever he sees a brush just lying around, he lies down beside it and holds it with his paws so he can rub himself on the bristles. Thomas even likes it when Buddy is being brushed, because he snuggles into the pile of Buddy’s white fur that comes off of the brush.

            I still hate it when Alicia is busy with something besides me, but since I can’t depend on Thomas anymore, now I follow her around myself, whenever I can. When she’s sharing our bed with someone else, I can sleep on top of her, because I know she can tell I’m there even in her sleep and won’t accidentally throw me off. Alicia’s nice like that. So I guess it’s not so bad after all, really. I know Alicia loves me, because she always stops to pet me and make strange noises with her mouth. We even talk a lot, because she tells me stuff, and then answers herself for me. I guess she’s a little strange, too. Or maybe it’s just another girl thing. Anyhow, it’s all a part of living with this family.

 

….the kitty rolls on…