A tale of two kitties
Aug. 22nd, 2010 04:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mari4212It was the best of times, Euclid thought, as he hid in the treeline near the bit shelter. The big ones were holding another picnic, and he could smell the chicken warm and waiting in the boxes.
They weren't going for the food yet, which surprised him. Instead they were setting up chairs, and playing noises that he thought he'd heard one of them call "music". Patiently, he crept closer, and began the delicate dance of trying to attract attention without looking like he really wanted it at all. He'd found it was the best strategy of all to get the soft touches over to him, the ones most likely to give him enough food for both him and his brother.
It worked! A long haired male big one came over as the others started making more of their music stuff, and sat down a little bit away, holding his hand out properly to be sniffed. A big one with manners, perfect. After a little bit of cuddling, though, the male walked away and returned to the shelter with the rest of the big ones.
Darn it, this was going to be harder than he'd hoped. Euclid had to get much closer to the main group than he'd wanted to, slightly into the shelter, trying to find the polite male big one again. It only took a few times being followed by the smaller annoying big ones until the polite big one arrived and shooed them off, this time staying nearby and cuddling with him when Euclid got close enough.
The big one's female littermate approached after a while, and joined in the cuddling before leaving. Euclid could smell the tempting odors of the food wafting more, it looked like the big ones were done with their sitting and listening bit of the picnic, and on to the not-boring section.
When the female littermate returned, she brought chicken, and without so much as a begging mew or cuddle, split it up and gave Euclid a large section for himself. Two soft touches, out of the same litter? It was better than he'd hoped for.
After Euclid bolted down the first part, to prove that it was safe, he signaled for his brother, Eurydice, to come up as well. He pulled part of the chicken along, to a safer distance from the big ones, and invited Eurydice to eat up.
The male big one approached again, and dropped more chicken in front of Eurydice, giving him his own piece of chicken. These big ones really were soft touches. Even when their sire approached, he seemed more interested in giving them food than taking it away or making loud noises.
Then, suddenly, their luck turned. Within minutes, both Euclid and Eurydice found themselves trapped in horrible cardboard boxes, unable to escape or get to one another. They were loaded into a bigger box, with weights put atop the lids of their individual boxes. Nothing they said to one another could help either one escape, and no matter how plaintively they mewed, the big ones refused to let them out.
The big ones also piled into the big box, and closed it up before it started moving. The moving didn't stop for good for a long time, and when it did, Euclid could tell by the smell of it that they were not at all near their old home. They only stayed in this place for a brief time, before the big box closed up again and they started the distressing moving again.
Finally, their boxes were taken out of the big box, and brought into an even bigger box, where they were released by the original male and his sire. The female littermate came into the bigger box several times, bringing water and fresh food and crinkly flat stuff that she laid out over the ground and the big soft thing.
Then they were cuddled again, and left with their new food and water, and the bigger box to play in, and they did until they fell asleep together on the big soft thing.
The End.
Human Version:
So, my family really wasn't looking to take two stray cats home with us from the park after the church picnic. Even when we did decide that we couldn't leave the cats there to starve, we were planning to take them to Sisca, or one of the other local no-kill pet shelters. Unfortunately, Sisca isn't taking in any cats for the moment, and when we called up two other shelters, they were both closed for the day. So there are now two cats in what used to be my sister's bedroom before she moved out. They seem to be settling into their temporary digs quite nicely, but we can't afford to keep both of them, and they're such a bonded pair that it would be cruel to only keep one. So, animal shelter, as soon as we can find one that can take them both.
...Anyone in the Dayton area interested in a pair of very adorable young cats?
They weren't going for the food yet, which surprised him. Instead they were setting up chairs, and playing noises that he thought he'd heard one of them call "music". Patiently, he crept closer, and began the delicate dance of trying to attract attention without looking like he really wanted it at all. He'd found it was the best strategy of all to get the soft touches over to him, the ones most likely to give him enough food for both him and his brother.
It worked! A long haired male big one came over as the others started making more of their music stuff, and sat down a little bit away, holding his hand out properly to be sniffed. A big one with manners, perfect. After a little bit of cuddling, though, the male walked away and returned to the shelter with the rest of the big ones.
Darn it, this was going to be harder than he'd hoped. Euclid had to get much closer to the main group than he'd wanted to, slightly into the shelter, trying to find the polite male big one again. It only took a few times being followed by the smaller annoying big ones until the polite big one arrived and shooed them off, this time staying nearby and cuddling with him when Euclid got close enough.
The big one's female littermate approached after a while, and joined in the cuddling before leaving. Euclid could smell the tempting odors of the food wafting more, it looked like the big ones were done with their sitting and listening bit of the picnic, and on to the not-boring section.
When the female littermate returned, she brought chicken, and without so much as a begging mew or cuddle, split it up and gave Euclid a large section for himself. Two soft touches, out of the same litter? It was better than he'd hoped for.
After Euclid bolted down the first part, to prove that it was safe, he signaled for his brother, Eurydice, to come up as well. He pulled part of the chicken along, to a safer distance from the big ones, and invited Eurydice to eat up.
The male big one approached again, and dropped more chicken in front of Eurydice, giving him his own piece of chicken. These big ones really were soft touches. Even when their sire approached, he seemed more interested in giving them food than taking it away or making loud noises.
Then, suddenly, their luck turned. Within minutes, both Euclid and Eurydice found themselves trapped in horrible cardboard boxes, unable to escape or get to one another. They were loaded into a bigger box, with weights put atop the lids of their individual boxes. Nothing they said to one another could help either one escape, and no matter how plaintively they mewed, the big ones refused to let them out.
The big ones also piled into the big box, and closed it up before it started moving. The moving didn't stop for good for a long time, and when it did, Euclid could tell by the smell of it that they were not at all near their old home. They only stayed in this place for a brief time, before the big box closed up again and they started the distressing moving again.
Finally, their boxes were taken out of the big box, and brought into an even bigger box, where they were released by the original male and his sire. The female littermate came into the bigger box several times, bringing water and fresh food and crinkly flat stuff that she laid out over the ground and the big soft thing.
Then they were cuddled again, and left with their new food and water, and the bigger box to play in, and they did until they fell asleep together on the big soft thing.
The End.
Human Version:
So, my family really wasn't looking to take two stray cats home with us from the park after the church picnic. Even when we did decide that we couldn't leave the cats there to starve, we were planning to take them to Sisca, or one of the other local no-kill pet shelters. Unfortunately, Sisca isn't taking in any cats for the moment, and when we called up two other shelters, they were both closed for the day. So there are now two cats in what used to be my sister's bedroom before she moved out. They seem to be settling into their temporary digs quite nicely, but we can't afford to keep both of them, and they're such a bonded pair that it would be cruel to only keep one. So, animal shelter, as soon as we can find one that can take them both.
...Anyone in the Dayton area interested in a pair of very adorable young cats?