Moving for the First Time

I have to admit that I didn’t want to have anything to do with my girl when we had first met. The moment I saw her, I knew she was a whirlwind. So, I kept running away from her. She kept coming back and talking to the blind guy. Before I realized what was happening, she was cleaning up our water and food bowls and filling them up! I knew it was her. I could smell her.

Then my brother told me how kind and gentle she was. He was lonely once when she had walked past him. He had begged her to pet him. I wasn’t so brave as to ask someone I didn’t know to pet me. She petted him and he loved her for it. He couldn’t stop talking about her and telling me how wonderful she was.

I do have manners. I know I’m a curmudgeon, but I still have manners. So, I thanked her for taking care of our food and water bowls. I had no idea then how important she would become to me. It was simply a matter of time. Things were set. But tragedy stuck. First my brother died. The blind guy suspected someone had given my brother poison.

He was much too young. I miss him so much. He was my constant companion from birth. It just wasn’t fair. He shouldn’t have died then. But he did.

But that wasn’t the end of the tragedies. The blind guy went and fell in love with my girl’s mother and then he went away. I found myself all alone at the house. But my girl came and looked after me. I was hoping she would just move in with me and we could live happily ever after. I was thinking and dreaming about how it would be with her. It was at that point that I knew she would take good care of me and would be the best caregiver and caretaker I could ever ask for.

But that’s not how it went. I remember she had asked me if I wanted to live with her. I had told her of course. But I thought she was going to move in with me. I didn’t find out my error until a few days later. She and some guy friend of hers came. I refused to leave my only home. Really, it wasn’t fair at all. They should have understood that.

Before I had realized what had happened, I was trapped in a room with no way out. The guy talked to me and had me cornered. I didn’t know what to do. My girl was in the room too, but she was distant and quiet. The guy stuffed me into a box and he carried me out. He put me into a car and both of them came along. Then we went for a ride.

I hate to travel unless I’m the one moving. No cars for me. No putting me into boxes. I absolutely hate it. I had been tricked! It was one of the worst moments of my life. No one seemed to care how upsetting this was for me. I really had thought she was going to move in with me. But no.

They both had a hard time catching me. I had lived there my entire life. I was born in the backyard. Didn’t they care about that? Probably not. They were just trying to catch me!

I was tricked. How dare they! I am a cat and this was an injustice. So, I complained the whole trip. I only got quiet after I had found myself in a strange place. As soon as I was released from the cage, I quickly found a place to hide. That was the only thing I could do. I hid in the closet surrounded by her clothes. They smelled of her.

So, for a long time I was quiet. I didn’t know what else was going to happen. I don’t even know how long I hid in the closet. I just knew that they both had left me alone in a strange place. She was the only one who came back later. She called me.

I slowly and cautiously came out and looked around at the new place. I didn’t know what to think. She was kind and encouraging to me. She showed me the litter box. She picked me up and set me down quickly and gently in it. I didn’t need to use it then, so I stepped out of it. She had picked me up— I hate to be picked up! She pointed out my food and water bowls.

She was gentle with me. But I hate to be picked up! She did learn that eventually, but she still did it. *Sigh.* Don’t get me wrong. I love my girl unconditionally, but sometimes she does things I don’t like. And that was just one of them.

So she had at least thought that far ahead to provide me with a litter box. It didn’t take me long to learn that she wasn’t going to let me outside. I asked her often, but she refused to open the door for me. I was trapped inside with her! This new place was still strange and much smaller than my first home.

At least the guy who had caught me wasn’t here. And if he came by to visit, I always hid from him. I never wanted to have anything more to do with him. So, you can imagine my shock when I learned he funded my online magazine. Ugh… I still don’t like him, but I thank him for the support. My girl tells me he likes cats. Perhaps he does. But I still don’t like him because he had tricked me.