Worming My Way Inside
Once I knew that Daisy & Mow needed my skills as
a mediator (or referee) I had to figure out how to get Softie to
let me come inside.
You may be wondering how Softie got her name.
Well, all humans have their names tattooed on their foreheads in
ink that is visible only to cats. These names are written in
Catonese (the official feline language). Softie's name actually
doesn't translate that well into English. Some cats believe that
the proper translation would be "Sucker", but I think "Softie"
has a much nicer ring to it.
Anyhow,
I started to include Softie's place on my regular nightly
rounds, and lo and behold, one day she set a bowl of food out
for me! It was so wonderful to have a whole bowl of food all to
myself, so I made a point to come around at the same time every
night. Softie started saying that she could tell what time it
was by my comings and goings. That's why she started calling me
"Sputnik". Apparently there used to be a big ball in the sky
called Sputnik that came around on a very regular schedule... I
wonder if that ball was fun to play with...
Even though I really wanted to come inside, and
the food was really good, I still wasn't completely sure that I
trusted Softie. But she was persistent, and one night after I
ate, she scooped me up and put me in her lap! I was really
scared, but it felt really nice too! When she put me down, I was
so upset that she stopped snuggling me that I turned around and
hissed at her until she picked me up again!
I knew that I was making progress when Softie put
a collar on me with a note asking if anybody owned me. Imagine
that! A human having the audacity to think that anyone could own
a cat! Well, Mary (the old lady who fed me from time to time)
saw the note and called Softie begging her to take me in. Winter
was coming and Mary didn't want me to spend another cold season
outside.
But
it took one last trick to get Softie to let me inside. One day
the vet came and took some of Mow's teeth away. She said she
felt better after it was all over, but right afterwards she felt
pretty crummy. Well, Mow was sleeping in her bed just inside the
patio door, and I could tell that she needed comforting, so I
spent the entire day sitting outside the screen door purring
loud enough so that Mow could hear me and feel better.
After that, Softie was sold and she decided that
I had earned a trip inside! |