At any rate, I’m a cat named Cosmo who came into this world a year ago. I’m sure I was probably a doctor or lawyer in my previous life, and I came back as a cat. The irony of it all!
Of course I don’t remember my previous life, hence my confusion of what I actually did when I wore human flesh and clothes. My mother was Siamese with an exceptionally long tail. That I inherited from her. I’m a tom and according to her dear old Dad was an American Standard. I don’t even know what that means.
I was picked by some well-meaning girl who I supposed thought I was an adorable little kitten full of playfulness and loving. We lived in an apartment campus in some town though I have no idea what an Airway Heights is. I just know that every morning after being playful and giving me food and loves, she’d suddenly leave. I didn’t like that at all. Especially considering all the other neighbors around us who had cats, would come by and torment and tease me unceasingly. I couldn’t leave and be playful too.
She had a boyfriend. I got the distinct impression he wasn’t a fan of me, and the feeling was mutual. He’d play too rough, get angry easily and constantly scolded me for making messes, though I did my best to cover it up as Mom did, but that wasn’t good enough.
One day I saw my girl type a message on her phone contraption and not more than a day later this old man comes in carrying an empty container with a very pleasant and appealing odor coming from inside. He looked nice. He had a nice, friendly vibe to him that I liked. He laid the container down and I sniffed inside. To my amazement an opened can of tuna sat there. I was delighted to say the least. I gorged myself on this treat, not realizing the door zipped shut and I was carried away from this apartment and placed inside a car that smelled of this older man. She called him Jerry and apparently, he knows her from somewhere nearby.
He got inside and the car started, and I wasn’t certain where we were headed, but a part of me was relieved to be leaving that place. Is he a nice msn or did my gut tell me a big fat lie? I meowed at my displeasure of being led into a trap like this. But eventually after making several turns that confused me to no end, we stopped. He turned off the car and got out. I could see we were in a different environment than what I had lived in these past ten months. There was grass, buildings, lots of trees, dogs…DOGS! Oh, my goodness there were two of them and he told both, whose names were Roxie and Amber, “No, not yet. Give him a few days to get used to his new home first.”
I growled a warning to them both. They backed away and I saw next to a big house a smaller house. I smelled birds and also heard one from inside. Does he keep live birds to eat later? I asked myself as we went inside. He went inside another room. I heard a distinct sound that was the same as at the apartment when she went inside this other room that I named her litter box. Then I heard the same exact flushing noise come from inside and my suspicion was confirmed.
After a while he let me out of that contraption and set it on a chair next top a table. I looked around me and saw a bird alright. Because cats as a rule are color-blind, I couldn’t distinguish the colors on her. Jerry called her Elsa. Why would he name a potential meal?
He introduced us, which I also found odd, “Elsa this is Cosmo. Cosmo—Elsa. You two will keep each other company while I’m at work. Hopefully, you guys will get along.”
Oh yeah, we’ll get along alright, right into my belly, I said to myself. But she apparently wanted nothing to do with me as evidenced by the fact she kept lunging at my face with her sharp beak. Needless to say, she got my nose and won that first battle, but there will be more to come, trust me.
To say I didn’t miss that girl would be a fib because I did miss her at first. Not that I couldn’t do anything about it. He purposefully drove me literally in circles to where I have no idea where I am or where she is. I gave up even trying. After four days of being coop up inside that house where I had every square inch known, marked and clawed by heart, I got to look outside those windows at the outside world. I wanted to go out and explore. I saw a whole bunch of wild birds feeding in front where Jerry always threw out what Elsa didn’t eat from the day before.
One evening he had the outside door opened. It had been pleasantly warm inside and Jerry wanted the place aired out so he left the screen door closed and the outside door opened. He mentioned to us that today was his Friday. Again, I had no idea what he was talking about. After he fed himself, he threw out scraps presumably for those dogs. To my surprise though another cat came by and began having himself a little snack.
“That’s Cato,” Jerry told me as I sat at the door watching this slightly smaller and somewhat younger cat, calico, I think he is, sit in front of me oblivious to my presence munching away on those scraps. The next day, Jerry let me outside for the first time and then I knew I was home and happy because he had enough trust in me to let me out every morning after that.
We had a deal in a manner of speaking where I could be outside by day but had to be inside after it got too dark. It’s now two months later and I think I’ll hang out here for the duration. I have no plans to go anywhere. Plus, my cat sense tells me it’s going to be a cold and nasty winter. And Cato? We’re best of friends, playing and hunting flying bugs and taking afternoon naps in the warm sun. It’s the best decision I ever made.
Jerry Schellhammer 