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Rescue
Melinda had heard for years about people being “rescued” by their pets. One minute they were depressed, and the next they had a fur child in their life, and it made a world of difference.
She had smiled politely at their stories and sometimes had to hide an eye roll. But her depression had begun to creep up on her, even with a change in her medication, and she was a bit desperate to find anything that would help.
She sat with her new cat, Motron, feeling almost giddy at everything he did. Only an hour, and already a difference.
Hideout
Was it possible to have a hideout in plain sight? Mando seemed to think so. Whenever Motron was chasing him down, he immediately scrambled up to the top of the hutch.
Motron’s chunky body did not allow him to follow after his brother, leaving Mando safe.
It was kind of high up, though, so Mando liked to use a dining room chair to jump onto and then jump to the floor to get down. Motron was one smart cat. Learning this, he began to lie in that chair when Mando shimmied up the hutch. Maybe it wasn’t a good hideout.
Feedback
She winced as the walkie-talkie burst with feedback. Ugh. This was supposed to make life easier while she recovered from surgery, not harder. Her husband was a heavy sleeper — when he slept — and didn’t always hear his phone. The walkie-talkie was supposed to be a way to get his attention when he didn’t answer his phone.
But it picked up chatter and static from nearby places, so there was feedback at random times. Not being able to walk was a nuisance, but not being able to get her husband’s attention when she needed it was a bigger one.
Grammar
Being good at grammar had never been an ambition of Melinda’s. The same way that children claimed they could just use calculators if they needed to when they grew up, Melinda had been sure there would be a way to have grammar checked too.
She had been right. In the age of the internet and AI, grammar checkers were a thing. Were they always accurate? No. But were they better than her learning all the rules? Yes.
Knowing the basics was helpful, just like in mathematics, but she’d rather spend her time with her cats than learning any more grammar.
Conflict
Mando was suddenly afraid of everything. He seemed to jump at his own shadow. He and Motron also seemed to fight more. There was definitely cat drama in the household.
This led to a call to the vet and to a product that both Mama and Papa were certain wouldn’t work. It was a plug-in that was supposed to give off pheromones that kittens felt from their mothers. It would provide a soothing atmosphere and calm their kitties. This seemed awfully weird, but they bought it off Amazon and plugged it in.
Within three days, the kitties were calmer.
Quiet
It was quiet. As they say, too quiet. Mama had worked hard not to have to always check on the cats, not to have to always know where they were or what they were up to. This meant sometimes she walked into the kitchen and found Mando on top of the fridge, or sometimes he was on the shelf.
Motron tended to end up in the workout room, sprawled out in the middle of the floor like it was his domain. He seemed to like the idea that one whole room belonged to him, even if just for the day.
I write Fiction and Also Cats to share my love of storytelling—usually involving cat hi-jinks—and plenty of cute cat pics. It’s free to read today, and always will be in part. But if you enjoyed this post, consider supporting the publication by pledging a future subscription. You won’t be charged unless payments are turned on. Whether you choose the free or paid tier, you’ll also receive my 100 Word Story Guide as a thank-you!
Fuel Fiction and Also Cats with a coffee or a share—both keep the stories (and the tabbies’ judgment) flowing.
Let me know what stories you enjoyed most this week. It’s been a bit chaotic because I had not 1 but 2 meniscus tears in my knee surgically repaired this week and an arthroscopy done. Thanks for hanging out even though the content has been light.
I’m hoping your recovery is going along as expected. (I don’t know that “quickly” belongs in the same sentence as knee surgery of any kind.) I’m thinking of you, and trust the cats are being attentive. ;)