While you are sleeping, snug and comfy in your beds, dreams floating round in your heads, do you know what your cat is doing at that wee hour, when moon has risen high, wind has stilled, leaving the air thickly perfumed with night flowers?
Necco had spent the entire day in her guardians bedroom window staring through the shadowy trees at building one: more specifically at apartment sixteen. It was indeed a wasted vigil, because no matter how she strained her eyes, or squinted against the sun's brightness; she could not get a clear view of the only window of that apartment facing hers. But she could sense that there was a stranger there. Using the olfactory nerves in the roof of her mouth: tilting her nose upward, teeth bared, mouth apart, Necco tried to form a picture in her mind of this all white, fluffy queen that had just moved into the Rainbow Estates Senior Village.
She had seen a darker shadow under the shrub by the window for most of the morning. When the sun got too hot, the windows were closed and the air conditioner was turned on. The shadow she knew to be Thorny's, extracting information from the newcomer, had even taken off; back to his neighborhood of fancy houses, where he too, could doze away the hot afternoon in cool comfort.
Undaunted by the closed window and the heat of the blazing sun through the glass, Necco scrunched her body as far back onto the sill as she could go, into a tiny bit of shade the tree outside her window offered at that time of day, tucked her paws under chest and catnapped. Her ears turned forward, her eyes, only half closed, half dozing and half alert to any movement. A yellow butterfly flitted about from one flower to another, a spider that had completed a web from the edge of the widow sill to a nearby shrub, now sat in it's middle and waited for dinner guest. The hum of the air conditioner and the noise of the floor fans drowned out any other sound. But yet Necco stayed at her post. Determined.
Necco had not realized that this very obsessive behavior, to stay put, at all cost, just to get a glimpse of the new cat, would alarm her guardians, whom after a few hours of watching their little tortie suffering on the hot window sill, thought she was ill and phoned the vet's office.
Before Necco could blink twice she had been scooped from off the sill, placed into her cat carrier and shuffled out to the car. Hot at first, until the air-conditioner cooled the air, the backseat of the car was nearly unbearable. But off they went during rush hour traffic, three miles away to a pet clinic that specialized in cats. Within minutes Necco had been taken back to an examining room, extracted from her carrier with much protesting, and all four white paws thrust onto an icy-cold, metal table. Her male guardian was most distressed during the telling of his reason for bringing Necco to the doctor. "She's been sitting on that widow sill since before dawn just staring at nothing, hasn't eaten, drank any water or left to go to the litter box. She was very hot when we pulled her from the window sill." "We're very concerned," the female guardian broke in. "She's never behaved like this before…"
Humiliated, Necco crouched down upon her paws while the doctor gently ran his hands over her soft, pale fur, massaged her neck. Her fur was still warm from the heat of the window, despite the air-conditioned apartment and the ten-minute ride to the clinic. Before she could protest, a hard, cold instrument had been jammed into her bottom. She let her guardians know, in no uncertain terms that a probe was not necessary. Next a poke with another sharp instrument was thrust into her front leg, while her human guardians held her fast to the table. "Oh, for crying out loud!" Necco screamed again in protest over the unnecessary treatment. "I'm not sick…I'm not sick…there's nothing wrong with me!"
Oblivious to the message in Necco's cries, the veterinarian withdrew some blood from her leg, told her guardians she had no temperature and that she was probably just stressed out about something. She was a little dehydrated and if they could not get her to drink any water in the next hour or so, then they were to bring her back and they'd keep her overnight on a glucose IV. A bowl of water was immediately placed in front of her nose, and with some encouraging strokes down her back, she quickly lapped up enough water to make everyone in the room happy.
"That was the most humiliating experience ever!" she told Markus later that night, after the evening breezes had cooled the hot, humid air and the windows were once again open. "I had to spend the entire evening in the living room, stretched out across my female's lap. She thought I would like to be stroked with a damp washcloth. A bowl of water was shoved under my nose every ten minutes and I had to lap up a few drops each time just to keep my humans happy. I had to do it…I was so afraid they were going to rush me back to that icy-cold table again. Oh, how I hate that place!" Necco let go a tiny sneeze, "I think they've given me a chill."
Markus couldn’t contain his laughter. The image his little friend had given him would keep him amused for at least a week. "So, did you get to see her at all? The new cat, I mean. You had to go right passed her apartment on the way out of the parking lot. Was she sitting in the window?"
Necco let out a sigh, "No…I was too busy being humiliated…rushed to the clinic like that. I did have the perfect chance, didn't I?" Necco stamped her feet in her little frustrated fashion and whacked her tail against the glass. "Did you happened to see her today? You're much higher up than I am, surely you had a good view of her window."
"Necco, you know I can't see her window any better than you. You forget that your tree covers my window completely." Just then a familiar croak came from the window next to Necco, "I was looking over her way a few times today, Necco," the crackled voice commented. "All I could see was the tip end of a white tail thrashing about. Thorny was over there under the bush most of the morning, we'll just have to wait until midnight for him to come by. I think he likes her." Frog laughed, emitting a hoarse cough like sound. "Couldn't help but overhear your vet experience today, Necco. You should be more careful with your jealousy."
Necco spat back. "I'm not jealous! I'm just curious. Besides," she mewed softly, "Thorny is just being a good neighbor and he did promise to bring us information about her."
Markus and Frog both chuckled. "Hey Frog," Markus asked, changing the subject. "Have you heard anything about the old man upstairs, lately? How is he doing…and that dog?"
Frog hesitated to tell Necco and Markus what he had overheard from his guardians this morning at breakfast. From the little bit of human language he had interpreted, "the old man, having multiple bruises and a couple of cracked ribs, will be going into a nursing home for good. The little dog, having suffered no more than a cut on his snout, was taken to a foster home; he'll be adopted out. Hopefully. So it shouldn't be too long and we'll all have new neighbors again."
"I hope we don't get another dog up there," Markus sighed. "I could always hear that little rat of a dog whining and yapping through the common wall. It got very irritating at times. It's nice and quiet lately." Frog agreed.
Right then Thorny was spotted strutting across the parking lot from the direction of apartment sixteen. "Hey guys, he called out. How's things been for ya today?"
Of course Markus and Frog had to reveal Necco's obsession to catch a glimpse of the new cat, and how it nearly earned her a comfy, medicinal, overnight compartment at the clinic. Thorny, would have rolled over laughing but one look from Necco's squinted eyes, told him he'd better just get on with the news. "Sorry, you had such a bad day, Necco," he offered solemnly, "but I have good news about Princess Pricilla Prudence."
"Princess what?" Necco couldn't believe she had spent all those hours on that crummy, hot windowsill just to hear that the new, fluffy white cat in sixteen had a name that started with princess.
"Princess Pricilla," Thorny repeated. "She likes to be called Sissy…she's really sweet. She has a very soft voice," Thorny seemed to blush.
"So tell us more," Markus prodded, "What's her story? Nice and sweet with beautiful eyes and a soft voice doesn't tell us a whole lot."
As Thorny talked, Necco shifted on her windowsill several times, whacking her tail against the glass in frustration over the news that the new cat was a prima-donna, a princess no less, with papers and awards. A show cat. A cat that got bathed almost daily, and combed out. A cat that wore colored ribbons on the top of her head, had a real diamond collar, and ate expensive food off of genuine crystal and china. A cat that she was sure was not going to fit in at the lowly, Rainbow Estates Senior Village. A cat that very nearly caused her to have heat stroke.
Thorny didn't stay long, he had rounds to make. He'd be back again tomorrow maybe, after he had visited the new Princess Pricilla Prudence. "Humph!" Necco sneered, sounding a bit jealous even to herself, "Princess Prissy Prudy's…more like it."
Necco had spent the entire day in her guardians bedroom window staring through the shadowy trees at building one: more specifically at apartment sixteen. It was indeed a wasted vigil, because no matter how she strained her eyes, or squinted against the sun's brightness; she could not get a clear view of the only window of that apartment facing hers. But she could sense that there was a stranger there. Using the olfactory nerves in the roof of her mouth: tilting her nose upward, teeth bared, mouth apart, Necco tried to form a picture in her mind of this all white, fluffy queen that had just moved into the Rainbow Estates Senior Village.
She had seen a darker shadow under the shrub by the window for most of the morning. When the sun got too hot, the windows were closed and the air conditioner was turned on. The shadow she knew to be Thorny's, extracting information from the newcomer, had even taken off; back to his neighborhood of fancy houses, where he too, could doze away the hot afternoon in cool comfort.
Undaunted by the closed window and the heat of the blazing sun through the glass, Necco scrunched her body as far back onto the sill as she could go, into a tiny bit of shade the tree outside her window offered at that time of day, tucked her paws under chest and catnapped. Her ears turned forward, her eyes, only half closed, half dozing and half alert to any movement. A yellow butterfly flitted about from one flower to another, a spider that had completed a web from the edge of the widow sill to a nearby shrub, now sat in it's middle and waited for dinner guest. The hum of the air conditioner and the noise of the floor fans drowned out any other sound. But yet Necco stayed at her post. Determined.
Necco had not realized that this very obsessive behavior, to stay put, at all cost, just to get a glimpse of the new cat, would alarm her guardians, whom after a few hours of watching their little tortie suffering on the hot window sill, thought she was ill and phoned the vet's office.
Before Necco could blink twice she had been scooped from off the sill, placed into her cat carrier and shuffled out to the car. Hot at first, until the air-conditioner cooled the air, the backseat of the car was nearly unbearable. But off they went during rush hour traffic, three miles away to a pet clinic that specialized in cats. Within minutes Necco had been taken back to an examining room, extracted from her carrier with much protesting, and all four white paws thrust onto an icy-cold, metal table. Her male guardian was most distressed during the telling of his reason for bringing Necco to the doctor. "She's been sitting on that widow sill since before dawn just staring at nothing, hasn't eaten, drank any water or left to go to the litter box. She was very hot when we pulled her from the window sill." "We're very concerned," the female guardian broke in. "She's never behaved like this before…"
Humiliated, Necco crouched down upon her paws while the doctor gently ran his hands over her soft, pale fur, massaged her neck. Her fur was still warm from the heat of the window, despite the air-conditioned apartment and the ten-minute ride to the clinic. Before she could protest, a hard, cold instrument had been jammed into her bottom. She let her guardians know, in no uncertain terms that a probe was not necessary. Next a poke with another sharp instrument was thrust into her front leg, while her human guardians held her fast to the table. "Oh, for crying out loud!" Necco screamed again in protest over the unnecessary treatment. "I'm not sick…I'm not sick…there's nothing wrong with me!"
Oblivious to the message in Necco's cries, the veterinarian withdrew some blood from her leg, told her guardians she had no temperature and that she was probably just stressed out about something. She was a little dehydrated and if they could not get her to drink any water in the next hour or so, then they were to bring her back and they'd keep her overnight on a glucose IV. A bowl of water was immediately placed in front of her nose, and with some encouraging strokes down her back, she quickly lapped up enough water to make everyone in the room happy.
"That was the most humiliating experience ever!" she told Markus later that night, after the evening breezes had cooled the hot, humid air and the windows were once again open. "I had to spend the entire evening in the living room, stretched out across my female's lap. She thought I would like to be stroked with a damp washcloth. A bowl of water was shoved under my nose every ten minutes and I had to lap up a few drops each time just to keep my humans happy. I had to do it…I was so afraid they were going to rush me back to that icy-cold table again. Oh, how I hate that place!" Necco let go a tiny sneeze, "I think they've given me a chill."
Markus couldn’t contain his laughter. The image his little friend had given him would keep him amused for at least a week. "So, did you get to see her at all? The new cat, I mean. You had to go right passed her apartment on the way out of the parking lot. Was she sitting in the window?"
Necco let out a sigh, "No…I was too busy being humiliated…rushed to the clinic like that. I did have the perfect chance, didn't I?" Necco stamped her feet in her little frustrated fashion and whacked her tail against the glass. "Did you happened to see her today? You're much higher up than I am, surely you had a good view of her window."
"Necco, you know I can't see her window any better than you. You forget that your tree covers my window completely." Just then a familiar croak came from the window next to Necco, "I was looking over her way a few times today, Necco," the crackled voice commented. "All I could see was the tip end of a white tail thrashing about. Thorny was over there under the bush most of the morning, we'll just have to wait until midnight for him to come by. I think he likes her." Frog laughed, emitting a hoarse cough like sound. "Couldn't help but overhear your vet experience today, Necco. You should be more careful with your jealousy."
Necco spat back. "I'm not jealous! I'm just curious. Besides," she mewed softly, "Thorny is just being a good neighbor and he did promise to bring us information about her."
Markus and Frog both chuckled. "Hey Frog," Markus asked, changing the subject. "Have you heard anything about the old man upstairs, lately? How is he doing…and that dog?"
Frog hesitated to tell Necco and Markus what he had overheard from his guardians this morning at breakfast. From the little bit of human language he had interpreted, "the old man, having multiple bruises and a couple of cracked ribs, will be going into a nursing home for good. The little dog, having suffered no more than a cut on his snout, was taken to a foster home; he'll be adopted out. Hopefully. So it shouldn't be too long and we'll all have new neighbors again."
"I hope we don't get another dog up there," Markus sighed. "I could always hear that little rat of a dog whining and yapping through the common wall. It got very irritating at times. It's nice and quiet lately." Frog agreed.
Right then Thorny was spotted strutting across the parking lot from the direction of apartment sixteen. "Hey guys, he called out. How's things been for ya today?"
Of course Markus and Frog had to reveal Necco's obsession to catch a glimpse of the new cat, and how it nearly earned her a comfy, medicinal, overnight compartment at the clinic. Thorny, would have rolled over laughing but one look from Necco's squinted eyes, told him he'd better just get on with the news. "Sorry, you had such a bad day, Necco," he offered solemnly, "but I have good news about Princess Pricilla Prudence."
"Princess what?" Necco couldn't believe she had spent all those hours on that crummy, hot windowsill just to hear that the new, fluffy white cat in sixteen had a name that started with princess.
"Princess Pricilla," Thorny repeated. "She likes to be called Sissy…she's really sweet. She has a very soft voice," Thorny seemed to blush.
"So tell us more," Markus prodded, "What's her story? Nice and sweet with beautiful eyes and a soft voice doesn't tell us a whole lot."
As Thorny talked, Necco shifted on her windowsill several times, whacking her tail against the glass in frustration over the news that the new cat was a prima-donna, a princess no less, with papers and awards. A show cat. A cat that got bathed almost daily, and combed out. A cat that wore colored ribbons on the top of her head, had a real diamond collar, and ate expensive food off of genuine crystal and china. A cat that she was sure was not going to fit in at the lowly, Rainbow Estates Senior Village. A cat that very nearly caused her to have heat stroke.
Thorny didn't stay long, he had rounds to make. He'd be back again tomorrow maybe, after he had visited the new Princess Pricilla Prudence. "Humph!" Necco sneered, sounding a bit jealous even to herself, "Princess Prissy Prudy's…more like it."
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