(revisited) First Impressions...

2006-08-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

I should point out that The Monster (the slobbery, noisy Dog-Creature) soon became my friend. And not just my friend, but possibly the best friend I'll ever have.

The Monster turned out to be a dog, after all. When he and I first met, I wasn't familiar with dogs. Besides, he was enormous, and he had the benefit of Home Turf. He was roughly three-hundred times my size, and he'd been living in the building his entire life (and I'd been there for less than three days). I remember seeing some Very Big Humans acting afraid of him...so what was I supposed to do?

I learned that the dog's name was Goliath. He was a mixture of Siberian Husky and Grey Wolf, and he was a great friend.

When I was little, I was really little...John remembers when (just for fun) he put me into a coffee mug (no, of course there wasn't any coffee in the mug!). My ears were the only part of me that didn't fit comfortably inside the mug...they sort of stuck out.

So picture me, and this 115-pound Dog Thing...he's sound asleep, and I'm climbing on him like he's Mount Everest. And I wouldn't just climb on him, no sir...I would chew on his ears, or on his paws, or (if it was available) his tongue. As I grew bigger, I continued to use Goliath as my Jungle Gym...and he would inevitably shower me with (very wet, disgusting) kisses.

Goliath and I were together for about two years. There was a Special Treat that Goliath got every day...a blob of cheese (or ground-up raw meat, sometimes). It turns out, Goliath had something called epilepsy, and the Special Treat was the only way to get him to take his medicine every day.

Sometimes, Goliath got sick. He would be just fine one minute, and then suddenly he'd be on his back, squirming like a goldfish. After a while, though, he would be back to normal. But one day, Goliath fell on his back, and squirmed, and didn't get up again. John had left the building, but he was only out for a little while that day.

When John came back home, he found Goliath lying in the middle of the room, with me on top of Goliath, licking him. I was trying to make Goliath get up! John touched Goliath, on his head and on his stomach, and then he picked me up. At the time, I didn't like being held, but I let it go this once.

John told me that he was very sorry, and that I was a Very Good Kitty. It was weird, because I had never seen John act this way before. Also, he had water on his face, and I'd never seen that before, either.

John took Goliath out of the building, but Goliath didn't move. After a while, John came back...without Goliath. I understand now what happened, but at the time I was confused and upset.

And I still miss that dog. My best (non-human) friend, ever.

First Impressions...

2006-08-05T19:07:00.000-07:00

I was a very tiny kitten at the time, but I'm told it was the Summer of 1995. I was born with a couple of other littermates...I don't recall if they were boys or girls, because at the time, I wasn't paying much attention to detail. Our mother abandoned us...I don't know if she did that by choice, or if she was hit by a car or something. All I know is that she sort of vanished one day, when me & my littermates were a few weeks old. Fortunately, we (my littermates and I) were able to more-or-less look after ourselves.

And (also fortunately) there was a human in this one building, where we used to forage (in the alley behind the building) for food. He lived there, and he looked after us. He couldn't take us inside the building, but he brought us food, which was what we really needed anyway.This human, who was called Don, found homes for my littermates. He really worked hard at it (I understand that now), and he somehow convinced his friends, co-workers, and even one of his own littermates to take one of my siblings and give them homes. The only one of my littermates who didn't find a home was (you guessed it!) me.

One day, Don found me (I was pretty shy about talking to humans, even though this one had fed us). He managed to catch me, and he brought me inside his building for the first time. I didn't understand Human Language very well at the time—I was still less than a month old!--but I understood him telling me words like “friend” and “home”. I was very upset at first, but I eventually calmed down...Don had always looked after us.
I was in Don's building for a little while, less than a day. I heard him talking in the other room, but he wasn't talking to anybody...at least, I couldn't find the person he was talking to. [I understand now that humans can talk to other people, even if they aren't there. They have to hold a little black toy next to their heads, which looks ridiculous, but somehow they can do it]

When Don came into the room where I was, he had his coat on. It was a very rainy, stormy day (I was glad to be inside), and Don said “we have to go and see John.” I was thinking about the name “John”, because I hadn't heard it before; but before I could do anything, Don stuffed me inside his coat.

I remember a very bumpy, dark time inside Don's coat. I heard a bunch of noises, like cars and people, but it all ran together, and I was very scared I could also feel a little bit of rain coming inside the coat, but it wasn't enough to get me too wet. Don got pretty wet, though, and I could hear him telling me “it's allright, kitty, we're almost there”. After a while of being inside Don's coat, the bouncing/walking stopped. And then Don sat down, with me still inside his coat, and waited for John to come home.

After a while, John did come home. I heard him talking to Don, and I could tell that he was sorry for making Don wait outside. He said words like “sorry” and “why didn't you call me?” Then we went inside John's building. I was still inside Don's coat, and John didn't know I was there. I completely freaked out when we went inside...I could hear sounds, and smell smells, that frightened me alot. John said something that I couldn't understand, about “met the bog out” or something. Of course, what he was saying was “I have to let the dog out,” but at the time I'd never heard of a “dog”.

While John was outside with the dog, Don took me out of his coat, and put me on a table. I felt, and looked, awful...my hair was a mess, and I was wet and a little cold. Don stroked my fur back into place (as best he could), and told me “John is going to love you.”

Pretty soon, John came back into the room. Don stood up on Two Legs, so that John couldn't see me. John offered Don a beer, and Don said “that would be great.” John went into the other room, and when he came back (carrying two bottles of beer), he saw me on the table, and said “oh, my God.” [there were other things he said, too, but they aren't appropriate for young humans]

John looked very surprised, but even then I could tell that he loved me. He picked me up (I didn't struggle that much), and he looked at me, all over. He said something about “girl” and “worms” and “dog” and “runt” and a bunch of other words, but I was too nervous to care.

Don stayed, but John left the building for a little while. When John came back, his arms were full of things. Don had to help carry it all! John had gone and got things for me...food, a bowl to put the food in, and a box with some gritty, sandy stuff in it. [I couldn't think of anything useful to do with this box of gritty stuff. So eventually, I just used it to relieve myself] [I understand now that this was the correct choice]

John said to me, "there's someone you should meet," and then he left the room for a short time.

Before John came back, this huge, hideous monster charged into the room. It was light-colored, and it made a bunch of noise when it moved. It also had a big, pink tongue that was just hanging out, thrashing everywhere, and looking silly. I immediately did what any Red-Blooded American would do...I peed. On Don, on John, and on the table. Then I ran for cover, and I found a safe haven under a large piece of furniture. I stayed there for a long time. By the time I came out...

It was day-time, and John had spent the night talking to me. I could hear the huge, hideous monster walking around, too, but John's voice reassured me. And the monster wasn't chasing me....every so often, it would stick it's big nose under the furniture, where I was hiding. But it didn't seem to be chasing me. It was just curious about me. When I finally came out from under the piece of furniture, because I was hungry (John had set a bowl of food on the floor for me), John just talked to me in a soft tone. The Monster wasn't anywhere to be seen, but I could sense that it wasn't very far away.

John held me for a little while, stroking me and telling me that I was a Good Little Cat. And then, Don showed up! I was happy to see Don, because I thought he would take me back Outside, where I didn't have to deal with all this weirdness. But instead, John held me, and Don went into the other room.

I could hear Don talking from the other room...he was saying "now, be good" and "it's just a little kitty".

Then the Monster came after me.

The big, hideous slobber-thing came running at me; this time, I was on John's lap, and I couldn't get away easily. So, I did what any Red-Blooded American would do...this time, all over John's pants. And then I ran for my life, back underneath the same piece of furniture, and I stayed there for another night (and part of the next day).

That, in a nutshell, was my first day "on the job".

Veruca's Blog

(revisited) First Impressions...

First Impressions...