Over the last few days, we had the privilege of looking after “Hope” and “Chance.” Hope and Chance are a couple of cats who were literally running out of all hope and had very little chance of living much past the age of two. Until Miss Robin and her husband Mr. Mike found and saved them.
Before they acquired “the boys,” Mike and Robin were possessed (none of us ever really owns a cat) by one of the coolest cats I ever met. Unfortunately, “Felix” passed far too soon; he was still a young cat. For the longest time, a cat did not pick Mike and Robin. They stayed catless for a while.
Finally it became time for the two of them to be “chosen” by a feline again. Robin believed they should be the proud parents of a calico kitten who was telepathically calling to them by name.
When she went to the pet store to save some little calico cat, she accidentally “discovered” the boys. They were litter mates who had outgrown their cuteness. They stayed together in the same cage, never having the opportunity to run, jump, and play the way kittens should play. In the end, when Robin was supposed to go pick up the cute calico kitten, she chose the older brother cats instead.
Mike and Robin named the cats Hope and Chance in reference to the two felines avoiding euthanasia at the last possible moment. When my wife fed them, she came up with another theory for their respective names. As she put it, “When I put food in one dish, Hope was hoping to get something to eat and Chance was basically saying, ‘Fat chance.’”
Over the time I have known the boys, they have provided some hilarity for the entertainment of many. One such time was when Mike’s company sent him to an important meeting up north.
A co-worker picked Mike up about 5 a.m. and the two would then catch an early flight out of Orlando. Mike had the alarm set for about 4 a.m. and one of boys was sleeping near his head.
When the alarm went off, it scared the cat into flight and in the process of escaping the alarm, the cat opened the side of Mike’s face from his ear to the bottom of his chin. He looked like a pirate. “Arrgh!”
When his co-worker saw the side of Mike’s face, he said, “Robin mad at you again?” Then there were the innumerable questions and answers for the TSA and other airport security screeners.
At the conference, one of the other attendees just looked at Mike’s face and asked, “Got a cat?”
“Arrgh,” Mike said.
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© 2010 J. Clark
Great story! We had a cat named Frankie. He was all white with the most beautiful blue eyes. Can you figure out who he was named after (Old Blue Eyes)? Our kids found him out behind the shop when he was just a small kitten and brought him in.
If I would lay down on the grass in the yard he would walk onto my back and knead it like someone kneading bread. As long as I would lay there he would knead away until he was tired and then curl up for a nap on my back in the sun. Miss that guy!
Sweet story! You’re right about people never “owning” cats. Mine point out to me all the time that they’re in charge and I’m lucky to be graced by their presence. 🙂
Jeanne, there is nothing better than a cat massage.
Tyler, I have never owned a cat myself, but a few of them have kept me in indentured servitude.