Gone

Getting used to life in my--sorry, Pan's new house was difficult. The fireplace didn't have anything in it, there were no squirrels in the attic, and, worst of all, there were no mice!! Pan's new house was bigger than the old one, so I had to work harder than ever to familiarize myself with all the hiding places.
"I can help you," Miko said. I glared at him.
"I refuse to associate with the likes of you!" I responded, copying one of Pan's catch phrases word for word. Miko left. There was just something about him that I didn't like...
I was no longer worried about Pan's dominance; we had established that she was the one and only queen of the world, and Miko accepted it. We hadn't, however, sorted out who would be second in command. I had always been second best, and I wasn't about to give that up. I was prepared to fight until I got really, really tired to keep my status.
"Why are you so nice to him?" I asked Pan.
"Oh...I don't know...I'm just tired," was Pan's reply. She sighed.
"You're still not feeling so good?" I asked. Pan shook her head majestically. She did everything majestically.
"They'll probably take me to the vet," she said, pulling her tail in closer.
"No. We moved! How can they take you to the vet?" I responded.
"I heard the humans talking about it. One of them must have seen me eating the cat litter," Pan said.
"You mean we moved all this way for nothing? That's impossible!"
"I asked Miko. It's true."
"Oh, what does Miko know anyway? I was the one who helped you! I was the one who stared at Samsie with you, who caught mice with you, who hid with you! You've been favoring him--I know it! You can't trust him. He's definitely up to something! He's bad! Bad! Baaaaaaad!!" I replied, saying the last "baaaaaaad" dramatically. I stalked off indignantly, rubbing the furniture as I went.
Later, I felt sorry about my outburst. I set of in search of Pan to apologize. I looked everywhere for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. My heart sank. Had she been taken to the vet without me even saying goodbye?

WUMP!!

Wump!! Hiss!! Boomf!! Swat!!
"Hey!" Miko shouted. "That wasn't nice! I was just trying to be friends!"
"But you're not supposed to," I responded. "We're at war."
"But I don't wanna be at war!" was Miko's reply. "I wanna be friends!"
"Listen," I said, sitting down next to Miko. "Pan and I are invading your territory and taking over. You're supposed to try and fight for dominance but eventually lose because Pan and I are the best."
"That's not fair," was Miko's response. "I was here first!"
"Now you're getting it!" I said.
"So...now we fight?" Miko asked.
"Yep," I replied.
We jumped on each other and started swatting and hissing. Eventually, the humans came in. They didn't like it and made me go back to the room.
"How did it go?" Pan asked.
"Bad," I said. "I didn't get a chance to win."
"Did you lose?" Pan demanded.
"No, no, no, the humans pulled us apart before Miko could surrender," I responded. Pan nodded.
"How long do you think it'll be until I can go meet him," Pan asked.
"Probably a while," I said. Suddenly, the door opened. Saw and Byrd stood there.
"You wanna come out, PanPan?" Saw asked. Daintily, Pan stepped out. I followed her.
"Show me where he is," Pan ordered. I started to lead her down the stairs, but Pan swatted me on the butt.
"NO ONE MOVES IN FRONT OF ME!" she shouted.
"But I--"
"Just show me," Pan said. I walked next to her. We entered the living room. We looked everywhere for Miko, but we couldn't find him.
"I thought you said he would be here!" Pan shouted, frusturated.
"Maybe he's in a different room," I said.
We searched the dining room. No luck. We looked in the kitchen. We discovered a dripping faucet, out of which Pan drank for five minutes while I checked the other bedroom. Eventually, we decided to give up.
"He probably got scared and ran away," I suggested.
"That's true," Pan responded. "I'm frighteningly tough."
She swished her tail and jumped up onto a couch. I followed her. We started to settle down, but I noticed something. A ledge! With curtains and sun! I began to jump in, but Pan pushed me out of the way and went in herself. I followed her cautiously.
Pan stood completely still, her fur glistening in the sunlight. Miko looked up from licking his butt and stared at her, silent. Pan glanced back at me and then sat down--right next to Miko! I couldn't believe it! She must have decided that he wasn't much of a threat! I sat down on the other end of the ledge but kept an eye on Miko. I couldn't trust that cat...

Tag!!!!

Tag, You’re IT! There’s a game going on around Catster and it’s your turn
to play.

The Rules
Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Cats who are tagged need to write in their own diary about seven things and the rules. You need to choose seven cats to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment that they have been tagged and to read your diary.

My random fact thingies:

1) I trained a puppy by watching The Dog Whisperer with my pet humans. I poked him and hissed whenever he did something wrong!!
2) The very same puppy I trained stole my favorite toy, a little mouse, even after he was told not to! When he got back home, he gave it to his kitties. I had to get my humans to steal it back.
3) The other day, my humans left and they came back with a baby just for me!! I like to stare at him lovingly while he sleeps.
4) I can talk in human!!! When I'm running around and having a lot of fun I yell, "WHOA!" and sometimes when there's something interesting out the window I jump at it and go, "LOOK!"
5) When I'm suprised, my tail gets all puffy and I look really silly.
6) The railing on my stairs is evil. I have to fight it by jumping on it and grabbing it and making silly noises. It will never do whatever evil railings like to do again!!!
7) I like to sing and squirm around at people. I murr and purr and grab people's hands with my opposeable thumbs and rub them on my head.

I'm going to tag: Suka, ♥ Mugsy ♥, Lucy, Skeezix the Cat, Wallingford (Wally), Skylar, and SMUDGE. Woohoo!!

Miko

I ran down the stairs and started sniffing. This cat had to be around here somewhere. I leapt onto a couch and sniffed some more. The smell was getting stronger. There was a ledge by a window covered by some curtains. It looked promising. I jumped in but saw nothing. This was strange.
Suddenly, I heard a noise coming from below me. I looked down and saw a pair of gleaming yellow eyes staring at me from the little crevice between the couch and the wall. I growled.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
"I am Miko," was the response. "And you'd better be careful around me. I have fangs, you know!" He showed me two bright teeth that were over half a centimeter long! I braced myself for an attack, but Miko stayed still. He stared at me with those yellow eyes that seemed to be coming from nowhere exept a huge mass of darkness and fur.
"I'm not scared," I shouted, overly confident. "I'm not scared of anything!" I jumped down to the floor.
"I bet you're scared of what's outside!" Miko replied.
"Every cat's scared of that," I said. Miko emerged from his hiding place. He was black all over and covered in long fur like Pan's. He came closer to me.
"I used to live there," he responded. I could tell he wasn't lying. This scared me a little; strays were rumored to be tough and ferocious. I would have to fight this guy--Pan's dominance was at stake! I crouched down, wiggled my butt, and pounced...

Cat

"Another cat?" Pan demanded, outraged. "They have ME! What more could they possibly want?"
"It gets worse," I said.
"What?" Pan asked.
"It's a boy cat," I replied.
Pan and I knew that boy kitties usually like to be the dominant ones, and Pan did not want to lose her status. She had never been less than dominant. We didn't want that boy cat to disrupt our hierarchy.
"Do you think he'll become dominant?" I asked quietly.
"He can't!" Pan shouted. "He won't! I'm too dignified to be second best!"
"What are we going to do?" I said.
"We'll have to try and reason with him," was the reply.
"But Pan," I protested, "you can't reason with dominance! Dominant cats have no sense of logic!"
"I have logic, don't I?" Pan asked.
"Well, actually..."
Pan growled.
"I--I mean, yes! Yes! You do!" I responded quickly. I didn't want to get swatted at for the next hour. It's not very pleasant.
"We'll reason with him," Pan said. "Let's think. What are some good things about my reign of terror?"
"Uh...you can...you're a...I've seen you...let's see..." I tried and failed to think of an answer to Pan's question. The queen was insulted.
"What about my sense of logic?" Pan asked, her teeth clenched. I was intimidated. Our conversation was interrupted (and my life saved) when Byrd opened the door.
"Hettiebell...Hettie..." she said, holding her hand out for me. "Wanna come out?"
I glanced at Pan, who silently gave me permission to leave. I was excited but nervous. It was up to me to keep Pan dominant. I would have to fight like never before. And I was ready.

...sort of.

New House

Eventually our long and tedious car ride came to an end. We were carried into a house but weren't able to see much because we were still in our carriers. I was eager to get out, to see the sights and smell the scents. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see. Pan and I were let out in a small, enclosed area.
"Remember," Saw said to Byrd, "don't let them out of your room."
"I won't," was the response. Byrd left the room. When we tried to get out, she wouldn't let us. Pan was insulted.
"Nobody defies my will!" she exclaimed when Byrd had left. She sniffed around. "Is there any food in here?"
I gestured towards the food and water that Saw had given us. Pan began to eat. I was hungry too; we hadn't been allowed to eat before the drive. I wanted food, but I knew better than to challenge her dominance.
I began to explore the room. There was a bed directly across from the window and a closet next to the food. The litterbox was a little further to the left on the wall.
Pan began to drink. This would have been understandable if she hadn't been drinking compulsively for the last few weeks. I was concerned.
"Pan, what are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm thirsty," Pan replied.
"But doesn't that make you need the litterbox?" I asked.
"Not really, no," Pan responded. I knew what was going on; this was another symptom. I wondered what was wrong with her. I knew we were safe from the vet, so I didn't worry too much. I decided to sniff some more. Something smelled strange. It smelled like...like...

Another cat.

The Car

When the time came, Pan and I were forced into the cat carriers. Instinctively, we knew to meow, growl, and hiss. I let Pan take the lead so she wouldn't attack me when we were finally set free.
Secretly, however, we were happy. No vet! Pan and I conversed in the car.
"Where do you think we're going?" I asked.
"Oh, I don't know," was Pan's response. She sighed, staring wistfully out the window.
"What's wrong?" I asked. Pan looked at me.
"This reminds me of...of Percy," Pan replied.
"What happened?" I said.
"I...I don't like to talk about it."
"Come on...please?"
"Well, I suppose..." Pan responded. She lay down in her carrier. "It started with the television."
"The television?" I asked.
"Yes. The televison," was the reply. "It disappeared. Percy and I loved sitting in the space where it used to be. Oh, we had no idea..." Pan's voice trailed off.
"What happened?"
"Eventually other things started to go away, too. Percy and I watched as Saw and Byrd packed their things away into boxes and brought them outside. We knew exactly what was going on--we were moving again."
"Again? Have you moved more than once?"
"Yes. Anyway, when it came time for us to move, we resisted. We resented the fact that we had to leave such a beautiful home. It had a lovely balcony with a great veiw. On nice days, Byrd and Saw would let us go out and play. The new home was nothing like that. It smelled of mold and had too many rooms to keep track of."
"That must have been horrible."
"It was. But that wasn't the worst of it. There was another man and his daughter. We named the man Man and the girl Ishah. Man smelled suspicious, and we didn't like him. Percy and I would hide under Byrd's bed and growl whenever he came near us. Man didn't like this. He kept trying to approach us."
"What happened?"
"Well, Percy began to act strangely. She seemed...different. Once, in a fit of rage, she bit Byrd on the neck! It was unprovoked. Percy got worse and worse. One day, Man came to us. Suprised and scared, Percy bit his hand. Blood poured out of the wound. Man and even Saw disapproved, but Byrd saw our side. She would argue for us, and we always felt safe around her. But as you know, Byrd leaves almost every day."
"You mean to that 'school' place where the humans go when they're supposed to be getting us catnip?"
"That's the one. Byrd was there when...when..." Cat tears welled up in Pan's eyes. "...when it happened. Saw didn't want to, but eventually she and Man put Percy in a carrier and...and took her away. I never saw her again."
"Do you know where she went?"
"No. All I know is that I watched my sister's condition deteriorate. I watched her suffer. I watched her change from a sweet little kitten to a troubled cat." Pan paused. "She was so brave..."
"She was."
We were quiet. Pan's favorite song came on. It's prettier when Saw sings it, but it was still nice in the car. For a while, we didn't meow. We didn't growl. We didn't hiss. I thought of Percy. I wondered what she had looked and smelled like.
"I'll be your sister," I said to Pan. She smiled a little through her cat tears.
"I'd like that."



*Note: Pan doesn't know it, but Percy is actually in a happy home with a nice pet human :)

The Closet

"Quit shoving!" Pan ordered in the dark.
"I'm three feet away from you!" I responded. Even so, this closet was extremely crowded.
"Quiet! I hear someone coming," Pan whispered. We crouched down low, afraid to breath. The footsteps drew nearer.
"Heeeere, kittykittykitty!" Saw yelled.
"Kitties!" Byrd shouted. We dared not make a sound. We heard them leave.
Suddenly, it dawned on me. If we didn't move, we would have to go to the vet! It was common knowledge for all cats that going to the vet meant being in a cat carrier. I left the closet.
"What's going on?" Pan demanded. "Why are you leaving?"
"Because I don't want to go to the...you know..." my voice trailed off. Pan understood what I meant. Together, we left the closet, ready to face any challenges we might encounter. We were going into our cat carriers, and we weren't afraid.
...Actually, we were scared out of our wits. But that didn't stop us. We were invincible.

Some Guy

One day, a car drove into our driveway. Saw went out to greet it. When she came back in, there was a man with her. After much discussion, Pan and I decided to call him Some Guy. He helped Saw put a bunch of stuff in the car. I was excited--that is, until Pan came to me.
"Hettie, we have to hide," Pan said.
"Why?" I asked. "We're moving! We won't have to go to the vet!"
"Because," Pan responded, "they'll make us go in..." Pan glanced behind me. "...one of those."
I spun around and saw what she meant. There sat two huge cat carriers. We had to get out! We started to run into Saw's bedroom but remembered that she had given her bed away. I dove into Byrd's room with Pan behind me.
Unfortunately, the bed was being taken out of the room. I ran out but forgot about Pan. When I turned around, she was trapped! I ran up and down the hall shouting, "WHOA!! WHOA!!" with all my might. It didin't work. I heard a huge "CLANG!!!!" come from Byrd's room. I hoped Pan hadn't gotten hurt...
A moment later, Saw came out holding a shaking Pan. Physically she was fine but those humans had hurt her dignity. Nobody dropped huge bed parts in front of her! Saw took her out to the porch and comforted her. I decided to look for a way out.
I knew from experience that it was impossible to get into the fireplace. I also knew that Pan wouldn't approve; the ash and dust might mess up her fur. I checked the kitchen for any special spots. There were none. I would have to consult Pan; she was older, wiser, and knew the place better.
When Pan came out, I did. She was disappointed in me for not being able to find a place sooner but was too worried to attack.
"Did you check the living room?" Pan asked.
"Yes," was my reply.
"The dining room?"
"Yes."
"The kitchen?"
"Yes! I looked everywhere but I can't find a place to hide!"
"Did you try the office?" Pan asked. I shook my head. "Let's go."
The office was full of places to hide--there was a huge stack of boxes, a tangled mesh of cords, and even a mysterious door! Knowing that people would soon take the boxes and cords away, we were left with one option: the door. Neither of us had ever been in there before, and I was intimidated.
"But Pan!" I protested. "We don't know what's in there! I mean, for all we know there could be an inter-dimensinonal transport and an owner's manual for that spatula we dropped behind the refrigerator last week!"
"Don't be so stupid," Pan said. "It's probably just a closet."
"I bet it's not!" I responded. "I bet it's something evil--like a politician or a medival tax collecter!"
"Well, there's only one way to prove my absolute correctness," Pan replied.
"Let's go in," I said. I started to walk into the mysterious room but was stopped.
"NOBODY CHALLENGES MY DOMINANCE!!!" Pan shouted, hissing. She swatted at my face and daintily walked into the room. I followed her.
To my dismay, Pan was right. It was just a closet--no politician, no medival tax collector, and no owner's manual for the spatula we had dropped behind the refrigerator.

Symtoms

Pan was a lot nicer to me after Samsie's death. This may have been because of Samsie, or it may have been because of her fear of going to the vet. I remember one day Saw picked Pan up, exclaiming, "Pan's lost weight!" She let Byrd hold her.
"Wow, she has!" Byrd responded. They seemed happy. When Pan looked at me, I knew immediately why she was so thin. This was her sickness that she had been talking about. We feared going to the vet.
That is, until we overheard Byrd and Saw talking about moving. We were overjoyed! We wouldn't have to go to the vet! I raced up and down the hall, shouting, "WHOA!" as I went. Pan sat down on her throne and watched me.
"Hettie, must you act so childish?" Pan demanded.
"Yep!" I yelled. We weren't going to the vet! Pan left the chair and headed into Saw's room.
Curious, I followed her, careful not to make any noise; I didn't want to get on her bad side. She entered the litterbox, but instead of pooping, she began to eat the litter! I was disgusted. I ran out of the room. This was too weird.