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A Warrior's Tale ... tail... whatever

My Grand Adventure - Epilogue

Mine found all sorts of hurts on me, but they healed. The Family couldn't really take me to the vet, they were spending lots of money keeping all us cats up to date on shots and "fixed" as it was. Besides all that, I've never really been welcome back to the vet after a certain, er, incident. (I only destroyed PART of the clinic, sheesh!) But Mine tended to me, and I was glad not to have the stress of a doctor's visit.

I lived out the rest of my life close to home, never again leaving the yard. I was plagued with health problems, however. I never grew bigger; I stayed kitten sized for life. Every once in a while my ear would do this bizarre trick. the skin on the inside would bubble out and my ear would bend down (as you can sort of see in my display photo). It mostly happened in the ear where I was bit, but occasionally the other ear "bubbled" too. It was sure hard to hear when the ear was bubbled, so I stuck to a daily routine and avoided surprises. But you better believe I didn't let my stunted size or so called "disabilities" diminish my attitude! The other cats all knew their place...

To summarize, the rest of my life was lived out happily with Mine and the other cats who tried to compete for her attention. Thus ends my Grand Adventure.

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My Grand Adventure - Part Five

Mine was up in her room reading. She heard my yowl and stopped dead. She knew my voice better than any cat's, but thought she was imagining things. She had begun trying to accept that I was dead. I had been gone for at least a month and she was mourning me. But just on the off chance...

She peeked out her bedroom window on the second floor. Even from the distance I could see her face change from caution, to disbelief, to joy. She blinked hard, stared, and then her face disappeared. Seconds later I heard her barreling down the stairs as fast as she could. Apparently she thought that if she did not hurry I'd be gone, a figment of her imagination. I wasn't going anywhere. She burst out the backdoor and I heard her Father yelling "What is WRONG!?" Mine saw me there, in my pitiful state and called back, "It's Chunker! My Chunker! Hurry!"

Mine bent to examine me. She was shocked. One of my ears was in bad shape, and an eye was crusted shut with dried blood. There were so many areas of fur matted with more dried blood. The worst was under my right front leg where the monster had bit down on paw and neck. I had a huge gash under my arm. It had bled a lot. My fur was matted so badly that I couldn't move that leg at all. I could stand and limp on it, but the shoulder was locked into one position.

I was so happy to see Mine that I purred, even though her hands running over me, checking for hurts, caused lots of pain. Mine asked her Father, please, couldn't she bring me inside the house to take care of me. She didn't want to leave me alone outside. He said of course and went about finding a litter box and food. I knew, at last, I was safe. I was home with Mine. She would help me.

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My Grand Adventure - Part Four

Now, not to worry friends, even though I was in pain and lost, I'm not one of those helpless, damsel-in-distress-type felines. Oh no. I've prided myself on my independence and resourcefulness for my entire life. I sat still for a moment and tried to decide what the best way to find home was. If I picked any direction and just walked, I would more than likely miss my house entirely. If I sat on my injured tail and moped, I'd die for sure. So I decided to walk in a wide circle, spiraling increasingly outward around the central point where I was at the moment, until I spotted something familiar. I set out. It was a long and difficult journey. Many times I wanted to give up and let pain and hunger take me. But my stubborn streak won out and I kept going.

Then one day, several weeks after my odyssey had began, I saw it. Train tracks. With a little copse of trees behind it. To the right, a horse pasture. To the left, a field of tall grass. It was my neighborhood at last! The train tracks I was looking at had once been my self imposed boundary. I never crossed them, because if I went further from home than that, I would not hear Mine calling my name if she needed me. I wanted to run race home, but it was nearly night and I was still moving painfully slowly. So I burrowed into some comfy-ish grass and slept for the evening.

The next day, I carefully set out for the tracks. Listening carefully and paying attention for any vibrations that might indicate an oncoming train, I limped across them. Then it was a straight shot to home! I pushed it a little, reopening some of my many wounds, but finally I was through the trees (I had feared running into raccoons hiding there) and in my own back yard. I struggled and limped, dragging my starved body past the cat food and the water dish. I positioned myself beneath a window I knew well and let out the loudest and (though I'm ashamed to admit it) most pathetic meow of my life. "Mine!" I called, "I need you!"

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