A Cat's TaLe
One of the saddest moments of my life was picking up my cat, Mister, mauled to death by two stray dogs.
This beautiful cat, roamed the condominium grounds, marking his territory, lording it over the complex like Mustafa in the Lion King. He brought a smile to everyone's face, and I often engaged him in a little chat on my way home, which he ignored. But one day, 'Mister’ adopted us and came inside to eat, indulge in enough loving until it irked him and once satisfied, bugger off outside to keep watch on his domain.
Mornings became extra special after a night on the town; he’d come inside and get on his part of the bed, luxuriate in morning tickles, and then take a hard-earned nap.
‘Mister’ did what he wanted when he wanted. At parties, he strolled amongst the forest of human feet, and in the lot, cars pulled up, allowing him to assume his position under the warmest engine. This lack of fear contributed to his downfall.
A frantic pounding on my door told me something was wrong. I opened it to a woman immersed in grief, stumbling out the fateful words. “Two dogs have killed Mister!”
Anyone who has lost an animal knows how desperate, breathless, and immersed in disbelief I came to be. ‘This can’t be true,’ I hoped, as I ran toward Mister's ravished body. His ashes still sit in a mahogany box. We never got around to spilling them over the condo grounds.
I wasn’t ready to house another cat but kept going to shelters, questioning what I could do to help. Four years later, I met Mr. Bigglesworth (stage name, Sir Reginald Cuddlesworth), a huge, cuddly, whiney (now spoilt and bigger) Maine Coon whom I adopted February 2019. He inspired me to write songs, describing the joys of owning a cat. So I scribbled lyrics and sang melodic ideas into my phone, transferred the information into my music software, orchestrated and produced an album. And here it is, 'Catnip And Grit' for your listening pleasure.
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Thanks, Ricki
