The Cattails of Doody Newman

Chapter Three ^^ No Reaction

I told you about Prissy, and I mentioned my mom, Wig and Jack, the biggest dog, who is a yellow lab and ridgeback mix. Lemme tell you about some of the others I share this big house with in Houston, Texas. I have two orange tabby brothers, Rustaford and Mini Me. Mini for short. I have a really, really big, white, thick-furred younger brother, Xander, who wears a gray toupee. There's Uncle Blackie, of course, who looks exactly like my fur-mom with swirls of black, silver, gold, and white, except for the white shark-tooth-looking mark on his face. I also have a beautiful, classy littlest sister, Azreal. She is a Siamese snow leopard blend with the bluest eyes I have ever seen. We call her Lil' Girl. Then, there are two other dogs who share the house with us, Jojo, a black lab and border collie mix and Cooper, a bulldog. Cooper is new to us, only a year old, but I already like him—and I know he will be able to help me in future escapades.

The last time I left off, I was in the backyard yelling at big dog, Jack with no response. I didn't understand why he couldn't see me. I didn't feel any different, I didn't notice that I look any different, although I haven't looked in the mirror today. But, let me go over the most recent events anyway.

So, I slept, got up and ate, groomed myself, slept again, chased a few geckos in the backyard—yuck, it was like 1,000 degrees out. Then I went inside to take a nap again after I'd noticed it was already 8:00 A.M. I did realize no one had spoken to me today, and when I tried to talk to Rustaford, he ignored me. The real test would be when I tried to talk to Prissy. If she ignored me, then I would know for sure something was definitely wrong. I slinked over to where Prissy was sleeping. (She always grabs the best spot in the house and has quite the nap schedule). First, she lies in my skin-mom's dresser thingy. It has two doors that open from the middle, and shelves lined with soft clothes. I think she puts them in there just for us. The dresser is just the right height for me to jump into, but Prissy gets the first shift anyway, on account of she is a day older than me and all. When Prissy is finished with the first shift, she jumps down and goes to eat. After grooming and checking out the play going on in the gen pop (that's what we call the rest of the house), she gets tired and takes her second nap in the clothes bin, which is usually lined with fresh warm clothes that smell like the sweetest flower I've ever sniffed.

The clothes bin is one of my favorite spots because when I get up, my brown fur smells sweet like my skin-mommy, and that is the best smell in the whole world! For her third nap of the day, Prissy heads to the master bedroom, to snooze on the biggest and best bed in the universe. (That bed is so comfy! It moves up and down and jiggles and feels incredible on my toes). Before she gets up on the bed, though, Prissy has to stop in the master bathroom to get a drink of water, not from the bowl that all of us are forced to share, but from the elegant fountain that stands tall in the middle of the room.

All she does is nudge my skin-mom's arm and my skin-mom will get up and adjust the fountain for her! Wow, I still have to ask her how she does that, because it makes her look even cooler and more graceful than any cat pretty much in the world. So anyway, my plan was to pounce on Prissy just before she jumped on the fountain, and say, "Heeeyyyy yooouuuu...whatcha doin'??" Then she would pretend I hadn't scared her as she licked her right paw and said outta the corner of her mouth, "Nuttin." 

I had the plan down and was ready to pounce, and I started to shake my butt and tail to get the energy to do it, too. But that's when I noticed the shadow-looking thing again. The weirdest part was that I saw it for real in the mirror this time! I actually saw eyes...real eyes, looking at me. Oh, my good feline, my own shadow is looking directly at me!

I didn't have the time to spend obsessing about the shadow, because I had a pouncing date with Prissy, so I jumped as high as I could and landed right in front of her face! Then I got this close, and said, "HEY, YOUUUUU, WHATCHA DOING?"

But no paw licking and no talking and no nuttin happened. That's when I knew without a doubt, that Houston, we REALLY, REALLY did have a problem.