A Tale of Two Kitties

Rusty stared at the ceiling, his tail twitching irritably.

It had been three weeks since Frank and Donna had left him here in this place and he had come to the conclusion that they were not coming back. Whatever a 'nursing home' was, they must have prefered it to the comfortable little house they had shared with Rusty and Dotty.

Glancing over at Dotty's basket, he watched her black and white fur rise and fall with her steady breathing. The move had been harder on her, he realized, she was younger and couldn't remember a life before being loved by Donna. She must miss the times when she used to sit on the old lady's lap and have her ears stroked, or chasing the yarn balls that were tossed for her.

Their new human tried to be nice, but he just didn't understand that there was more to a cat's life than kibble and a litter box. Rusty missed the early mornings with Frank when the old man would pour him a saucer of cream and explain all the events he read about in the paper. Rusty would listen with his head cocked to the side and stare at him with wide green eyes whenever Frank seemed to make a good piont. Frank would laugh and call him a little diplomate, which Rusty supposed was a good thing.

A small sigh escaped Rusty. Yes, those had been good times. They had been loved.

Suddenly, a sound caught Rusty's attention. Footsteps? Who would be walking up to the house at this time of night?

SMACK!

Rusty sprang out of his basket, trembling with surprise.

"Dotty!" he bounded over to her basket and poked his paw into her side. "Did you hear that?"

"Wha'?" she blinked her eyes blurrily.

Rusty jerked his head at the window. "Outside, I heard a noise."

"Monsters? Thug? Housebreakers?" she squeaked, her large amber eyes suddenly wide with fright. "Are they going to steal my yarn balls?"

"Why would anyone want to steal your yarnballs?" scoffed Rusty. Before she could explain he turned to walk to the kitchen window. "I'm gonna go check it out."

He padded silently out into the kitchen and sprang up on the table. Outside the world was dark, but he thought he could hear a car driving away down the street.

Walking back to the baskets he found Dotty drifting back to sleep, her yarn balls tucked protectivly between her paws.

"I thought I heard a car out there," he said.

Dotty squeezed her eyes shut and stretched her tiny pink mouth in a yawn. "You were dreaming, go back to bed."

Rusty climbed back into his basket and curled up, but he couldn't go to sleep. Something had been out there.

The next night the same thing happened.

And the next.

Each time Dotty told him he'd been dreaming, but Rusty wasn't so sure.

Finally, on the fourth night, he decided to wait up and see for himself. So, after Dotty had drifted off to sleep, he crept out of his basket and out into the kitchen.

Perching himself on the edge of the table, Rusty waited. The clock ticked softly from where it hung on the wall and the noise slowly lulled Rusty until he had nearly fallen asleep. Suddenly he jerked awake. Headlights flashed over the house as a white truck pulled up to the curb. The door of the truck opened and a young man jumped out, a flat, oblong object in his hand. The young man twirled the object carelessly as he walked up to the house, then he stopped about three yards away and flung at the door.

Smack!

Rusty's fur bristled in surprise and he crouched low, pushing his belly fur against the table. Suddenly, the young man seemed to notice him. Through the window Rusty thought he could hear the word 'kitty' coming from the stranger. Unsure of his intention, Rusty stayed low, staring at the man until he at last turned back to the white truck and drove away.

Once the truck had disappeared, Rusty jumped down from the table and padded back to the baskets. Dotty lay curled up in her basket, her yarn balls tucked safely in the curve of her body, her tail resting protectively over them. Rusty poked her gently in the side. "Dotty, wake up."

"Meep! Thieves! Cat nappers! Yarn snatchers! Heeeeelp!" she squeaked, scrambling to her paws.

"It's just me," Rusty assured her, sitting down and drawing one paw over his ears. "I just wanted to tell you that I was right, and I wasn't dreaming!"

Dotty nudged the pink yarn ball back into place beside the other two as she sniffed, "Well you should've been dreaming, it's late!"

"But there is someone out there!" insisted Rusty. "He comes up, throws something at the house, then walks away again."

"Bad luck," Dotty reached out a paw and patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Better go back to sleep and forget it."

Rusty shrugged her off and padded over to his basket. "You don't believe me."

Dotty nuzzled the blue yarn ball and held it gingerly in her paws, kneading it softly for a moment before replying sleepily, "Well, you don't believe my dreams."

"It wasn't a dream!" Rusty retorted, but Dotty had fallen back to sleep. He stared for a moment at her black and white pelt rising and falling steadily, then sighed and flipped on his back. Convincing Dotty would take time, right now he had to figure out if the strange young man was a threat, or a friend.

Part 2 coming soon!