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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Curiosity Killed the Cat (10/10/13)
Fat Cat is a very large cat. At last weigh-in at the Vet he topped the scales at twenty five pounds. Now, to be fair, his frame is humongous. He spends his days sleeping and his nights taking care of his sweet elderly human, getting up all hours of the night and escorting her back and forth to the bathroom to make sure she is all right. Who has to go that much?

One particular sunny afternoon Fat Cat was lazily sleeping out in the side yard by the fence that separates the front of the house from the back, and he got a whiff of something wild coming from the other side. He was getting on in years and being mostly a house cat, he didn't know exactly what it was, but he knew whatever it was, it did not belong there. No siree, it might hurt my beloved human!

Fat Cat went over and sniffed the bottom of the fence. Aha! Something wild for sure! Then he looked at the fence itself, it was tall, and the last time he had tried to jump it, he over shot the distance and landed on his donkey. His old age and girth had finally caught up with him, and he knew his days of jumping fences were over.

What to do? Fat Cat lay on the grass trying to think of a way to get on the other side without having to jump the fence. He still remembered how the last landing had hurt his pride and dignity for days. He was quite certain he had used up another one of his nine lives that day. He only had two left. His ego remembered the time when he was the baddest cat in the neighborhood, and all other forms of life feared him.

There's no other way! I'll have to try!

Well, you know the rest, or maybe you don't. This time Fat Cat sat on the ground for the longest time trying to gauge the distance from the ground to the fence. He calculated just how much power he had to generate in order to reach the top and pop over it. He artfully sprang with the agility of a much younger cat.

I made it! I'm on the fence! Now all I have to do is figure out a way to land gracefully.

Fat Cat started down the other side of the fence. Suddenly he felt a pain in his left foot and leg and let out a feline cry that could be heard for miles. He looked back and saw that his foot was caught in the wooden slat of two boards. Somehow, and he doesn't know how to this day, he managed to free his foot and landed in a splat on the ground.

"Yowwwl, yowwwl, yowwwl!"

The pain! The Pain! I can't bear it! I've got to get to my human, she'll take care of me.

Fat Cat hobbled with great difficulty and agony to the front door where he continued to yowl until his sweet elderly human lady came to the door.

"Oh, Booby! (Her nickname for him) What in the world is wrong? What's wrong with my Booby?"

Don't touch me! DO NOT touch me! Can't you see I'm in pain?

The poor old injured cat simply lay there yowling and howling his lungs out. His sweet elderly lady called the Vet right away. Fat Cat was one of Dr. Jenkin's favorites, and he always came to the house to pick him up. Now normally, Fat Cat hated going to the Vet, but he knew his lady was only trying to help him, so he went without a fight.

These days Fat Cat spends his days inside, limping from his injury, but grateful he is not in great pain anymore. He still stays by his sweet lady's side, and hobbles with her to the bathroom three times a night. He knows now his stalking days are over, and he accepts the fact that he is not the baddest cat in the neighborhood anymore. He realizes he has used up another of his nine lives and only has one left. He will never jump another fence, for sure.

Still, once in a while, his eyes will pop open while he is sleeping as the thought runs through his brain.

I wonder what that wild thing was?
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This article has been read 1240 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Virginia Lee Bliss 
10/18/13
I love cat stories!

Fat Cat is an allegory for all of us and our own inevitable aging.
Danielle King 
10/18/13
I love Fat Cat and his sweet, elderly human. This is a cute story and very entertaining.
Allison Egley 
10/19/13
This is cute! I thought Fat Cat was going to have an encounter with a skunk. :)

My only suggestion would be to spice that first sentence up just a bit. Something like "Fat Cat earned his name. There's good reason he's not 'Skinny Minnie.'" or something like that.

Nice job on this. My cousin had a cat named "Big Shirley." And I had a cat who frequently landed on anything besides his feet... This made me think of them.
Noel Mitaxa 
10/19/13
Poor Fat Cat - taking a fence so easily, with such cat astrophic results. Thanks for a fun read.
Ellen Carr 
10/21/13
Like the last sentence I was wondering what 'that wild thing was' too! I really enjoyed your tale of fat cat and his antics. Most entertaining. Well done!
C D Swanson 
10/21/13
Awww. So good! Loved it.

Thanks. God bless~
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
10/23/13
Oh what a delightful story. You had me smiling and chuckling throughout. I loved your MC's and could relate to him more than I would like to admit. The only thing I might mention is this line: Well, you know the rest, or maybe you don't.
Try not to talk directly to the reader like that. It interrupts the flow, especially in a fictional story, perhaps in a devotion, talking to the reader can be done so it doesn't interfere with the flow. Overall, though, this was an absolute delight and one of my favorites so far. Great take on topic and I thoroughly enjoyed your humor.