Thatch and Annabelle had a fight this afternoon. She had decided that she required the Amazon carton and two Fancy Feast carton for her sleeping pleasure. The result was that Thatch was evicted from his Amazon carton, which he found the perfect combo porch and bed. I was editing a score, but their voices carried over the Ravel playing on the CD player.
What’s going on? I called.
A tearful Thatch jumped onto my work table.
Annabelle’s being mean to me, he cried. she took away my Amazon carton.
Oh, Annabelle! I thought, why are you creating drama?
Let’s go talk to her, I said to him. Is she having a bad day?
It’s always a bad day after she reads her Backstage, he said.
Oh, dear, I said. Annabelle! I called, Missy, are you unhappy today?
No, Annabelle said. Did the little baby go crying to you again?
You know that was his Amazon carton?
I needed it. I needed it and my two Fancy Feast cartons to fill my comfortable sleeping needs today. I’m having whimsies and vapours.
You’ve been reading Congreve again!
He’s funny.
Well, taking Thatch’s Amazon carton isn’t funny. You don’t really need it.
Oh, all right, she snapped. You can have it back, Thatch.
Thank your sister, Thatch.
Why? He asked me. It was my carton.
Oh, just thank her and give us all some peace, I said. I started back to work.
Thank you, Annabelle, Thatch said.
Why? she asked him. it was your carton.
Was she always like this? Thatch asked me.
Was I? she purred.
You are such a brat at times! Yes, Thatch, she was, and you and I both know she’s been worse.
That’s not true and you know it, she said as she unfolded from one of her Fancy Feast cartons.
Watching my little girl stretch and turn to fix me with two gorgeous green eyes, I smiled. She’s so beautiful and so fragile it hurts.
Thatch looked at me, then he looked at her. He looked back at me.
You two are both crazy! he laughed.
Well, Thatch, I said, when I set out to adopt a kitty, Annabelle was exactly what I was looking for.
Thatch, he’s so wrong. When he walked into that trailer of cages, looking at the cats, he didn’t know what he was looking for. There were a lot of us wanting a nice home. Some of those cats were so depressed –
Why? Thatch interrupted her.
Because they thought no one wanted them. Some had got out of their homes and been lost, some were thrown out on the streets, some were beaten and abused-
Why were you there? he asked her.
I was abandoned. My humans moved away and left me behind in an empty apartment. I was just a little girl! Some neighbors took me to a shelter on the East Side, and the adoption agency rescued me. They took me out of there and saved my life. I am very grateful.
That’s so sad, Thatch said to her.
So many cats in that trailer were sad, really, really sad. They were lost and felt unloved. It’s sad to be abandoned. I know, and the New York shelters are not fun. They can be scary. I won’t tell you what happens if you’re injured or sick and no one rescues you-
I want to know! he said.
When you’re older I’ll tell you.
So what happened when Daddy walked in?
He was clueless.
I was not, I said.
She and Thatch laughed at my discomfort. I hate losing a fight.
Yes, you were! You were clueless! The agency had all of us up for adoption in cages in this long trailer, Thatch, wall-to-wall cages of kitties, and all of us wanting a home. I was casing out all of the potential parents, and he was the fourth or maybe fifth in the line passing through the trailer and deciding to adopt or not.
I like a good story, Thatch said to me.
Those people in the line in front of him looked like no fun at all. Some just wanted a kitty for their kids to torment. Then this old man came in alone. He looked lost, like he wasn’t sure what to do, and he held his cane like a life preserver.
I did not, I interjected. My balance and walking are bad without my cane. that’s all-
Go on! Thatch said to her.
I thought, you know, he might be a really good Daddy. So I chose him. When he got to my carrier, I flirted, I danced, I sang, I did cartwheels. I had to make him notice me. Some of those depressed cats weren’t up for a song and dance to save their skins, but I’m going to be a Broadway star. I knew just what to do. And when I learned later that he worked in musical theatre, I knew the angels were watching over me.
I laughed.
She did, Thatch, I told him. She was so cute and so pretty!
And full of personality, Annabelle added.
When I put my hand into the cage to pet her, she butted my hand with her head, talked my ear off, and wouldn’t let me go. I said to the Jo Ann – she was the lady in charge of the adoptions – “I’m choosing her,” and two hours later, after my references cleared and I wrote a check, I carted Missy home in her carrier.
Aww, that’s nice, Thatch said. Then what happened?
Well, I carried her to a taxi, and she was quiet all the way uptown. I put my hand inside the carrier to pet her and let her know she was safe. She seemed calm, didn’t say a thing.
You did the same to me, Thatch said. Only it was a train, I think.
Yep. The subway.
Go on, Annabelle told me.
When we got in the apartment, I opened the carrier, and she walked out, and . . .
What? Thatch asked. What? What did she do?
I laughed. She ran under the bed and hid!
Thatch laughed with glee.
I figured I would let her hide and get comfortable to the place, so I sat at the computer and worked and occasionally, out of the corner of my eye, I would see her moving around and checking out the apartment. Around five o’clock she started meowing really loudly, and I realized she was hungry, so I fed her.
He had no social graces, Thatch, Annabelle told him. You should always offer your guests refreshment. Remember that.
So, after I fed her, she walked around, meowing about everything. God, she was noisy! When it was bedtime, she curled up with me. When I woke up the next morning, she had taken 90% of my double bed!
Annabelle! Thatch admonished her.
I did not, Annabelle said. Then she laughed.
The memories of those first days with her had me laughing, and Annabelle was enjoying herself.
Thatch, you know how awful she is with the litter box?
Thatch laughed, yes!
Annabelle bristled. I am not!
The next night she left the bed in the middle of the night and came back with stinky poop on her paws. She smelled terrible.
You did? Thatch asked her.
No, she said.
She did, I answered. Then she curled up next to me and the bed stank all night. After I took my bath, I had to wash all the bedding. That was my morning.
Were you mad at her? Thatch asked me.
No. I just realized that I had adopted a handful.
It was a test, Thatch, she said, and he passed. I figured, if he’s going to abandon me, let’s get it over with now before I get really hurt by someone else I trusted.
Really? I asked her. I never would have guessed-
That I was one smart kitty?
Well, I fell in love with you the moment I said, “I’ll take her.” I wouldn’t abandon you. Never.
Finish your story! Thatch said.
Well, after I finished the laundry and made the bed, she stopped meowing and started talking. The very first words she said to me were “I thought this apartment would be bigger.” And once she settled in, Thatch, she never shut up. She talked my ear off.
And mine, Thatch said as he settled into his Amazon carton.
I love you, Thatch, she said. Would you bring me a treat?
©2018, Larry Moore
Annabelle & Thatch 