My Name is Vinnie

I came into the world most likely as any typical stray cat. And to make my beginnings a little more non auspicious, I was born under a house in a mobile home park. But my very first glimpse of a human, was beautiful. The lady whose house I presumed my siblings and I were born under, was beautiful. She had the prettiest blonde hair, and blue eyes with wisdom I had ever seen. And being a newborn, I hadn't seen much. She brought us and our mother into her house, and make us a nice soft bed to sleep. It was here I spent the first few weeks of my life.

A few weeks later, we were able to eat and drink on our own. We spent long hours playing about the home of our first human. One by one, my brothers and sisters disappeared. Often before this event, we were told by our wonderful human, "Guess What. You have a new home now. And you will be so happy". I certainly hoped so. It was getting down to me and my last sister. One night, the kind lady scooped us both up to now take us to our new home. I was sad to leave this kind human. But I was excited too. What was this new home going to look like?

She carried me and my sister a short distance to another house in the mobile home park. She knocked on the door. A happy looking human lady opened the door. Our first human set us both on the floor. "Wow", was my very first thought. Compared to our first human's house, this was noisy, and what, had other cats. I was pleased to know there were more of us in the world. I just didn't know how I felt about them being in my new home.

I'm not sure where my sister went. But I ran to a rather large looking tower in the corner. Good. It was dark. I could gather my thoughts. I listened for movement around me. Had those other cats found me. I hoped my sister was all right, wherever she was. A few minutes later, a rather large hand reached in and picked me up. It belonged to a rather large, yet smiling human man. For being so big and a little scary at first, he had a nice touch. I think what humans do to cats is called "petting". If so, this human seemed to know what he was doing. A few minutes later, he put me in the arms of who was to be one of my new human mommies. She held me, and talked to me. I looked at her face to figure out her words to me. She had brown hair and hazel eyes that were kind looking, as my previous human. After holding me a while, she took me to another room. Ah. There was my sister on what I later learned was a "bed". She was scooped up by the human lady who answered the door. This I found out was my other human mother. She had laughing blue eyes. My sister seemed at home in her arms. Later that night, my sister and I both slept on my other mother's bed. Well, we did for a little while. After she fell asleep, my sister and I had other business to be up to. And that was to explore the new house. Humans can be kind and take good care of you, but they also do strange things from time to time. The first example that comes to mind, is sleeping on top of their beds. Do they not realize that a whole exciting world can be found under the bed. My sister and had fun exploring, until time to go to sleep a few hours later. (under the bed)

Next day, we were given some food, and shown the other amenities of our new home, so to speak. The liter box was brought into the bedroom for a little while, to be nearby. My sister and I kept under the bed most of the day. We weren't sure yet how we felt about meeting the other cats of the house. They apparently knew we were here, and were not at all bashful of letting their feelings be known about this. We hadn't seen anything of the big friendly human man I met last night, until this evening. He reached under the bed where we were, and picked up my sister. "You're going to your new home now kitty", he said. New home? I thought this was. But it seemed I was staying, and she was leaving. Now I was truly alone. I wasn't sure about this "new home" business after all.

I stayed under the bed for about a day or two. I did come out to eat when brought to me by one of my new mothers, or to use the liter box. Then right back under the bed I went. I was sad that night. I missed my mother, my siblings, and the human who took care of us. I slept that night as well as I could.

The next day, I ventured out from under the bed. If I was to make sense at all of my new home, I had to learn it. As I explored, I could hear the humans of the house talking to me. My new moms would pick me up, and pet me some more. They both had kind voices and a nice touch. Perhaps they weren't so bad after all. But the other cats were a different story entirely. There were 4 others. And there was another creature here called a "dog". Other cats were one thing to process. But the dog was another thing I did not expect, or know what to make of. I was told by my cat mother to be aware of them. But I as yet had to meet one face to face. Roxxie was her name, or short for Roxxie Lynn. She was what one called a Chihuahua, and Corgi mix. Yes. Humans often have different names for different things. Roxxie to give her credit, worked the hardest to help me fit in. I just didn't understand her, and was hesitant to give her a chance right away. The other cats I eventually got to know on an individual basis. There was a female black cat named Maleficent She was black, sleek, and oh so sophisticated. I knew I wanted to be like her when I grew up. The male gray cats, were also called the "boys". They had recently became "full gown" as the saying goes. Their names were Luke and Duke. They seemed to be the most affronted at my presence in the house. Duke was the larger one. And Duke was more slender. The oldest of our little group, was an older gray tabby. His name was Vincent Voncat, or Vinnie for short. He slept on chairs or the couch most of the time. He seemed more inclined to an observer of the goings on in the house. When I first made his acquaintance, I was not sure if the look he gave me was of curiosity or mild disdain.

As I became more used to my new home, I had a routine I liked to follow. In the morning came breakfast. And if you know anything of humans, they can be agonizingly slow in serving it. In careful study of my new mommies, I learned the brown haired one can be most persuaded to give in to our humble requests. This was where my new brother Duke came in. He could nail the Oscar as it were, in most "woe is me" performance done by a cat. He can cry in such a way, that one would think he had wandered the desert for a year without a single meal. We had the crunchy food. But we also received what is called "wet food" a couple of times a day. Of course, me and Maleficent tried to speed the process along. Our talent, was cozying up to our humans to have these needs met. And sure enough, once the human I told you about was up, the rest was easy. And those rare times that neither human were quick on the uptake, the dog helped out, by whining and trying to hit either mommy on the hand with her nose. Going outside to do her business, was part of her morning routine. Between all of us, we got the job done.

The rest of the day was fairly simple. After breakfast and a bath, it was showtime at the bedroom window. One of our mommies had the best thing ever out there. It was a bird feeder. And when it was full, it was a thing of beauty. Our only complaint of the whole thing was, it was only for show btw. We couldn't actually catch the tasty little morsels (or what would be if we could catch them, I'm sure) flying around. Again, humans can be sweet and caring. But they're not always that bright. Oh well. It' up to us cats to show them the way, I guess. My cat mother used to tell me and my siblings that too. After the bird show, was afternoon nap. This was usually done at the window, where it was warm. After nap time, was a brief play period. My blue eyed mother got me the best toys ever. My favorite was called a "ball" with something inside that rang whenever I tossed it around. When I played with it at night. Dinnertime came in the evening. The rest of the night was spent eating, and getting more petting by our mommies. They both had wonderful hands, and sweet voices. My blue eyed mommy called me "little princess". Other mommy called me "little squirrel". She said it was because I liked to climb like one, and had the same bushy tail. She assured me they were as cute as I was. As I have never seen such a creature before, I will have to take her word for it. As long as she named me after nothing odious, I suppose it's all good. Later at night, while mommies, and the other humans slept, was some of the best fun of all. We had our late night racing. At first, keeping up with the pack was a challenge. But as I got older and grew longer legs, I was beginning to hold my own. Even Duke and Luke started to give me grudging respect.

I realize I didn't get around to the name I was given. I am called Beastie Aurora, from the Sleeping Beauty story. Maleficent also received her name from the same story. I was pleased to see in a mirror, that I am black like she is. But I'm sad to say, I'm not as sleek. "Its all in the cleaning" she tells me. She has shown me how to do it properly. And sometimes when I have not done it to her satisfaction, she steps in and takes over. I have to say I enjoy it and make an act of not being able to do it, so she will. I do miss that being done by my cat mother when I was little.

As I spent more time in my new home, I also studied the best ways to gain the acceptance of my siblings here. And not every tactic worked the same with each cat. For example, Maleficent seemed to like the fact that I followed her around, anxious to learn her ways. I believe in time she liked having someone to take under her paw, and show her the joys and allure of being a female cat. The boys were the harder light to catch, so speak. This was another past time of ours during the day. These things called "lights" or "shadows" would be on the wall. I don't know where they come from, but they're really fun to catch. The humans seem to be equally delighted watching our efforts at this. At any rate, back to Luke and Duke. I often found the best way to gain their attention, was to be extra assertive. Head butting works well. They were often irritated by this at first. But Duke could be convinced to reciprocate. Another thing I enjoyed when I was smaller, was the up in the air dive. The only problem was, where you landed. And where you land could determine the degree of your target's irritation at you. But what the heck. It was still good fun. Duke on the other hand, was still not sure of me. But blue eyed mommy would say that Duke was close to her, and felt wary of other cats in her presence. This brings me to Vinnie. He was getting more accepting me too. Yet, he was not keen on engagement. His interactions with me were to greet me with "hello furball", and go back to cleaning himself or sleeping.

Vinnie was the enigma of the house. This is a new word for me. The mommies are always using big words like that. But back to Vinnie. He was older than us. And there was speculation concerning where he had come from, or came to be here. The rest of us, our stories were known. Luke and Duke were born under a house as I was. It was under our house. Blue eyed mommy found them one day, when they came out from under it to explore. She brought them in, and cared for them, as I was by my first human. Maleficent had a more dramatic beginning. As a kitten, she was taken from her cat mother. Next thing she knew, she was wrapped in an old shirt and thrown into a bush. All she could hear was loud car horns and human voices. She cried out in fear. A kind human man nearby rescued her, and gave her to our blue eyed mommy. Then she brought her home. Duke and Luke had different stories about Vinnie. He as once owned by a prince far away. Duke told me, he belonged to a rich little girl who had to give him away. I wasn't sure what to believe. And with Duke, I learned to take what he said with a grain of catnip anyway. I wasn't always sure if he told me the things he did , just to tease me. But brown haired mommy always says "she loves a mystery". I find that I do too. And I decided to get the story on Vinnie.

A couple of days later, I actively sought out my subject. Vinnie lay in one of his usual spots. I pretended at first, to not engage with him. I lay down a little ways away from him, and started cleaning myself. "Well hello Runt", came his greeting. As I was not growing and getting longer, furball was probably not an apt name for me anymore. He continued on to my surprise, I see you are learning your way around. And I wouldn't worry too much about Luke and Duke by the way. They seem to have accepted you. And given how they feel about our mother, that is saying a lot. " "And", he added, "you have a lot of spunk for being the runt here." Not sure if that was a compliment, I took it anyway. He was at least talking to me, which was good.

A few days later, I made my way over to his other napping corner. He actually deigned to associate with me now. So I was hopefully on a roll. I laid down again not far from him. A few minutes after opening his eyes and rolling over, he spoke." You fit in very well here, but you have much to learn." He stretched out his paws and yawned. " I was little like you are. But I didn't live here. I had another home, in another place. I had a loving human who took care of me. She was a human lady. She was kind, and loved me well. She even had a different name for me. I realize that here I'm Vincent. But in my other life, I had another name. I only wish that I could remember what it now. But my days were carefree like yours. Playing, sleeping, eating, and cuddling with my human mother, was how I spent my days too. I even slept with her at night in her bed. She also gave me the best toys, and the best treats. Our days were like this until she became sick. Humans do certain things when this happens. She began going more often to a place called the "doctor". Yes. Humans have them as well. I know it's not fun when they take us to them. That's fair, I suppose. As I was saying, she began staying in her bed for longer periods of time. I lay next to her, hoping I could make her better. But I could not. And more people I did not know came more often to the house. Then one night, she was taken away. And I never saw her again. For two days, I was in the house alone. No mother, no food, no love ever again. About two days later, one of the people who always came over before, came back. He had with him, a small house like the one our mothers now use to take us to the doctor. But that day, there was no doctor. I remember riding somewhere a short distance. Then the small house I was in, was put outside. The human made me come out. He got in his car, as I learned that those are, and drove away. I had no idea where I was. I had no idea how to get back to my house. I wandered for I don't know how long. The first night outside, I slept behind the nearest tree I could find. I was starting to get hungry, but ignored it as best as I could. The next day, I was confronted by a dog. He chased me up a tree. But before I could get away from it, I felt a pain in my ear. I don't know how long I stayed in that tree, before the dog finally left. I know you're still not sure about Roxxie, but trust me. Compared to what I've seen out there, she's a jewel." He leaned over, to show me his ear. Me and the others also speculated on how he received that injury too. "As I was saying", he continued. I can't tell you exactly how long I was alone, and on the street. I ate and slept wherever I could. I had a run in with a few other cats, most of the time which didn't go well. Until one day, I happened to be near where there a bunch of smaller humans. I sat and watched them for a while. Maybe one of them could help me out here. They were usually nice. The ones who came to see my human mother were all right. There was one little human girl that began walking on the sidewalk. I walked a slight distance behind her. As she slowed her pace, I walked closer to her. She noticed me eventually. "Hello kitty", she said. We walked together, until we reached what I would assume was her house. I kept walking next to her, following her lead. A human lady came out and spoke to her. The girl picked me up, and snuggled me. Oh. It felt so good to be petted again by a loving human. "Can we keep him", she asked. The lady looked at me. "You know how your father feels about another cat around here", she said. My newfound human still held me in her arms. "Please", she said again. That night, they made me a bed outside to sleep in. It was outside, but still a a place to sleep. They gave me some food, after making me the bed. I think I slept that night, like I hadn't in a while.

The next day, I was put into another car. I was a little scared. My last trip in a car did not end well. But to my surprise, we came to another house. The human of the house I came from brought me to the door. He knocked, and it was opened by our blue eyed mother. She spoke to me so kindly, and gave me a small place to sleep. Maleficent was here, and was a little unsure of me. But she learned in time, I had no interest in taking anyone's place here. I was happy to have a home, and humans to love again. In fact, I think I did nothing by sleep my first few days here. " He yawned and stretched again. "Welcome home little one. You will love it here. But I can tell that you do". He closed his eyes, and went to sleep. I think the retelling of his story wearied him all over again. I went to sleep not long after. I was glad to have Vinnie as a friend now.

My days are pretty much the same. Even Duke has become friends with me now. He even "instructs" me when it comes to cleaning. And he is a cool big brother to play with too. I hope this will be my forever home, and the same for my new siblings too.