The following is another excerpt from my humorous memoir, A Dead Tomato Plant and a Paycheck. I am almost finished with the second draft and have been sending out a couple of preliminary queries.
No family would be complete without their pets. We have had a number of them through the years, and they all have a story.
When Anjanette and David were young and Michael was just a baby, we had a cat, Nicky, who wasn’t too crazy about living with little people who pulled her hair and chased her. She had been my cat before I married Carl, and she just barely tolerated him before and after we got married. She would often get on the bed and insinuate herself between us, then push on him with her paws.
“Is she doing that on purpose?” he’d ask.
“Oh, I hardly think so,” I said.
Then a paw would hit a tickle spot and he’d go flying out of the bed. “That cat’s a menace,” he said. “She pushed me out of bed.”
“Honey, listen to yourself. You’re a grown man and she’s just a little cat. Besides, I’m sure she likes you.”
“Well maybe,” he conceded, giving her a sideways glance.
“Of course she does. Aren’t you the one who plays with her every day with the crazy ball? She loves that.”
“Well, if you’re sure.”
“I am. Now get back into bed.” I moved the cat and patted the bed.
“Okay.”
This nightly routine repeated itself often, and many years passed before Carl started to really like cats.
My mother’s parakeet, although this seems a bit hard to believe, could distinguish among the family members and was very possessive of my brother’s attention. When my brother stopped by Mom’s with his dog, the parakeet would do everything she could think of to get my brother’s attention — a kind of “see, he likes me best” ploy. I’m convinced even parakeets experience love and jealousy.
That is so funny, Patricia. Animals are capable of a lot more emotional range than we give them credit for. Some people don’t even think animals have emotions, but I think they just haven’t paid attention. The people, I mean, not the pets. LOL
Loved the story. It made me laugh after a long day of editing.
Helen
Straight From Hel
Glad I could provide a chuckle for you, Helen.