Skeeter's Summer Vacation

Every day is the same. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a bad life. In fact of all the places I’ve lived, this one is the best. Each morning I wake up to a thoughtfully prepared breakfast. That's important to me since I’m hungriest in the mornings. After breakfast I go to my favorite place, the porch swing in the sun room, to curl up for my first nap of the day. What could be better?

Between naps, I wander around the house, look out the windows and eat a little. In the evenings I sit on the sofa with Him while he watches moving pictures on the flat, square screen. She’s not home often now, but when she is, I sit with Her. She and I used to play but I'm tired a lot now, so I like it best when she just holds me and scratches my chin. It is peaceful.

Over the years, the house has become very quiet. There’s barely any noise at all. I will be peacefully napping, dreaming of chasing mice, when one of them will touch me. It makes me jump with a start!

The nights, too, are quiet, but in a different way. I get lonely by myself when he and she are upstairs. So, I slowly climb the stairs to find one of them. I call and they pick me up to snuggle under the covers. We do this two or three times during the night. But for some reason, I now have to sleep in the sun room.

Last year I lived with another family, the Nice People. They were very good to me but - they had a cat. I didn’t catch his name as it was quiet there, too. He and I didn’t get along. We found a way to work out our boundaries, but it was never peaceful. Plus, we were both sick. There was a time when I thought I was a goner but the Nice People took good care of me. I don’t know what happened to the cat, though. He was sick like me, then one day he was gone. I know we had our differences, but I hope he didn’t leave because of me. I wouldn't admit it to him, but, I missed him.


Then I moved back home, and we were all together every day – Her, Him and me. I liked that. Whenever I wanted, someone was there to pet me. If not, I would say something and one of them would respond. Then something happened. Now, she’s gone for days at a time. I miss Her and wonder if she thinks about me. When she comes home, I want to be happy to see Her but instead I feel angry that she left in the first place. I make sure she knows I’m angry, too. But no matter how much I yell and make a fuss, she always smiles and picks me up. She holds me and scratches behind my ear until I give in and purr. I wish she wouldn’t leave, but in a couple of days she is gone again. It’s been like this for weeks, but last week was different!


During the weekend while she was home, there was more activity than usual. He went up and down the stairs to the basement with bundles of fabric. Then he’d bring the same bundles back up in white, plastic bins. I remember when I would go to the basement. It was fun with all the dark corners to hide in. Dusty, sticky, stringy stuff clung to my tail and whiskers. But it’s not worth the climb down the stairs anymore. So, I was napping and dreaming about the fun times in the basement when she woke me up. There on the counter was the brown, plastic cage that I travel in. I hate that cage! Bad things happen every time I’m in it.

It taunted me while she packed her big box on wheels. I hate that thing too because it means that she is going away again. This time, she packed it with more stuff than usual. Just when I thought she was leaving me again, she picked me up and stuffed me in that infernal cage. She seemed to be talking to me, but all is quiet.


She took me and my cage to the car where he was waiting. That’s not a good sign either. I was in the backseat for a long time. We finally stopped and she carried my cage into a different building. As we walked to the building, I could sense new smells and a fresh breeze. Then we were inside and the strangest thing happened. As I sat in my cage, I felt a sensation of moving upwards. Odd. When we finally stopped she put my cage on the floor - a different floor than the one I left - and opened the door. Hmmmm.


I’m not good with new places. I have to explore slowly to find the best spots. It didn’t take long, though. This place is not nearly as big as my other house. It's more like one, big room - and most of the floors are slick and hard. She showed me where my food was – and it was the same kind as always! And my blue box was here, too. Me, Her and Him stayed in the new place together that night.


I couldn’t rest though. It was too much for me. I called for Her to pick me up several times during the night and she came every time, although she seemed a little grumpy by morning. Maybe she doesn’t like the morning.


Then, they both left. It was okay since I slept most of the time – on the sofa, the bed or the soft part of the floor. And they left plenty of food (my favorite, tuna) and some reading material. But who is Harry Potter? That night – like each of the next several – she came home by herself. In my other house, he was there and she wasn’t. Now, she’s here and he’s not.

It was fun. She let me sleep on the bed with Her. I slept better and didn’t have to call Her at night - well, not too often. I may not be as agile as I once was, but I could jump onto the bed. There were times that - I guess - I wanted attention. Instead of jumping on the bed, I sat on the floor next to the bed and called. If I called long enough she put me on the bed. I don't think she like that as much as I did.

Living together, you learn things about each other like the nights when she was so frustrating! It would be time for bed and she would still sit looking into that lighted, square thing and moving her fingers. She finally got up and I thought, "Yippee! Time for bed!" But no, she walked back and forth to the bathroom or the kitchen. I followed her until I got tired. I tried to tell her I was frustrated and ready for bed. Sometimes it helped but other times, not so much. Then there was breakfast. There were many mornings that she overslept breakfast time. I love Her but she can be hard to live with. I had to call until she got up to make my breakfast. Most mornings she got it right, but sometimes I didn't want tuna. I wanted chicken. She was slow to understand. While I ate breakfast she would go back to the bed. The same thing used to happen with Him, but now - like I said before - I sleep in the sun room.

Oh - and there was a white, fluffy cat! He was only in the bedroom. Each time I walked in, so did he. When I sat by the bed, so did he. I would stare at him and he just stared back. He was really annoying!

Just when we were settling into a routine, here came my cage again! Where to now? She carries me to the car and he’s there. Again, it was a long drive, but when we arrive, I’m back at my real home – the big house. It’s just as it was before. I have never been one who likes change in my routine, but it was fun going to that other place and spending time with Her. Seems like I recall a word for it. What was it? Oh yeah – vacation. I wonder if the Nice People’s cat went on a nice, long vacation. I hope he likes it there. Maybe I'll see him again one day.

Skeeter writes regularly for http://www.beautifulcats.com/. When Skeeter is not traveling you can find him sleeping on his porch swing in Annapolis. Skeeter lives with his family, Mike and Shelley. Skeeter wishes to thank the Nice People, Wil and Siena Scott, with whom he lived while Mike and Shelley were in France.