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Onyx: All That Glitters
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see kitty
curled up
asleep on the bed
or so susan thinks

One eye opens ever so slowly, peeking out from a nest of blankets. "Is
she gone yet?" Watching. Waiting.

Ears perk, listening for faint footsteps. Then finally,
-click-
the front door opens, then closes, and she is gone.

Raising his head, he immediately notices that something isn't right.

"She forgot to shut the bedroom door. I am FREE!"

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he eyes something on the top shelf of
the closet with great interest. Something that had been put it up there
the night before.

"Silly her for thinking I couldn't get to it up there . . . ."

Cocking his head this way, then that, he contemplates the best way to
retrieve the long white box. Finally, distances of time and space
calculated, he leaps forward and upward and ever-so-lightly bats at the
box with one paw. It falls to the floor, landing next to him.

Feeling very proud of himself, he pauses to lick a front paw.

A tip of blue protrudes from the box, reminding him of his original
intent. A full inspection is in order.

"I'll just take this out where there is more light."

Grabbing hold with sharp kitty teeth, he turns and runs, the box chasing
him ever so briefly before getting lodged behind a dresser leg. He keeps
running. And running. And running. Dodging under table legs, around the
chair, up over the computer desk, behind the couch until suddenly, with
a jerk, the shiny blue ribbon is ripped from his teeth.

He steps into the center of the room, amazed.

"Where did that all that blue stuff come from??"

Sauntering back to the bedroom to find the box, wondering why it stopped
following, he paws ever so slightly at it before biting down on a flash
of red.

"Hmmm, it really better follow . . . ."

This time, the run takes him through the kitchen, around the wall, over
the bookshelf, and around and around a high-legged stool. Abrubtly he is
pulled to a halt, the red ribbon snatched from his teeth just like before.

Gazing for a moment and leaping on the shiny metallic ribbon when the
sunlight catches it just so, he heads back to the bedroom. A bit of
green is next to be snatched, followed closely by gold, then silver,
purple, orange and finally pink.

"I'll figure out how to get it out there later. Besides, the apartment
needed a little decorating anyway."

Winded, he curls up for a nap in the corner next to his box.

see kitty
curled up
asleep on the floor

see susan
arrive home from work
and open the door

see susan
blink
in disbelief
and gaze
at the strands of ribbon
threaded throughout
knowing immediately
who
had so carefully
redecorated
the living room
bad
bad
kitty

*******************************

I will never forget that day. My roommates had both gone away for
Christmas break and so I closed their doors and figured I'd let Onyx
have the run of the place while I was at work. Life as a kitten when you
are cooped up in a bedroom all day can't be much fun.

The day before, I had bought a box of paper ribbon. It had eight
metallic colors, each one hidden inside different sections of the box
with holes in the side for access. Onyx immediately took interest--so
much so that I had put it on the top shelf of my closet to make him
leave it alone. He sat on the floor by the closet mewing at it for a
while before finally giving up.

I arrived home to a disaster. The ribbon was threaded in and out, up and
over, and around and around every piece of furniture in the living room.
Basically, one big tangled mess. He was pretty proud of himself too. I
tried to salvage it, but of course he wanted to help. I finally gave up,
cut the ends from the box and saved what little remained inside. The
rest, I unraveled from the furniture and then it was promptly
confiscated by one small black kitten. It was hilarious to watch him run
around with this giant ball of ribbon tagging behind.

To this day, there is still a small remnant of that giant glittery ball
in the cat toy box.