Cat Paws Through History

AuthorHouse

Chapter One

As he watched from afar, — Mumzy, his human Mama, — wasscampering to and fro once again: Pretending to be a squirrel,he presumed.

Humans could act so silly at times: He mused, as he twitchedhis long whiskers, and crossed his paws in a royal manner. Not atall like cats. Cats were regal.

Especially, — Persian cats!

Being a Persian cat himself, he was quite proud of the fact thathis family lineage was steeped in history, and that the breed whichhe represented was known as one of the oldest and most intelligentbreed of cats.

This morning, he had been sitting in his wicker basket for thepast hour trying desperately to take a much needed nap; However,Mumzy had been of absolutely no help. For, it seemed the harderhe tried — the more noise Mumzy seem to make.

"Phffft!" he muttered beneath his breath. Much too much noisefor his particular liking at this hour of the day!

Noise always made it rather difficult for one to fall asleep.

Why, in heaven's, she did not know this was a rather perplexingthought. After all, did Mumzy not understand that napping was anessential part of a feline's daily routine? — He asked himself curiously,as he wiggled his long whiskers.

Raising his wide head slowly, Ko-Ko gave out a loud meow.

'Perhaps now,' he thought in a somewhat miffed manner, 'shewould comprehend the fact that he wished to have some peace andquiet.'

Why was it so very difficult at times to train humans? Hepondered.

Alas, did they not consider themselves to be the most intelligentof all creatures which God had created?

Huh! — Tut! Tut! Tut! That was a matter of opinion!

"Peef, puff, poof!" he muttered beneath his breath in sheerexasperation.

Having heard him, Mumzy stopped in her tracks. Turningabout ever so slowly, she proceeded to stare at him in the most curiousmanner: Alas, the stare down had begun.

Then, with a disturbingly serious look upon her face, she utteredwith emphasis:

"Ko-Ko ... of all the rooms in this house, I absolutely do notcomprehend as to why you insist upon taking your morning nap inour master bedroom?" she questioned, in an authoritative tone.

Excellent! — At least she had interpreted his meow correctly,Ko-Ko mused, as he recrossed his paws in a different manner:Having suddenly become quite bored with the entire matter athand, he yawned and squinted his golden eyes.

Now, what was he to do while she was making all this noise? Itwas rather a predicament.

Stretching out his chubby claws, he proceeded to do his fingerexercises: Pretending to have not heard Mumzy's most indelicatecomments.

However, — no matter how hard he tried, — it was rather difficultto ignore her presence. She was such a formidable force whenshe wanted to be.

After all, but a few years ago, they had named an hurricane afterher!

Come to think of it, he mused, she did seem rather miffed athim. For, he could always tell when Mumzy was miffed. She wouldhave that certain look within her dark-brown, doe-like eyes, almostas if a tornado was about to arise.

Yet, what Ko-Ko could not understand was as to why she wasso very upset with him? Alas, — was it not she who was disturbinghis sleep, — not the other way around?

Pish-Posh!

Sighing, Ko-Ko stretched out his short and somewhat pudgyarms even further: As far as they would go in fact, for he just remembered— he had not done his stretching exercises this morning.They were a mandatory, daily routine, especially if one were acat, which he most certainly was.

Looking almost like the Egyptian Sphinx, he proceeded tostare at Mumzy with his half-closed, golden eyes. Then, he winkedseveral times.

Perhaps, he mused as he batted his long, black eyelashes, if hewere to concentrate hard enough, he could somehow mesmerizeher into stopping all this scampering about. It was quite disturbing.

Well, he pondered, it was most certainly worth a try.

Focus! Focus! — Mesmerize!

But alas, his efforts were to no avail. He failed, for it didnot work. She was still scampering about in a most undignifiedmanner.

Such a disappointment: What was he to do now?

Opening his mouth wide, he yawned: Thus, pushing his long,white whiskers back towards his tiny ears.

My goodness, such silly questions Mumzy was asking thismorning, he pondered to himself in a bored manner. Besides, whatin heavens was the matter of preferring this particular room for hismorning nap? Did she not realize that the answer to that specificquestion was quite simple?

Why ever not?!

This particular, beautiful basket, in which he found himself recliningat present, was after all one of his very favorites. So there!

It was the, — the emphasis alas being on the word the, — designatedbasket for his morning nap: Thus, the reason as to why hewas in it presently.

Being a cat, it was a known fact that he was quite finicky bynature. Therefore, in his cat-tish opinion, everything about thispurr-ticular basket, and its purr-esent location, was considered tobe absolutely purr-fect.

To begin with, it was lined with his favorite wooly sweater: Theone that belonged to his beloved Mumzy.

Being white and ever so fuzzy, it happened to coincide quitewell with his overall long, thick, and rather furry coat. When hefound himself reclined in that basket, he knew that there was acertain look about him which brought great joy to all who wouldwish to observe his being.

Alas, it had always been his philosophy that if one could bringjoy to others, then why should not one do so? Such was his nature.

Second, — he immensely enjoyed the fact that this basket wasplaced in the most perfect location — right next to the enormousfireplace: Thus, making it ever so warm, snuggly and cozy.

Third, — this being a rather brisk fall day, where else wouldone be, if one may be so bold as to ask? After all, did they wanthim to freeze his little fur off of his pudgy body? A most purr-posterousthought!

Of course, this was a bit of an exaggeration, he mused, but alasit could happen, — and no, — he was not being dramatic!

My goodness! Such nonsense he had to think of in order tohave a proper excuse to stay as to where he was. It was much toomuch for one cat to bear.

Fourth, he continued to ponder, — a most wonderful fire wasburning presently within the fireplace. It was absolutely yummy.

Oh! — So very yummy, in fact, that it was indescribable: Only,but only, a cat would understand. For it was a rather difficult conceptto explain to mere humans.

Fifth, — at this particular time of the morning, the sun wouldcome shining in with its golden rays. Ever so brightly, it wouldproceed to beam through the large, cut-glass windows in the mostperfect way: Thus, making his soft, cream and brownish-blackhued fur feel ever so nice and toasty.

"Meowyyyymyyy!" Ko-Ko sighed with a purr, placing his chinupon his bear-like paws. How very warm and comfortable it wasjust lying here, doing absolutely nothing. He pondered with a slightwiggle of his velvety nose.

Therefore, the matter at hand was rather simple. In his personalopinion, he had quite a few exceptionally good reasons as to why hewas here in this particular part of the house — at this...