Requiem for a Small White Cat

Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: TOAST:  To a small white cat
From: kbryant@husc7.harvard.edu (Katherine Bryant)
Date: 15 Mar 1994 04:39:18 GMT

Valentine walks over to the bar.  "Cider, please, Mike," she says, extracting
the usual dollar bill.

"Here you are," he says, handing her the glass.  "You look like you need to
make a toast."

She nods.  "Yeah.  Yeah, I do."  She walks to the chalk line, drains the
cider, and says, "To Jenny-cat!"  She flings her glass into the fireplace
with more than her usual emphasis.

"Someone was talking in here recently about losing dear pets.  Well, I'm
afraid I'm about to.

"She's a small-built, white cat with some black markings, especially a sort of
triangle at the back of her head. We used to say she had the disposition of
a camel; she wasn't always nice.  She used to attack my toes fiercely 
whenever I dared walk around barefoot.

"We got her from the humane society when I was seven, about fourteen and
a half years ago.  She was tiny; too young to be weaned, really.  My mom
used to feed her milk with an eyedropper because she couldn't drink from 
a saucer.

"She's always been healthy; a bit arthritic in recent years, but no serious
problems.

"Till now."  Valentine swallows hard.  "Apparently, she's had trouble keeping
food down for the past several days, so my parents took her to the vet.
They kept her overnight, and have now sent her home again, so I guess it's
not immediately life-threatening... but I wonder.  She's never had problems
like this before, and she is old..."  She trails off, biting her lip to
keep from crying.

"In recent years, I've often wondered, each time I left my parents' house
after a visit, whether she'd be there the next time.  Now I really wonder
if she'll be there when I go home in July, and that's hard to take."

"So if anyone here has a few good words to spare with whatever deity/deities
or higher power you speak with for one small white cat, I'd appreciate it."
She looks into the flames.  "And for those who love her, too."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Frustra fit per plura, quod potest fieri per pauciora." --- William of Ockham

 Valentine...........................................kbryant@husc.harvard.edu

From: David Mar <mar@physics.su.OZ.AU>
Subject: Re: TOAST:  To a small white cat
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 01:24:24 GMT

>[Valentine, about Jenny-cat:]
>"In recent years, I've often wondered, each time I left my parents' house
>after a visit, whether she'd be there the next time.  Now I really wonder
>if she'll be there when I go home in July, and that's hard to take."

Danger Mouse offers a hug. "I know how you feel. You might remember
nearly three years ago when I left for seven weeks in the USA, and my
cat Micha took ill just a few hours before I left. I found out three
weeks later, in a foreign country, that I wouldn't be seeing her again."

DM drains his glass and tosses it into the fireplace, where the shards mix
with those of Valentine's.

"The ancient Egyptians worshipped Bast, the cat-god. She'll watch over
our friends."

- Danger Mouse.


From: tlfur1@giaec.cc.monash.edu.au (T. FOOEY.. Furnell.)
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: Re: TOAST: To a small white cat
Date: 16 Mar 94 02:12:20 GMT

kbryant@husc7.harvard.edu (Katherine Bryant) writes:

>"So if anyone here has a few good words to spare with whatever deity/deities
>or higher power you speak with for one small white cat, I'd appreciate it."
>She looks into the flames.  "And for those who love her, too."

One thought for both you and Jenny-cat. Time and patients, I hope all works
out for you both. 

FOOEY..

Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: TOAST/WINDOW: To the inevitable
From: kbryant@husc7.harvard.edu (Katherine Bryant)
Date: 29 Mar 1994 15:34:18 GMT

Valentine steps back through the French Doors and into the Place.  She
walks straight out the front door.

A few moments later, she walks back in, looking sad and somber.  In her
arms is a white cat with a black triangle at the back of its head and a few
other black markings.  It's a fairly small, delicate-boned cat.  For once,
the cat is accepting being held, instead of fighting to get down.

Valentine walks over to an X-Window and opens it.  

"First of all, thanks to everyone for the warm, supportive responses to my
'Toast to a small white cat' post.  Jenny, sometimes known as Petunia
and Turkeybird, died Sunday night." She strokes the cat in her arms.  "She
was suffering much, probably kidney failure due to old age, and, from what
Mom said on the phone last night, just wasn't herself.  So my parents made
the merciful choice, and had her put to sleep."

She sets the cat through the X-Window.  "Here, there are grasshoppers and
squirrels to chase, a sycamore tree to climb that no one will turn a hose
on you to make you come down, fences to climb that no one will stop you
from climbing over.

"There are sunny spots and electric blankets for napping, and people with
laps and afghans and frozen yogurt bowls." She gives the cat one last
loving scratch behind the ears.  "Go ahead, go on."  The cat scampers away
into the grass, the arthritis of age vanishing into the friskiness of her
youth.  Valentine slowly closes the X-Window behind her.  As she turns to
come back to the chalk line, there are (very real) tears rolling down her
cheeks.

Swallowing hard, she makes her toast.  "To Jenny-cat, and to all the pets who
are so much more than mere pets, but loving and beloved friends and family."

<<<CRASH>>>

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Frustra fit per plura, quod potest fieri per pauciora." --- William of Ockham

 Valentine...........................................kbryant@husc.harvard.edu


From: jmpierce@medea.gp.usm.edu (Dreamy Jim)
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: Re: TOAST/WINDOW: To the inevitable
Date: 29 Mar 1994 21:47:53 GMT


   For a small cat by DJ.

     A catnip mouse,
     a torn couch,
     laps for purring in,
     hands to caress,

     Cats dart about the room,
     cats meoow for attention,
     trees are for climbing and worrying owners !
     
     See the Fearsome Cat attack The Dreaded Yarn Monster !
     Watch as the kitty cat rubs against ankles.

     caught out in the rain, it wants in ! Nooow !
     drying off in front of a warm fireplace,
     wrapped in a blanket.

     Owner and pet human fall asleep in a chair...

--
Jim     jmpierce@medea.gp.usm.edu  Disclaimer: Standard. 


From: NEILDM@inel.gov (Neil, David M)
Subject: Re: TOAST/WINDOW: To the inevitable
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 1994 21:05:14 GMT


     As the crash of Valentine's toast rings into silence, a previously
     unseen figure steps out of a corner. He is human above the waist, but
     his legs seem to shimmer as if trying to join into flukes.  His eyes
     range from the blue of the deeps through green to a storm surge gray
     as his moods change.  A black cat lies across his shoulders.  "I had
     intended to lurk for a while, but ..."  A tear slips down his cheek as
     he wipes his eyes.  A dollar goes down on the bar.  "Margarita,
     please, on the rocks"  The drink stays on the counter.  He lifts the
     cat from his shoulder and strokes it.  The cat is skinny and its fur
     has mats in it, but it looks at him alertly and purrs.  "I'm Mac lir
     and this is Sam.  Originally Little Black Sambo, with all due
     apologies to friends and associates who got their tans as a birthday
     present.  He was my companion since college; fifteen and a half years.
     He died this past December, old age and probably a touch of
     pneumonia.  Toward the end, I laid him on a heating pad and his
     apprentice, Shortstop, and I sat vigil with him. I laid his mortal
     part to rest among some trees in a nice park."  He carries the cat to
     the X-window and lifts it through.  "Go keep Jenny company."  Sam
     walks away, unsteadily at first, then faster as he becomes the glossy
     creature he once was.  Mac lir turns back to the room.  Those close
     can hear him murmuring the "Litany of Dust" from the Steussy books as
     he lifts his drink and approaches the chalk line.  "To a faithful
     friend, who asked no more than a warm lap and an occasional bit of
     salami, and who gave his love without question."  <<Crashtinkle>>
     "You know, some thing odd happened after Sam died.  I put him outside
     until I could see well enough through my tears to not cut my foot off
     with the shovel.  When I went out, there was a white cat beside the
     body, just sitting there.  When it saw me, it walked away and left.  I
     never saw that cat before or since."


Date: Tue, 29 Mar 1994 17:27:11 EST
From: <SHARNA@MAINE.MAINE.EDU>
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: Re: TOAST/WINDOW: To the inevitable

A second CRASH follows Valentine's.

"From one who has lost several cats of her own, and, working at a
Humane Society, has seen far too many lost.
May Jenny-Cat have a better life next time around."

-Chauntilly Lais


Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: Re: TOAST/WINDOW: To the inevitable
From: kbryant@husc7.harvard.edu (Katherine Bryant)
Date: 30 Mar 1994 15:26:36 GMT

Mac lir delurks and writes:

>     As the crash of Valentine's toast rings into silence, a previously
>     unseen figure steps out of a corner. He is human above the waist, but
>     his legs seem to shimmer as if trying to join into flukes.  His eyes

<deletia for bandwidth>

>     has mats in it, but it looks at him alertly and purrs.  "I'm Mac lir
>     and this is Sam.  Originally Little Black Sambo, with all due
>     apologies to friends and associates who got their tans as a birthday
>     present.  He was my companion since college; fifteen and a half years.
>     He died this past December, old age and probably a touch of
>     pneumonia.  Toward the end, I laid him on a heating pad and his
>     apprentice, Shortstop, and I sat vigil with him. I laid his mortal
>     part to rest among some trees in a nice park."  He carries the cat to
>     the X-window and lifts it through.  "Go keep Jenny company."  Sam
>     walks away, unsteadily at first, then faster as he becomes the glossy
>     creature he once was.  Mac lir turns back to the room.  Those close

Valentine watches as Sam runs off to join Jenny, tears in her eyes.

>     can hear him murmuring the "Litany of Dust" from the Steussy books as
>     he lifts his drink and approaches the chalk line.  "To a faithful
>     friend, who asked no more than a warm lap and an occasional bit of
>     salami, and who gave his love without question."  <<Crashtinkle>>
>     "You know, some thing odd happened after Sam died.  I put him outside
>     until I could see well enough through my tears to not cut my foot off
>     with the shovel.  When I went out, there was a white cat beside the
>     body, just sitting there.  When it saw me, it walked away and left.  I
>     never saw that cat before or since."

Valentine smiles.  "My mother said that late Sunday night, after she got
home from the animal hospital after Jenny was put to sleep, she was walking
by my room there and there was a circle of moonlight on the floor.  She
said she did a real double-take, and then decided it was a nice idea, maybe
Jenny went on a moonbeam."

She offers Mac lir a hug.  


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Frustra fit per plura, quod potest fieri per pauciora." --- William of Ockham

 Valentine...........................................kbryant@husc.harvard.edu