Chapter 24- My Life: Clarence, the Barn Kitty

Back in 1802, when I lived in Connecticut and we had all our animals...horses, ponies, Black Angus, Capons, Chinchillas and two Chihuahuas (oh, how I hated them!!!), there was one thing that we never had.  We never had a cat.  Now that I think about it, I don't know why either.

So from out of the blue after I'd prayed and prayed for a cat, there it was...hiding in the barn.  I'd bring down some leftovers from my dinner plate each evening and it gradually let me pick it up.  He (I call it a he but I have no clue what it was really) was so handsome.  A beautiful gray with the prettiest green eyes and he could purr so loud that it sounded like a little engine!

I named him Clarence...after the cross-eyed lion on "Daktari"  (if you're old enough to remember that show!)  But Clarence wasn't cross-eyed.  He was just a big, husky handsome fellow.  When winter came, I had made up my mind that it was too cold for Clarence to stay in the barn.  So, just as the Grinch stuffed his shirt with toys from the Whos down in Whoville, I stuffed my jacket with Clarence, the barn kitty.

I carefully made my way up to my room with Clarence tucked away ever so snugly.  I closed the door behind me.  Whew!  We made it.  He inspected every crevice of my room.  And then he decided that he was really fond of the reading pillow that was on my bed.  You know, it was quilted, stuffed with padding and sort of wedge shaped so you could lean against it while reading.  It was a pink floral print no less which really made his gray fur stand out once he got up from it.  

So it became a little routine...I'd bring him down to the barn when I did my early morning chores and then after school, I'd once again go to the barn, gather him in my arms and bring him to my room.  That went on for months!  Yep...months.  But, as you know, all good things come to an end (one of life's invaluable lessons!!).  My Aunt cornered me one day asking what that gray hair was all over the pillow.  The jig was up!  I was busted!  I had to confess to what I'd been doing and the results...well, it wasn't good.

Clarence was gone.  He was not at the barn nor would I ever see him again.  My Uncle had taken him for "a ride in the country."  What a joke!  We lived in the country!!!  Do you think that's why I get so annoyed when people do that to their animals?...just drop them off...drop them off as if they were garbage?



P.S.  I've linked this post to WVATreasures for Angela's Tuesday's Show & Tail.  Why don't you join us?