Chapter 2

Well, things are getting worse. Burl took a rock to the ribs yesterday. Those two kids were lighting something on fire in the alley, and Burl went to see what was cooking. Turns out they were setting fire to some dry grass. Then they saw Burl and he got the rock from thirty paces. If these idiots are not afraid of Burl, then they're not afraid of any of us.

And now, they brought a dog to the yard. It's a big dog too. That really changes the landscape quite a bit.

We are debating what to do (again). Some of our gang are thinking of moving to another neighborhood. But where? Satch has wandered the world, and he says there are cats everywhere. We wouldn't exactly want twenty new cats descending on our little corner, either.

Tort is so upset she hasn't eaten in two nights. (She's pretty fat, though, so I think she'll be alright. She can't even hop most of the walls around here anymore. That's probably why she's worried; if she gets caught in the alley with these two kids, she might have a long way to run before she can find a low wall. And she probably can't outrun them anyway. If I were Tort I'd hole up in a bush and live off my flab until this thing blows over.)

I'll admit, though, I'm a little frightened too. When I leave the house, it's not the same carefree stroll it used to be. Even Satch, who is usually optimistic about things, is at a loss for what to do. We'll figure something out, I'm sure.

John (the guy I share this house with) had a difficult day today. He was outside in our yard pulling up tall grass, and in a beautiful display of human poise and balance, he fell against a cactus. Heh heh heh. It was a little funny, even though he started yelling and cursing. Didn't know he had such language in him! I felt a little bad, but at least he's alive, and it probably hurt way less than Burl's rock did. Boy, walk a mile in our paws before you start crying like a dog!

He left his writing machine on again tonight, and went to bed early. Probably the cactus prickles were too much to handle!

I ended up living with John by chance. I was walking through his yard when he happened to be outside too. He brought out some food right away, which was nice of him. Then Satch warned me that food meant he probably had other cats, which he was holding as prisoners in his house. He said I shouldn't get near John, or he might capture me and never let me out again. Especially with my looks.

But I had a feeling John wasn't like that. I'd look in his windows, and never once did I see any prisoner cats. All I saw was John walking around. Sometimes even without all those silly rags that humans like to wear, so that shows he has at least some intelligence. If he grew some fur, he'd even be decent looking.

One day John left his back door open. I could smell the scent of other cats, but it was old scent, months old at least. Satch was wrong; there were no prisoners in John's house.

But there may have been, so I was careful. I called to him from the door. He came out, looking surprised. He gave me more food. He didn't try to capture me or anything.

After a few weeks, I went inside. He'd say "Hey Cat!" and let me in. He had comfortable places to lay down after eating, and he'd always let me out when I asked. After a few weeks, he'd caress me when I slept near his writing machine.

Satch knew I had gone to the dark side when I told him my new name was Cat.

"Where did you get that name? It's not even a name, its what you are," he added.

"John," I said simply.

"Oh give me a break. Leave it to one of them to come up with a name like that. Cat?"

"I like it. It's to the point. And the best part is that his last name is Powers!" I said with quiet excitement.

Satch just gave me a look and huffed.

Just a few days later, he admitted he liked the name too, although he swore he was not going to come live with me. I told him it's just a part time comfort. I have a door, and so does John. We both come and go as we please. I let him sleep in the bed, even, and he keeps it warm enough.

I'm working on it. I think Satch can be persuaded. I can be very persuasive if I have to.

So I was looking around on this SOL website that John seems to be on a lot. Do you know that humans think that female tits are sexy? Yeah, I know, and they only have two. I have eight! I think tomorrow I'm going to ask Satch to lick them and see what happens. I'll make sure he spends equal time on each one, just like in the stories I read.

The funniest part is that I saw one story where a human female got her breasts enlarged! Yes, that's right, apparently there's an obsession among humans with having them be large. I don't know why they do such things either. Can you imagine us having big breasts? They'd be dragging all over the floor getting irritated!