Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Special Treat – J. C. Breeze

February 9, 2008

I wish to introduce our newest writer J. C. Breeze who wrote a series about his cat Shadow which will be featured as a special treat.  Here is Part 1.  J. C is writer number 458.

***Published by rosannecatalano.net Dec. 10, 2007

Cats meow for writers & readers e-zine

                                 Shadow

                                      by     

                             J.C. Breeze: all rights reserved

On a cold winter day a feral kitten wandered out from the wooded paradise behind our home. My attitude was distant and uncaring; not so my wife who encouraged the kitten to return. The kitten returned and then again and again. Weeks past into months and then into years. The cunning visitor grew into a handsome cat with black and white tuxedo markings. I weakened every time it spoke in its own endearing way. When he did so, his emissions would flow in trickles; sounding like musical tones bubbling under deep water. I fought a losing battle against attitude adjustments.

But let me start at the beginning.

 [C1] 

OUT OF THE WOODS:

You can’t easily adopt a homeless cat. The notion is especially true of the feral kind!  These animals, only if they choose to, may adopt you. Felines are cunning and aloof creatures surviving in abundance in homeless circumstances. In our county they populate in the woods. They struggle with harsh seasons. Their movements are quiet and self possessed; searching every day for food and shelter. Wild cats freely reproduce. They live short lives risking their survival on fitness; competing with their own species for dominance. Other predatory animals regard them as part of nature’s provision in an intricate native hunt chain.            

Cats thrive in many habitats. Mainly they cohabit with humans who pamper the animal as a valued pet. I never was keen on cats. In fact I was never keen on domestic pets of any kind. But, most of all, I had no interest in cats. I found communication with them unsettling.

At its early age our new kitten tracked in the winter’s chill. His dark color blended with the background. Fallen leaves made him invisible to the glancing eye. One day he stepped out of the woods onto an unfamiliar clearing. From the far end of our lawn he spied our home and patio. Lowering his head, the kitten followed his nose onto the open landscape. Occasionally he stopped to raise his view. Then, reassured, he lowered his head again to continue his circumspect movements toward our house. The aromas coming from the kitchen were urging. The scrawny waif moved forward. Instincts suddenly overwhelmed the kitten’s naive inquisitiveness. He scurried back to the safety of the bordering woods. In childlike innocence the startled kitten peered back toward the lawn from under a protective bush; gazing in puzzlement at a quiet landscape.

There were more secretive visits. The kitten viewed the clearing with more familiarity. His confidence grew. His range expanded. It was obvious that he would reach all the way to our patio. And as it was bound to happen, one day the kitten was discovered.  My wife, Terri, offered the undernourished visitor a bowl of cream. She placed it on our patio. The bowl was quickly drained. With his belly satisfied the kitten hastily retreated to the safety of the surrounding woods.

At first, my disdain for domestic cats prejudiced my regard for this ununvited visitor. I felt that they were overrated as pets. They did not earn the maintenance they required. Moreover, I felt that cats were conceited. Yet….this little guy was cute, I thought. His body was frail. As with all things childlike, he had a definite allure. But…. in the beginning when he was gone I did not expect to see him again; a prospect over which I had no concern.

Shortly after our first encounter with the kitten we had a snowfall. While shoveling the driveway I became aware of a movement from behind an evergreen along the path to our front door. It was the wild kitten stretching his neck to get a better view of my shovel. His expression betrayed his puzzlement as he regarded me at work. His short legs reached deep down in the snow. Only his dark upper body was visible above the blanket of white. I spoke to him and he, realizing his detection, bolted; sinking his legs in the snow with each struggling leap away toward the sheltering woods.

Later, at dinner, Terri informed me that our feral visitor had been making frequent calls on our patio. On each visit Terri had fed the freeloader. The visits had become so predictable that the kitten was given a name. He was dubbed SHADOW! Through the months that followed Shadow’s visits continued. The frequency became daily. A relationship between Shadow and Terri was evolving. I voiced concern about Shadow’s ability to cope in the wild.

“Life with us is having an effect on Shadow’s ability to deal with nature in the raw” I said. “Shadow’s sharpness is his key defense for survival in the wild. That sharpness is eroding. He is spending too much time in the unthreatening world of our patio.”

Terri’s reply was brief and to the point. “Hush, we’ll convert him.”

 Shadow’s exposure to our world continued without moderation.          

More than one year had passed. There was a change in Shadow’s personality. He continued to display discretion in avoiding warm and easy physical contact with his human caretakers. However he would allow Terri to brush him and would submit himself to brief petting. These acts of familiarity encouraged us that Shadow’s conversion was possible. Shadow’s regular feeding on store bought nutritious food was producing a robust cat. As he physically grew in his new environment he was, at the same time, maturing in his appetites beyond food. Characteristic male instincts in Shadow were on the rise. He would at times wander. Sometimes he was absent for long periods. On some returns his appearances displayed violent marks on his body; evidence of fights with other animals.                                           

Once, after an absence of several nights, Shadow returned with bleeding scratches across his nose. A small piece of his left ear was severed; hanging by a thread of flesh. He also walked with a limp. It was obvious that Shadow’s well being was in jeopardy under present conditions. We decided that it was time to get Shadow to a veterinarian. Shadow needed medical attention and we needed professional advice on other matters concerning a wild cat. The issue at this point was how we were going to get Shadow to the vet.

He was mostly living outdoors, not enjoying the benefits of full domestication. Shadow had begun to transition from a state of wildness to a state of semi wild.  In-door we had a little control of his movements. We started to serve his food in the kitchen. After he ate Shadow preened. Following his cleansing Shadow slept on the sill of our large bow window in our living room. Upon awakening Shadow would seek the outdoors. The bow window gave us an idea. We focused on the confinement offered by the windowsill. It was a likely location for someone to grasp Shadow at the back of his neck and then thrust him into a pet Transport.   

The grasp and thrust was accomplished. Away we went to the vet’s office with the occupied pet Transport in tow. At the vet’s office we explained the circumstances of our visit and requested a full examination for Shadow.  In addition to the obvious external physical damage that needed attention the vet treated Shadow for an infestation of ear mites. 

Before we left the vet’s office we discussed the merits of altering Shadow. The vet was encouraging on this subject. He pointed out some clear advantages for Shadow, for us and for the community in general; considering the explosion in the population of homeless cats. Shadow would of course experience a disinclination for female partners. His personality would soften. Shadow’s diminished tendency to wander and a permanent family pet were strong points for us to swallow. We decided to go ahead with the operation.

Time has proven that our decision to seek medical solutions was the correct action. Shadow, though he still relished the outdoors, thereafter slept in the house every night on a pad in the bow window. The window offers a full view of our acreage. Shadow enjoyed the secure warmth of our heating system in the winter and the light breezes of the summer.  

Though fading, the instincts honed in his formative period still lurked in the deeper recesses of Shadow’s being. I could tell from his movements that Shadow’s senses were in touch with another time. Occasionally a distant call would tap him. In lissome movements, Shadow patrolled at the edge of the woods. Pausing in his track, and lifting his nose skyward, Shadow revolved an airborne memory.

These were manifestations that I pondered!

J. C. Breeze

jtcjc@optonline.net

I am a retired executive. I have spent all of my 36 years in the main frame and network computer industry; with national and international distribution. The firms were, Sperry Rand, and a unit company within ITT. Amongst my managment assignments is the development of an Information Services section; designed to distrisbute product promotion articles to all marketing offices. I also wrote and edited material.

In addition I have written some articles that have been published in industry media; in the USA and Canada. 

My degree is from New York University

My activity now is writing short story fiction and golf.