April 15, 2020 - 215 - "A Writer's Best Friend"

No Illusions

      Ella and I play this little game.  I think I've told you about it.  She's been playing it for years, but recently I did actually figure it out.  Of course, by the time I knew it existed the score was something like 32 gazillion to zero-Ella's favor.  

     But now that I've caught on we play it multiple times per day.  

     I start up the stairs and say:  "I'm winning.  I'm winning!"  And Ella will jump up from a deep sleep, from anywhere in the house, fly to the stairs and tear up after me until she's passed me.  Then she turns on a dime and roars at me like a tiger.  

     This of course means:  "Sucker!  I beat you again."  

    Then she pretends not to care about the second half of the game, slinks casually through the den vaguely heading in the direction of my office.  

    I will then start walking fast, and say:  "Who's winning to the desk?  Who's winning?"  She continues walking slowly until I get close to the desk chair, at which point she will streak past me and leap on top of her pillow.  She spins around and stares at me, waiting for her winnings.  (Temptation Cat Treats, of course.)

Ella waiting for her winnings.

     I then say:  "Who won up the stairs?  Ella!"  and give her a treat.  Followed by:  "Who won to the desk?  Ella did!"  and give her another treat.  

    Then I say:  "Who's the cutest kittie in the Universe?  Why Ellie-bellie is, of course."  And I kiss and scratch her;  because I'm crazy about her, and because I'm trying not to give her too many treats. 

    Ella typically spends most of the day with me at my desk.    

    This, of course, is because she loves to be near me and is intrigued with everything I do and say...!!!

Okay, Maybe I Still Have a Few Illusions

   

     Here  is Ella pondering something witty I just said.  

    It's obvious here that she is hanging on my every word!

    Yep.  She just can't get enough of my clever banter.   

     There is just nothing like an admiring desk cat for keeping things real!

     I guess there's a slight chance that the actual reason she's hanging out nearby is to win another couple treats.  If I need to go downstairs.  Then she knows another treat-winning contest will happen soon!

  

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"If you want to write, keep cats."

-Aldous Huxley

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"I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul."

-Jean Cocteau

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