Days became weeks and Little Black Cat got used to the boredom. Every now and then humans came to say hello through the plastic glass but then they moved on to another cat. Sometimes they would get her out of her cabin, but this was an opportunity to explore fresh smells before being lifted back into her cabin, so she never got petted and talked to as much as the others.
Then one day (a Saturday, by human reckoning) two human ladies came to visit. One of them was in a chair that moved on its own and had odd movements but she was one who could nearly purr as she talked to her. She had kind eyes thought Little Black Cat as she was lifted down onto the floor. The wheels had all kinds of inviting smells and Little Black Cat sniffed at them while the lady reached down to stroke her with her fingertips. After running off to sniff the length of the room Little Black Cat came back to the ladies. The other one knelt down and played finger games with her while the lady in the chair crooned endearments.
Little Black Cat decided. She would go with this lady. Her body language told the humans they had been chosen, and once they realised this she was carefully put into her cabin for one last time. The humans left after talking to her through the see-through wall some more, and Little Black Cat waited to be put into a Box to leave this place.
When it came, the Box smelled brand new and Little Black Cat knew it had been bought for HER! There was a towel in it and it smelled nice and inviting so Little Black Cat didn’t object to being put into it, ready to be taken to her new home.
Once more, being carried in the Box made her feel unsettled and the drive home was made up of lots and lots of bends that shook her Box. She sat still, looking through the grill door, hoping that the car would get home soon.
Finally the car stopped and Little Black Cat’s Box was carried a short way into a house and put on the floor. The grill was opened and cautiously Little Black Cat emerged, sniffing and using her whiskers to assess whether this was safe or not. The humans let her explore everywhere except one room. This made her curious to see what was being denied her so she slipped in when nobody was looking.
There was carpet in this room unlike everywhere else; there was also a lovely big chair and two window ledges to sit on. Little Black Cat sniffed round the room, under the bed, finding lots of cobwebs, in the big clothes cupboard, and up onto both window ledges. She liked this room a lot! Unfortunately she kept getting taken out of the room and if it wasn’t for the fact that she had loads and loads of other places to explore, Little Black Cat would have been annoyed.
The lady in the chair with wheels bent down to play with her but Little Black Cat realised she would get more attention if she jumped up onto a big table with a whole lot of leads and boxes that hummed softly to her, so she came up to her human lady’s height to be stroked and petted.
“You are so beautiful, little one,” she said over and over to Little Black Cat as she stroked her from ears to tail. “So soft too. Why didn’t your last human look for you? I’ll not lose you, I promise,”
Little Black Cat couldn’t answer her human because she didn’t know (and because she couldn’t speak HuMan!), but she felt safe and loved and secure from any horrid things. She had lots of food, more than in the refuge, and she had a whole house to explore and make her own, and humans who she could wrap round her tiniest claw. It was purrfect.
It took a few nights before Little Black Cat got her human mummy 'cat' to realise that the big sitting room reminded her too much like the car house when it was dark and everyone was asleep. She liked it when there was light and or mummy 'cat' in the chair with wheels there but definitely not in the dark.
Eventually Little Black Cat got to sleep in mummy 'cat's bedroom. That was so much nicer, and even nicer when she had her very own bed. She showed off her jumping skills at night but mummy 'cat' was not very happy at being woken.
“Stop it, little one” she’d call out from her bed. “You know I can't get up and play with you. So shhh now, hey?”
Little Black Cat was getting used to her new life as a princess – even if she WAS told to ‘Shut Up’ at night. She remembered THAT from before she was lost: the human man was always saying that to her. She had lots of toys to play with and push under the two bits of furniture she couldn’t get under! Her mummy 'cat' gave her lots of cuddles and strokes as well and Little Black Cat was in feline paradise.
There was one odd thing… … her mummy 'cat' kept having different people stay with her. It was very odd and confusing for a Little Black Cat who was just settling in; just as she got used to one lady, she’d go away with one or more box that they pull along the ground and another one arrived. One week the lady who came didn’t really like her or mummy 'cat' – and she insisted in talking to Little Black Cat in a funny language too! Little Black Cat’s lady sat stroking and talking to her as Little Black Cat lounged on her cushion on the big table. She could tell mummy 'cat' wasn’t happy and let herself be petted a lot more than she might have otherwise.
Then one day her hormones kicked in again and she started Calling.
Again. . . .
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