Sunday, April 10, 2011

Just Once More, PLEASE

"Can you walk Halle for me Friday?" asked Halle's grandma, Deborah. "Sure," I replied, "Happy to do it."
So Ray and I headed over to Halle's house around lunchtime. We entered. I looked around. No Halle (some watchdog she is). I called out, "Halle! Halle!" No sound.
Ray was excited to be there. I held on to his leash tightly to keep him from banging into things as we walked into the living room for a look-around. No Halle. Not in the kitchen, not in the room off the kitchen. We walked to the bottom of the stairs. "Halle!" I called.
Nothing.
"Halle," I called again, "Your boyfriend is here!"
There was thump as Halle hit the floor (sleeping on a bed?). I looked up the stairs to see her skitter to a stop at the top, then come stumbling down the stairs at a high rate of speed, her tail wagging furiously. Obviously the idea of a boy in the house while no one was home was vastly appealing.
When Halle reached the bottom of the stairs (I was watching to make sure she didn't fall down, she was coming so fast), I turned to see Ray (literally) nose-to-nose with one of Deborah's five cats. The cat wasn't afraid, just curious. Ray was sniffing interestedly, his ears deployed in ULTRA Dumbo mode. Finally, he'd gotten close enough to a cat to get a good smell. I watched on high alert. I knew what was coming next and I was ready for it.
Ray leapt back about a foot with stiff front legs, ready to let out his rebel yell. I grabbed his snout so he couldn't do it. The cat looked confused for a brief moment then wisely retreated to under a table. Ray was practically hysterical with excitement. I dragged him to the back door where Halle was waiting patiently to go out. I managed to get a collar on her and get Ray out the door.
Ray dragged me and Halle the whole way around the block, he was so anxious to get back to his newfound friend. This time, though, I didn't let him into the house. When we got back, I made Ray SIT, turned Halle loose inside, hung her leash on the hook next to the door and backed out. Halle was looking at us with a seriously disappointed look on her face. But it was nothing compared to Ray's disappointment at not being allowed to sniff the cat one more time.

3 comments:

  1. After being with us for a year now ( I can hardly believe it) Conor is now pretty much over his cat obsession, he will sniff Phoebe if he gets the chance and he sort of prods her with his nose, she gets fed up with him and then swats him so he then gets the message he is being over familiar, but it takes a confident cat to stand her ground, I think if she kept on just running away he would take that as an open invitation to give chase !

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  2. oh, PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE...take me back for just one more little teeny tiny sssnnnniiiiiifffffff of the kitty, please! Oh, come on mom, it smelled SO, well, cat like, and I want to sniff it again. Mmmmm, smelled so good!! It is what my nose was made for. Please? Our cats dont let me, please. (a message transcribed by anne in florida as received telepathically from Ray to be sent to his mom)

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  3. Anne: That comment sounds just like Ray. You have a real gift with the telepathy.

    Am I a Grownup: I wish Ray would get over his obsession with Moonie. I think he's done with Hugo because Hugo swats at him but Moonie just sits there (she is a gentle soul) and won't do anything. So of course Ray sees this as encouragement.

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