Scout is Hyatt’s cat. He writes his own column each week. He thinks he’s cat, knows he’s a cat, but really relates more to the dogs. Thus, he has determined he is a cat-dog and the dogs around the house are dog-cats. These are his adventures.
I love being outside!
I think. . .
I love it when the Nice Lady takes me outside the house I’ve decided to live in. It is great! It smells different, there are noises, there are plants, there are animals, there are all sorts of things that aren’t in the house. I love it! She even lets me walk around outside the house when she’s with me.
That’s when it gets weird….
There are things Outside that aren’t inside.
Inside it’s pretty simple. You’ve got the Old Guy, the Nice Lady and the Young Man who stays in his odd-smelling room for the most part unless he gets hungry and then comes out to the eating area in my house and … well, he eats. A lot. But most of the time it’s simple. It’s me and the dog-cats; Saaayyyydeee and Innnnnndeeeee. And they leave me alone and I leave them alone unless I want to see if Saaaayyyydee wants to snuggle. She’s a big dog-cat and she’s good for snuggles when no one is watching us.
Anyhow… Inside I don’t have to worry about much getting me. Outside is another deal.
I forgot what it was like to be Outside.
When I was little, living with my brothers and sisters and my mom we were Outside. It was a long time ago. I don’t know much about it other than I didn’t really like it then. I didn’t have a Nice Lady or anyone to take care of me. It was kinda scary. And then one day, I got to choose to live with my family and I like it. But being Outside then, it was not good.
So now, I have a new Outside. I have my Nice Lady to carry me around and the dog-cats to protect me. Still, the other day, it go crazy.
I was walking along, minding my own business, sniffing and maybe eating some grass when all of a sudden, out of the grass, these things jumped out, made a noise and took off running! I first wanted to chase them, but instead my body just jumped up into the air and took over. When I landed, my body took over again. All of a sudden I was back in the arms of the Nice Lady, wondering what the heck had happened!!!
It turns out, rabbits happened.
I heard the Nice Lady tell the Old Guy, and she was laughing and it was not funny, that I got scared by something called rabbits.
Now, I was not scared.
I was being smart. Not knowing exactly what it was that I obviously frightened and scared off because of my amazing strength and ferocity; I jumped into the air to see what was going on. I just happened to land right next to the Nice Lady who scooped me up in her arms before I could continue to drive off the evil “rabbits”. I’m not sure what rabbits do, but I’m not about to let them take over my “Outside”. They might make my bird friends not come around and I would hate that.
I think I’m making progress with the birds. I look out the nice bird-tv window the Nice Lady obviously cut out of the wall in the house for me and I make noises at them. I know they want to be my friends, unlike the “rabbits”.
If I could just get them into the house, I know we could be friends. They look like fun. I don’t know why I want to be friends with them, but it is really causing me problems…. They come by the window and I jump up and just look out the bird-tv window and can hardly control myself.
It’s embarrassing. It’s kind of how the dog-cats act when they hear the Nice Lady put food in their bowls. So embarrassing. They act like they haven’t eaten in years. Me? I hear the food being put out, but I will at least saunter through the room with the big talking-picture box on the wall and pretend like I’m not out there for my food. I’ll act like I just kinda noticed it out of the corner of my eye. Then I may or may not go eat it right then. Don’t want them to know I’m totally dependent on them for food. . .
Meanwhile, about the Outside.
I really like being out there with the Nice Lady, but I’m really glad I don’t have to live out there anymore.
Like I said, I kinda remember being Outside. I don’t think we liked it. It was hard on my Mom. It was scary for us not knowing who to trust from the people. I didn’t even have a dog-cat to pretend not to like even though I really like my dog-cat friends. It was really not fun, being Outside when I was little.
I sometimes wonder if my brothers and sisters are still Outside.
I hope they aren’t.
I hope my Mom and my brothers and sisters all found a Nice Lady and an Old Guy and a Young Man who decided to let them live with them Inside. I like to say I decided to live with my family now, and it’s true. I did. But I’m really glad they wanted me to live with them. I can’t imagine how hard it would be being Outside all the time around those “rabbit” things! They’re crazy.
Oh, by the way. Did I tell you about the “Lighting”? The “Lighting” I saw Outside the other night!!! I saw it outside my bird-tv window. It was nuts! It was dark, then it was light. And it kept doing it for hours while the Nice Lady and The Old guy slept… I saw it! I made the sky crazy! If I see it again, I’ll tell you about it. I don’t think the dog-cats were paying attention… but I was. We need more information on this “Lighting” thing in the sky. It can’t be good!
Ok, I see the Old Guy coming back to his room where he keeps this writing-box he lets me use. I should go now. I hope he uses spell-check for me. I’m not a gud speller.
Thanks again for reading my stories. – Scout, The Cat-Dog.
