Final Writer's Workshop Piece

As morning’s first light infiltrated the room, my mother tenderly nudged me with her delicate pink tongue. Stretching as I slowly awakened, I basked in her loving attention. Though, the remnants of sleep proved difficult to cast off as I had spent most of the previous day doing my best to attract the interest of others. I had pranced and capered to no avail as a seemingly endless parade of inquisitive humans gawked at me through the dingy glass. Over the last few weeks it had been the pattern that a large soft palm would scoop one of my siblings up and carry them away. When they were taken, they would be gone for either a brief while, or they would not be returned. Occasionally, the chosen individual would be unceremoniously plopped back down into the soft shredded paper that constituted both our litter box and bed. Back under her supervision, my mother would commence with a meticulous grooming process to remove the “scent” from their bodies. When mother had finished with my siblings’ toilette, they would always brag and regale me with the antics they had engaged in while entertaining visitors in the “special room”. Though I wondered to myself, if they were so adept at amusing humans, why had they been returned to our pen? By this time, the prettier and healthier of my 7 siblings had been greedily snapped up leaving only my mother and me behind to wonder why we were somehow deficient in comparison. Being the runt of the litter I had a sneaking suspicion as to why I had never been beyond the confines of my clutch. When facility was closed and the lights dimmed, I could catch a glimpse of my own reflection in the glass. In the half-light, what I saw was a rather dainty bit grey of fluff with black stripes and gold eyes staring back at me. In my appraisal, what I saw was not unattractive. Yet, I simply did not compare with my eldest sibling who had been adopted almost as soon as she could gobble solid food. She was so confident the day the assistant came to get her! I wanted to swat her smug little face. I was so jealous! I wished that I would soon have my turn, though I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I knew that I would probably have to wait because of my size. The days slid by and eventually, my mother and I were the only ones who remained. We stayed tightly cuddled together, taking comfort in the fact that we had each other for company. Unfortunately, our united front came to an end this very morning. After my daily grooming, my mother was taken away to the “special room”. As she was lifted from the pen, she gave me a loving long look. I took this as a very bad omen, not for her but for me! I waited for a very long time but she did not return. Wallowing in despair, I found myself alone in the corner of my glass enclosure contemplating how to best deal with my new and profound loneliness. In my reverie, I felt my eyelids starting to close as I became increasingly sleepy. I was just beginning to lightly doze, when a chubby little hand knocked at the glass so hard that it rattled. BANG, BANG, BANG…“Mommy, Mommy! Look at the kitty!” Was it really true? Was someone talking about me? I scampered to glass and looked down. There was a little light haired human with a huge smile on his face looking up at me. It was then that I heard the magical words I had longed for, “May we see him?” I was so excited at the prospect of getting out of my pen that I put my two front paws on the glass to aid in my being picked up by the assistant. In my impatience to be taken to the “special room” I practically launched myself into her hand. As we traveled the short distance down the hallway, I tried to coax the human to hurry along by squirming the whole way. As we rounded the corner, the assistant ushered the four other humans – two large and two small into the designated space, handed me to the largest one, and closed the door. So there I was in the “special room” with not a clue what to do. “Oh, boy. I am in trouble!” Then it hit me! The advice my siblings gave me would surely come in handy. I wriggled out of the largest one’s hands and hit the floor with a thud. I scurried under one of the benches hoping to provide the humans with a lively chase. I am sure that the humans could tell how excited I was by the sound of my nails clicking on the floor as I ran. As I anticipated, the littlest one got down on his knees and peered into my shadowy hiding place. “Kitty, kitty, kitty”, he called. Tentatively, I crept forward not wanting to appear too willing. It was then that the same little hand that shook my enclosure grabbed my tail and hoisted me into the air! The room seemed to spin as I flew upward. In my fear, I let out an indignant yowl. I was so panic-stricken by this unexpected affront that I clawed his meaty little hand in response. “What was this all about? If this is what I am in for, I want none of it!” Luckily, the little one with poor manners dropped me forthwith. It was then that the elder female intervened. “Sean that is not the way we handle animals. He is just a baby like you. You have to be gentle. This is the way that you should pick him up.” Delicately, she scooped me up and cradled me to her chest. I purred and nuzzled her chin in appreciation for my timely rescue. It was then that she did the unthinkable and handed me back to the rapscallion! MEOW! I cried. Bracing for more indignities, I waited for the inevitable, but this interaction was different. His small hands delicately caressed my back as he talked to me in soft tones. “Good kitty. I’m sorry, kitty.” Maybe, the youngster was tolerable after all. He just didn’t know how to handle something as small as me. After a few moments, littlest human passed me to the one they called “Kaitlyn”. As he clumsily gave me to her, I prayed he wouldn’t drop me on my head. Now, here was a human I could get used to! She kissed me and hugged me the way I imagine only a little girl could. I actually felt like I needed a good grooming by the time she was done showing me “love”. However, it was all worth it when she introduced me to what would become my favorite thing in the world. At one point she gently placed me on the floor and pulled out of her pocket something she called a “string”. I had never seen such an item before and was extremely curious as to what it was and how it worked. I had great fun chasing after “the string” as she jiggled it and yanked it into the air. Occasionally, I would be lucky enough to catch it, but she always pulled it away from me. As we played, I came to understand that this was part of the allure of the game. I enjoyed my short-lived time with her immensely. I was so appreciative that I wove myself in and out of her legs to show my delight. Regrettably, I was so entranced in our lively play that I only caught snippets of the conversation being carried on between the two adults. However, my ears pricked up when I heard the largest one say, “I guess it is settled”. “Settled? What is settled?” I wondered. It was then that the largest human picked me up in one hand, held me to his chest, and opened the door to the “special room”. “Oh no, he is looking for the assistant! They are going send me back!” In my frenzy, I writhed and tried to escape when I was handed back to the assistant. “How could this happen? I did my best!” As I struggled to look over the assistant’s shoulder, I watched the four humans enter another room at the end of the long brightly lit hallway. Rather than walk back towards the glass pen that I had shared with my family, the assistant took a different route into a room I had been only once before. “Oh, no! This is where they took me to give me “shots”!” Now I was really in lather. As she placed me on the icy cold table and a chill ran through my body, I thought, “What are they going to do to me?” All the while I was panicking; the assistant continued to gently stroke me about the head and shoulders. It was obvious she was trying to calm me down but I was having none of it. My angst was compounded by the fact that she and another human started to “prepare” me. I soon found myself quickly dipped into some sort of repugnant fluid, given a maddening article to wear about my neck, and placed into a portable enclosure with tiny holes. I began to yowl mournfully as the impertinent humans closed me inside. “Maybe being returned wasn’t so bad after all!” I would have given anything to see shredded newspaper at that moment! It was then that I felt my new enclosure shift. This was a highly disturbing and unfamiliar sensation for me. As the carrier swayed back and forth, I had to struggle to remain firmly planted on my paws. In the long run, I had to relent and lay down to keep from falling over anyways. Thankfully, the holes at the top of the carrier allowed some faint light to penetrate it. It was through these openings that I was able to perceive what exactly was going on. I could hear the humans having a tête-à-tête about obtaining the necessities that I would require. Realization slowly began to dawn. I had been adopted! I was going to have a home of my own! I felt electrified and thrilled to the point that I began to sing in my best kitty soprano. As I crooned my little kitty heart out, the elder female opened the carrier a bit to slip a hand inside and scratch me behind the ears. What a wonderfully divine feeling! I arched my back in response. I wanted to take full advantage of this attention while it lasted! After a short time traveling, it was obvious that we had arrived at our final destination. I was finally released from my kitty prison out into a large expanse of blue “carpet”. As I emerged from the carrier, the two little ones were impatiently waiting for me. I slowly began to scan the room in order to soak in my new surroundings. However, my initial observations were interrupted as the “children” wanted to play. While we roughhoused, the larger humans busied themselves with establishing me in my new domain. After a short while, I was carried about and shown where I would sleep, find my food, and do “my business”. It seemed as though the humans had thought of everything, even toys and a window to sun myself in! What a view compared to the one I had previously! I soon discovered these wonderfully enticing and delectable things called “birds”! As the weeks went by, I grew much larger and became quite comfortable in my new abode. I even learned to respond to the dreadful name they gave me- Ember! I can’t fathom how they landed on such a strange moniker. Now that I am older and established, I understand a bit more about the ways of humans and workings of the world. My disquieting experience was just part of the process of finding the right family. Even though I was the last of the litter to be adopted, I am glad that it took so long, because as the humans say, “good things come to those who wait”. I bet my siblings would be jealous! However, my joys in life are tempered by small aggravations. My sweet but silly minded adoptive family didn’t have the good sense to stop at one perfect child. It seems as though they have a soft spot for other dim witted creatures. Shortly after my second birthday, they brought home a small black and white terror, they call Liebchen. But that is a story for another time…

Writer’s Workshop Reflection:

On my writer’s workshop blog, I focused mainly on writing poetry, but I did post a handful of journal entries. The journal entries I posted which dealt with my various pet procuring moments received the majority of commentary from my peers; therefore I decided to work on redrafting one of these items rather than one of my poems. The story I redrafted was inspired by an event that took place almost ten years ago when my husband and I decided to obtain our first little furry family member. I initially wrote about this fond family moment from my own perspective, however, acting on my blogmates’ suggestions I changed the perspective on the piece and added internal dialogue – a significant stretch for me as a writer. Even though this was a rather challenging piece for me to pen, it was actually amusing to put myself in the mind of a now 20 pound bed hog! Our cat was indeed born the runt of the litter; however, he has always had a rather imperious if not demanding personality, often putting my children and other pets in their respective places with the occasional swat or hiss when boundaries are overstepped. Therefore, while telling the story of his acquisition I endeavored to reflect his haughtier side through the expressions and vocabulary I employed. All things being considered, I found this exercise to be extremely enjoyable. It definitely helped me look at modes of writing and ways giving feedback in a new light and allowed me to stretch my wings are a writer.