Cat Tuesday: The Adventures of Ragpuff: Episode 2: The Pits

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Ragpuff continues to tell his story from the day he was dumped far away from the apartment buildings he'd taken refuge at, by an unscrupulous hand. Lost from his first home, he now finds himself even more lost in a strange landscape, a bewildering place full of mounds of gravel, rocks, and no water.

The Adventures of Ragpuff
Episode 2
The Pits

I was not at all happy about my new situation this morning. My tummy was rumbling loudly and I'd gotten really thirsty. I knew there had to be water around this place somewhere. And I needed to find shade, too. The sun was getting hot here, and all there was, for as far as I could see, were mountains of little rock. It was a strange and eerie place, and I definitely didn't want to spend the night there. You have no idea, either, how sharp those bits of gravel are on my poor, tender paws. Not at all like the kitty gravel I used in my litter box back home. I'm really worried that I'll never be able to find my way back home again. I really miss that silly talking woman and the man who didn't talk much. Even more, I miss my special chair in front of the window. It was all for me, my very own…my very comfortable, safe chair, in my very comfortable, safe house, with my very own bowl of kibble and my very own bowl of water. If I ever find my way back home, I will never go outside again.

Oh, if only I hadn't been so gullible this morning and let that lady trick me into thinking she liked me and was maybe going to feed me like the rest of those people were doing that lived in those buildings. Yech! I was really getting dirty there on that black, smelly surface where they kept all those monster cars at night. First my pretty white feet turned black and now, out here, my fur got coated with this chalky white stuff from all those rocks and it felt terrible on my tongue. I didn't like licking my fur or my paws.

Since I'd first got put out here, I had spent the morning wasting a lot of energy trotting around in circles, trying to find my way out of this place, so I figured I'd just have to climb to the top of one of those tall mounds of rock. I picked the one with the funny looking arms sticking out. Not only was it the tallest mound, but it also happened to have the sharpest rocks. By the time I got to the top of it, my paws were very sore, and my poor claws, they were all torn to shreds, but it was worth the climb. Right at the top of that pile of rocks was this funny thing that looked like a long a black tongue. I had to leap up a few feet to get on it, but there was shade. A breeze was blowing, too, and it cooled my fur. I'd been panting pretty hard by then.

After I rested a bit, I walked along this black tongue until I got to a little tiny cage like thing in the middle of it. There was even more shade there, but still no water. My fur was thick with this rock dust by then and I really had to fight the urge not to try and lick it off.

You'd never guess what I found in that little cage thing. A chair! It was kind of soft and cool because it'd been in the shade all day. The only problem was I still needed a really good drink of water. So I didn't stay in that chair long.

After I rested a little bit, I continued to walk along those tongue things, up and down and up and down, until I came to a little house and some grass. Some real grass. I was so hungry I even nibbled a few blades of grass. I never ate grass before, and it was kind of coated with that white dusty stuff, but I managed to taste a bit of tanginess. It didn't help the rumbling in my tummy that much, nor did it help my thirst, but at least it was something.

There was a lot of cool shade under the porch next to the house, so I crawled under there and managed to take a nap. All the time I was snoozing I kept dreaming about my water bowl, filled to the brim with fresh, cold water. I thought I was slurping it up, until I woke up. I found I wasn't lapping up water at all; I was licking that nasty, gritty dirt on my paws. Yech! Yech, yech, and yech!

I must have slept all afternoon because the shadows were long and the sun was no longer hot when I woke up. My thirst was excruciating by then, so I got up to go look for a pool of water somewhere. The little house seemed to be on the edge of a field, everything was covered with that awful dust. I was just about to go exploring through the long grass when I felt the earth tremble and then I heard this loud rumbling. The closer the rumbling got the more the earth trembled and the more scared I got, so I darted back under the porch, not knowing what was making that terrible noise. Suddenly, the biggest monster car I've seen so far, screeched to a halt right in front of the steps to the house. Dust and grit flew all around, my eyes stung with it; my nose was once again filled with it. I coughed and sneezed uncontrollably.

When my fits of coughing and snorting were over and I could open my eyes again, I saw a big round human face peeking under the porch at me. "Hi, little fellar," the upside down face said to me, "Whatcha doing under there? This is a pretty odd place for a little guy your size to be hanging out. Where'd you come from? There ain't nothin' around here but dirt and gravel for miles."

I had to admit, I was happy to see the man, even if his eyes were where his mouth should have been and his mouth was where his eyes should have been. A dry, scratchy meow left my lips. It was the most pathetic meow I'd ever uttered. Next, the man stuck a large hand under the porch and petted my rock-dust covered fur. I leaned into his hand and uttered another, dry, raspy cry. I got a bit scared, though, when the man's hand grabbed hold of the back of my neck and pulled me towards him. But he was cooing real nice to me, and somehow I knew he was a good human, that I'd be safe with him. Until I got rested up, that is. I'm determined to find my way back to my home, my safe chair behind my safe window.

Suddenly, everything on the round face was where it was supposed to be. His eyes were on top and his mouth underneath his nose. He had a real nice way of talking that made me relax and I started to purr. Mind you, I sure needed some water, so I gave him the most pitiful look I could muster, and then went limp in his big hands. I stuck out my tongue and lay my head to one side like I was going to expire right there on the spot if I didn't get some water real soon. For a greater effect, I coughed a little dry cough and squeezed my eyes shut. I think the man got the hint, because he right away took me inside the house, poured me a bowl full of water and sat me, and the water bowl, on the table. Let me tell you, I drank and drank and drank. It took that whole bowl full of water to get all that dirt out of my mouth and throat. While I was lapping up water as fast as I could go, the man was rummaging around in a cold box, much like the one my silly talking lady had, and come out with some good food. Chicken I think. I'd never had human food before, but I could see he hadn't been expecting to take care of a cat anytime soon, so he just didn't keep kibble around.

Well, the day started bad, but ended okay. The big round man and I have been together for nearly a week now. He's gone all during the day, working out there in that gravel pit on that big monster car thing he has, and he comes home when the shadows get long, then we eat supper together. Last night we had tuna. I think I kind of like that. Oh, and one more thing, he comes home just as coated with that old, white dust, like I had on my fur that first day. Only I don't help him lick it off him. Once I finally got all that stuff out of my fur, I never went out to those rock piles again. While he's working, I go off across the field beyond the little house and do some exploring. I’m getting real good at catching gophers and mice and things like that.