Life Lessons from a Fat, Black Cat

Mandy sat on her porch and stared at the fat cat across the street. A round fleshy critter wiggling his matted black mass the best he could inside of the cat door on the side of old Henderson’s garage. She recognized this particular feline as Sir Whiskers, a popular neighborhood cat dubbed such a royal name for his haughty way of sauntering up and down the street, pink nose in air, regal and unafraid. Something spooked His Majesty this morning. Mandy watched as Sir Whiskers charged head-on into the little doorway with all the force his cat body could muster over and over again, each attempt foiled by his own tubby middle. Soon, the threat upon Sir Whisker’s status came bounding up Henderson’s driveway. A yapping little filet of a dog with an angry bark that betrayed its comical size. Mandy laughed at the sight. Sir Whisker’s torso alone was twice the size of this tiny toy dog. Surely his infamous high-pitched yowl and a few quick phantom slaps of those cat claws would be more than enough to scare away the mad Chihuahua. She stared in amazement as Sir Whiskers went for the hole. Trapped once again in between the unyielding sides of the narrow space, the fat cat twisted and squirmed its hairy black bottom as the dog nipped away at his long tail. Mandy hopped off her porch and headed towards the action.

“Hey, cut it out now,” she yelled, “go away dog! Go on, scat!” The little dog made a frantic exit before she reached the driveway. Sir Whiskers was still trying to get through the cat hole. Mandy called out trying to coax him back the other way towards her. He insisted on taking his tough route. Sir Whiskers contorted one of his hind legs in such a way, undoubtedly challenging the flexibility for which felines are famous, and squeezed his pudgy form through the square hole. Once on the other side, he let out the familiar screech that had kept Mandy and many of her neighbors awake on long summer nights and scampered off somewhere in Henderson’s junky garage. Bloody smudges on both sides of the cat hole and clumps of knotted black fur laid in the wake of Sir Whisker’s battle with his bulge. Mandy’s heart tanked at the sight. Why couldn’t he just back out and face that annoying mutt she wondered. He would have certainly escaped up the nearby tree and spared himself the pain and bloodshed of forcing a near impossible fit. Mandy shook her head and walked away from the scars of Sir Whisker’s battle. She was happy to see her friends waiting for her in front of her house.

Mandy smiled as she walked up to Sunny, Heather, and Lynne. “Hey, what’s up! You guys ready to play double-dutch now? I’ll get my ropes. They’re right here on my porch.”

Heather stopped her. “Ummm, no Mandy. We’re thinking about doing something else today. Like going over to The Canyon and meeting up with some guys from school.” Sunny and Lynne started giggling and play fighting with each other. “It’ll be fun,” Heather continued, “way more fun than jumping rope.”

Mandy was confused. “I thought we were gonna have our competition today. See who could jump the longest?”

“Well, we don’t wanna do that anymore Mandy,” Lynne squeaked in between giggles. “Let’s hurry up before they think we’re not coming.”

Mandy followed her best friends up the street. They were having a grand old time teasing and joking but she lagged behind. She couldn’t understand why her friends wouldn’t want to play double-dutch. She couldn’t imagine doing anything more fun on this sunny Saturday morning. She also couldn’t imagine refusing to follow along. She knew how lucky she was to be friends with the cool girls and didn’t want to jeopardize her standing.

Heather looked back and yelled, “Hey Mandy, what you doing back there by yourself? C’mon, hurry up, or do you even wanna come with us?” All of them stopped and stared at their slow-poking friend.

Mandy swallowed hard. “I really want to play double-dutch, that’s all.”

Summer, Lynne, and Heather looked at one another then trained their eyes on Mandy again. Heather said, “Well, you can either come hang with us, or you can find some other friends to play jump-rope with?”

Mandy hesitated before answering. She understood her dilemma all too well. A chance to be popular with the A-list crew or a return to obscurity with her two usual best friends - she and herself. She thought about how awesome it is being invited to The Canyon and the rumors she’d heard about girls who hang out there. She thought about double-dutch and Sir Whiskers. She soon looked to her best friends and gave the safest answer she could.

“Ummm, you guys can go on to The Canyon. I’d rather stay around here and find somebody to play double-dutch with.”

Summer, Lynne, and Heather shrugged their shoulders and went on their way. Mandy walked back to her house. She looked over to the Henderson’s garage at the tiny little cat door, sat down on her porch steps with jump ropes in hand, and smiled.