The Girl With A Cat On Her Head --- The Prequel

What follows is a second, slightly darker version of “The Girl with a Cat on her Head”  —written from the point of view of the cat — which demonstrates the moment of bewitchment and the complexity of a bewitched complex.

The Girl with a Cat on her Head — the Prequel

Underneath the dining room table at the Proudfoot’s home lay the horribly burned corpse of an unknown man.  The corpse was covered by a Tartan plaid blanket.  Suddenly, the blanket began to move!  Then, out from under the blanket crept a black and white tuxedo cat.  The family was sleeping, and the cat, seeking more amenable surroundings than the company of a corpse, crept upstairs to the bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Proudfoot, who were both sleeping soundly.  The cat checked out his options.  Mr. Proudfoot was snoring loudly, so the cat looked to Mrs. Proudfoot as a possible landing spot.  However, upon closer examination, the cat saw that there was a humongous orange and black cat already sleeping soundly at the top of Mrs. Proudfoot’s pillow!  He was clearly outmatched.  Wanting to avoid an altercation with a creature that could undoubtedly take him out with one swift bat of his paw, the black and white cat padded softly out of Mr. and Mrs. Proudfoot’s bedroom and walked down the hall to the bedroom where two of the Proudfoot’s daughters slept.

Silently, the cat pushed open the door to the bedroom.  Walking around the two beds, the cat surveyed its options. The older of the two girls was already stirring.  She sat bolt upright when she saw the cat and, being a rambunctious sort, gave chase to the cat!  The cat was not amused, however, and darted under the other girl’s bed and would not come out.  The older girl tired of the game and went downstairs, because her mother and father had begun to stir and breakfast would soon be ready.

After a time, things finally settled down.  The cat crept slowly out from underneath the bed and hopped up on the bed where it found the younger sister, whose name was Prudence, still deep in dreamland.  No respecter of persons, the cat walked right over the sleeping form of the twelve-year-old Prudence, gave her a few kneads with his paws, and turning around seven times, took up residence right on the top of Prudence’s head!

Prudence began to stir but was not yet fully awake.  “Go ‘way, cat,” she mumbled and rolled over to fall back to sleep.  Miffed, the cat showed its displeasure at this disrespect by twitching its tail ill-temperedly.  Prudence tried to go back to sleep, but the tip of the cat’s tail kept tickling her ear. 

“This is ridiculous!” Prudence said raising her head from the pillow.  The cat didn’t budge.  It was still curled up snugly on the top of her head, stuck there like a large sand bur.

“Impertinent naif!” the cat thought.  Prudence stood up.  Still the cat didn’t budge!  “What’s wrong with you?” she demanded.

“Does this girl not know that we cats do exactly as we please?” the cat wondered.

Prudence tried to lift the cat off her head, but it was a very heavy cat and seemed to be somehow glued there.  Curled up cozily in a doughnut shape with its tail wrapped around its body, the cat slumbered on, breathing softly.

 “The nerve, asking me to abandon my position,” thought the cat, “She must not realize that she is now my staff person.  Oh well, there’s time enough to train her tomorrow,” the cat mused.

Suddenly, the cat found itself upside down.  Prudence had thrown herself forwards, attempting to dislodge the cat.  “This child is altogether too serious,” noted the cat, defying the gravity of the situation by extending its claws ever so slightly.

“Aha, at last, a little levity,” purred the cat as Prudence jumped up and down furiously. 

“This is rather delightful having such a high view of things, and isn’t it nice that I can make this girl flip back and forth like this whenever I choose.  I can enjoy the world from so many more different vantage points!”

Wilor Bluege, November 25, 2010