Our house has a rather well-sized kitchen that opens on to the dining room on one end and the hallway/living room on the other. The wall that houses the refrigerator, stove, and pantry is one side of the wall our TV rests against in the living room.
Over the 2 year we have lived here, visitors have come with children from as young as 2 and now as old as almost 16. The little ones catch on immediately to the fact that they may run laps around this one wall, with no real obstacle, either chasing a parent or another child, or being chased by someone in return.
I have several stories about the entertainment this provides, but today's tale is about the cat.
Now, A has, in the past, played cat and mouse games with our pets, using this kitchen as a place to hide. I have seen the cats chase him around, or stop to only be surprised when comes up behind him.
On the flip side, when it's bedtime this can be a pain because we wind up chasing their tails (and often our own) in an attempt to corral them into the bedroom.
Shadow is an easily entertained feline. His current toys consist of an old black mitten of mine, a stuffed goldfish that used to hang above a jungle gym we bought him and is all that remains of the toy, and a box.
Yes, a box. We had something delivered 2 weeks ago, and the box it came is just barely big enough for him to sit in it. He jumps in it, A loves to throw his other toys in it, and then he will fight with them and do this special dance that I believe is rather interesting. I really think he would be an amazing interpretative dancer, and my have been in a past life.
Earlier today, A carried our basket of clean laundry to our bedroom, and I was sitting and watching Shadow and his box. At some point he managed to get it up on one end, with the still sealed portion at an angle to me. He was sitting inside the box, his back to me, with his toys at his feet.
Nothing else was happening. He was just sitting, in what I believe was a position he felt was hiding him from the world. His brother crept around, was promptly bopped on the head, and he continued to sit.
I could hear A coming down the hallway, and I quickly told him to slow down and just look into the living room. When he saw the cat, sitting there and looking at him, he had to laugh. And immediately went in to play mode.
He called Shadow's name and then ducked behind the wall, into the kitchen, where he couldn't be seen by either of us. He poked his head out and called him again, and this time Shadow paid attention.
As A ducked back again, Shadow made a little noise, took one step out of his box towards the opening, and then promptly ran in the opposite direction towards the dining.
When A reappeared I was laughing and saying the cat was trying to sneak up on him. He quickly turned back in to the kitchen to greet the cat, who was running up behind him to play.
Anyone who tells you that animals aren't thinking needs to meet my cat. And I need to find a way to videotape this behavior and post it!
No comments:
Post a Comment