Some Cat…

Shads loves to climb onto the top shelf of my closet.

He usually doesn’t stay long unless the vacuum cleaner is on the rampage.

Most of the time he’s on a quest for one of the toys sitting, motionless, out of harm’s way minding their own business.

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L to R, Buguin, Tilly, Ragamuffin,doll, Aloysius, Euripides & Moby the cat.

He creeps in silently so as not to startle them and makes his selection,

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His first playmate was Eurypides, an orange elephant with a rattle buried in his tummy.  Many years ago I christened this little sponge toy a ridiculously long Greek name to make up for his diminutive size.  I also thought it would sound adorable to hear a two year old move the unfamiliar word clumsily over her lips,

“‘Ripdees!”

Adorable!

His high falutin’ name stuck.

Shads bats the terry cloth elephant around the kitchen attempting to ‘lose’ it under the stove, but ‘Ripdees is just a tad too big to succumb and usually just ends up being mauled and tossed in the air until boredom sets in; then he’s unceremoniously abandoned under a chair or in a corner.

His next companion was Ragamuffin, a much larger, very floppy, teddy-bear.  He bullies this toy, almost bigger than him, down from the heights of my closet shelf. 

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Ragamuffin is not as easy to play with as Euripides but looks suitably ridiculous being dragged between Shads’ legs from one room to another; a big cat dragging his prey across the prairie.

I don’t mind too much about these two toys, they were bought from stores and can easily be replaced.

But Bunguin did not come from a store and cannot be replaced and soon became Shads’ BFF.  

He shoves him down from the shelf and plays with him on his back, causing Bunguin’s plastic, beady eyes to roll around and Shads’ back legs to pummel his white underbelly; instinctive evisceration.

When I surprise him in action he stands protectively over his catch sweetly daring me to take him away!

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Instead I sit down as he continues the one sided wrestling game, rolling head over heels in an attempt to coax Bunguin to run off…the display is very funny to watch.  His agility almost has me believing he has a live animal in his thrall.

When Shads takes a breather he keeps one paw resting protectively on Bunguin’s middle just in case he has a notion to run off.

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I decided the top shelf in my closet was no longer a safe place for Bungs.  I had to do something otherwise my oldest son would be on to me for not being a good steward of his property.

Ian had designed, packaged and marketed Bunguin as an original toy for a second grade project in the days before homeschooling.

His piece of merchandise was the result of a mixed marriage between a Bunny and a Penguin, hence his name.

Making him was a bit of a mixed marriage too, we sewed shoulder pads onto a sock stuffed with scraps and used odds and ends for eyes, nose and whiskers.

He has always lived on my top shelf, out of harm’s way…

…harm, until now, being toddlers and curious children.

When Shads first brought him to me as a gift I was amused and took a photo,

“Oh, oh,” I texted Ian, “Shads has a new toy…”

“Oh Noooooo…” he texplied.

I tried hiding him behind the other toys, tucked way back in a corner but Shads persisted.

Bunguin kept showing up, in the bathroom, under a bed, behind a couch, out in the patio, next to the litter box…

Hubs finally decided that my closet was no longer a safe haven for this one-of-a-kind toy.

He put Bunguin away, once and for all, in a drop down cupboard next to our guest bathroom…

“Out of sight, out of mind,” he told me.

“Good move,” I agreed.

The following morning Bunguin lay between Shad’s paws in our kitchen.

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Curiously I walked over to him where I could see the drop down cupboard door at the other end of the hall.

It was hanging open.

“Did Shads watch you hide Bunguin?”  I asked Hubs who had followed me.

“Must have been peeking,” he said, a grin of admiration on his face!

Some Cat!

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Annette

2018-05-14 12:43:05 Reply

Some cars are very persistent. Thanks for the smile

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