Cindee & Friends

A dark shadow fell over the living room floor, prompting me to swing my head up to gaze out the window.  Much to my chagrin, the sun had disappeared behind a thick black cloud, which seemingly had come out of nowhere. 

“Looks like rain,” the orange tabby said from his perch on the console table overlooking the front lawn.

I sat up to get a better look.  Rapi was right, it did look like rain, and the birds who had lined the branches on the maple tree in the front yard agreed, taking flight in search of someplace to weather the storm.

“Sure does Rapi,” I said, agreeing with the cat.

“Now what are we going to do, Cindee” he asked, turning to face me.

I studied my reflection in his yellow-green eyes.  I didn’t like that I was starting to develop grey hair on my muzzle.  It wouldn’t have been so bad, but the way they contrasted with my chocolate brown fur made them stick out like a sore thumb.

“Beats me?  You got any ideas?”

The cat looked at me thoughtfully, then opened his mouth to answer, but quickly snapped it shut again.  A white blur had interrupted his train of thought, which these days was becoming a common issue. 

We both looked on as the adolescent puppy dropped a ball in the crate that was tucked away on the bottom of the table, then turned and zoomed away.

Rapi’s eyes met mine.  They were clouded in confusion.  I didn’t know what to say, so I just shrugged. With this puppy, it was hard to get a handle on what he was thinking or doing.  He was a different kind of animal.

Soon he was back with a stuffed raccoon, which he unceremoniously tossed inside the rectangular box.  Rapi and I turned our gazes towards each other, then refocused on the young canine.

“Mylo!  What are you doing?”

The puppy stopped mid-trot and looked over his shoulder at the cat.  His face said, “isn’t it obvious,” but to Rapi and I, it was anything but obvious. 

“I am cleaning,” the puppy huffed.

I was about to ask why but was interrupted by a series of unexpected thumps coming from the door.

“We have a visitor,” I barked

“He’s here,” Mylo howled.

Mommy dashed down the stairs and pulled the door open.  Two figures stood in the doorway.  Rapi and I moved to get a better view of the intruders.  Just as we laid eyes on them a crack of thunder boomed.  A bolt of white-hot lightning zig-zagged across the sky behind them, blinding our vision, and the sky opened in a deluge.

“Good afternoon,” a female voice said via a greeting followed by an eerie cackle.

Another peel of thunder sounded, this time rattling the house.  Electricity crackled in the air.  All the fur on my body began to stand on end and suddenly, all the power in the house went out.

Daylight cut through the gray haze and filtered in through the window exposing our guest’s features.  Standing before us in the foyer was a tall white Samoyed.  Two crystal blue eyes peered out at me from beneath the soft fur.  I could feel them burrowing through my rough exterior and into my heart.  They were searching and exploring, and I felt as though I was helpless to stop him, and truth be told, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

“Hello, my name is Boone,” he said, greeting me with a warm and playful smile.  I could hear my heart pick up speed and begin to thump wildly inside my chest.  My cheeks were on fire and my tongue involuntarily fell from my mouth.

“I … name … Cindee,” I stammered while my mind raced to try and form complete sentences.

“Don’t mind that weirdo, let’s go hang out in the family room,” Mylo squealed mirthfully.

Rapi and I looked on as the two white dogs scampered off to the back of the house.

“Who was that,” I said, trying to temper my enthusiasm but doing a poor job of it.

“That’s Mylo’s friend Boone.  Remember, they are always hanging out at his place,” the cat tried to remind me, but to no avail.  The only thing on my mind were those beautiful blue eyes.

“Let’s go,” I said trotting off towards the family room.

“Where?”

With one eyebrow raised higher than the other, the tabby looked at me as if I was one card short of a full deck.

“It would be rude to ignore a guest,” I called over my shoulder.

“Dogs,” the cat shook his head in disbelief and watched me stagger off, lovesick and bereft of common sense, unsure of what would become of me.

Just like that, I was off in search of a new adventure.