OK, I finally got Callie's story all in writing. It only took me hours, with many interruptions, of course.
Before you start reading, be sure that you have visited the bathroom and have a drink & food sitting next to you, because this is going to be a very long one. Ready?
A few minutes after 5 o'clock on Thursday, I walked into my bedroom to take a peek outside, to see if Callie was in the backyard. Sure enough, she was lying in her spot next to the shed, waiting for a mouse to cross her path. I turned off the flood lights (that must've confused Callie to go from darkness to blinding lights to darkness again), went into the kitchen to prepare her dinner, and walked downstairs. I had offered Zim to go outside but he chose to ignore me instead. After putting on a pair of socks, flip flops, and a jacket, I walked out onto the deck. When I reached the top of the steps, I said hello to Callie and told her to come over to the deck to eat her dinner, then reached out my left arm/hand in the "come" gesture (to which she does respond to). Callie stayed firm in her position next to the shed, but did look at me every time I spoke to her. Seeing that she wasn't going to come to me, I decided to walk down the steps to entice her to at least stand up. As soon as my foot hit the ground, she immediately sat up; I walked maybe 3 feet away from deck, placed her bowl on the ground, squatted down, and opened both arms out to her. What happened next wouldn't have even been in my wildest dreams. (are you sitting down? not currently drinking anything? aren't ready to swallow any food/drinks?) Callie stood up on all fours and went into a full run (yup, she ran again) towards me, across the entire backyard, over 50+ feet! She only slowed down when she was about 5 feet away from me.
Once Callie reached me, she immediately pushed her head into my hand for a head rub, then went straight for the bowl. She didn't even care that my body casted a shadow over the bowl and that she couldn't see what she was eating; she ate & swallowed so hardy & fast that I literally heard "gulp"s. When she was done eating, she walked away towards the woods. I slowly followed behind, trying to convince her to finish her dinner. Nope, she was not interested in food anymore, but wanted to explore and hunt. I stood on the grass and watched her walk back and forth for a few minutes, then suddenly had a eureka moment. I told her that I was going back into the house but will be right back. I hurriedly trotted upstairs, retrieved a feathered cat toy that had been sitting in the cat perch box, and went back downstairs. Of course, I was met by Zim who now decided that he wants to go outside. I had to tell him that it wasn't a good time, that I was outside with the kitty cat. When I walked back out onto the deck, I was pleased to see that Callie was still in the yard. I walked over to the side steps, about a foot away, squatted down, and told her to come up on the deck and play. For some reaon, she didn't comply; instead, she sat down and just stared at me. That was when I picked up the feathered toy and waved it at her. Oh, I wish you could've seen seen her face when she saw the pretty red feathers flying in the air. She was so intrigued that she finally decided to walk over to the steps to check it out, but still wouldn't walk up onto the deck itself. After much looking around, and me telling her the Zim was inside the house, she finally stepped foot onto the deck but stayed very close to the railings. She kept looking over to the corner where she sat in the mornings, then over to the back door. I can only wonder if her reluctance to come onto the deck was due to her last chance meeting with Zim (actually, I think that was the last time she was on the deck at all
).
When she finally got over her fear of being on the deck, she finally paid attention to me and the feathered toy. Her reaction to the toy was not the one I was expecting: she hunched her back and stared down at it, but never hissed. It took more than 5 minutes for Callie to be friendly to the toy and actually sniff it, then another couple of minutes for her to start playing with it. And boy did we play, and play, and play! She pounced, she rolled, she swatted, she bit (the toy, not me). She had so much fun with the toy that she purred and purred and purred. I was totally on cloud 9! I couldn't tell you how long we were playing, but it was a long time. It was also during this time that a certain furbaby was inside the house howling away, totally embarrassing himself. Luckily, Callie had wandered back down to the lawn to "hunt" for something, so I took that opportunity to let Zim out for potty before he made a mess of the house. Since he was busy on the other side of the yard going potty, I went back to Callie and asked her to come back to play with me. She sat at the edge of the yard and stared at Zim, then back at me, then back at Zim again. Then suddenly, she stood up and walked over to the side steps, while Zim was making his own way up onto the deck. To my surprise, and sheer shock, Callie not only walked up the steps, but she came onto the deck itself, despite seeing Zim walking towards her. (don't worry, the line that Zim is hooked to can only reach within 3 feet of the side of the deck, were I was sitting) Callie was ok with seeing Zim there, because I kept assuring her that he couldn't reach her, but as soon as he let out a bark, she high-tailed out of there. But she never went into hiding like she used to; instead, she stood on the grass, in plain view of him. It was as if she was testing him, to see if he would/could chase after her. As much as I was upset that he scared her off, I had to laugh at how she pretty much 'snuffed' him and his barks. Too bad that Zim didn't feel the same way
I watched Callie hide in the darkness on the lawn, but in the moon light that peered through the trees, watching Zim losing his mind; I thought to myself, "Hmmm, how strange that Callie isn't walking back home. Why is she still sitting out in the cold?" I kept asking her if she wanted to go home, but she never moved. I even offered to walk her back if that was what she was waiting for, but she still didn't get up. Finally, I said, "Callie sweetie, you need to go home and get out of the cold. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" Nope, still nothing. After begging her to go home for the hundredth time (not really, but you get the point), she finally stood up, but instead of walking towards the front of the house, she walked back towards me. I met her half way on the lawn and gave her lots of pets and scratches. Because Zim was now acting like someone was trying to strangle him, I had to put him back into the house before animal control showed up. After getting him all settled inside, I went back out to see if Callie was still waiting for me. Sure enough, she was. It took her nearly 10 minutes to make it from the side of my house to the street, because she kept getting distracted by who knows what. And when she did reach the corner of my driveway and the street, she suddenly came back and chased something in the brush. Not hearing anything for a minute, I decided to walk around the corner and see what was going on. As soon as I turned the corner, I saw her sitting on top of the mulch pile, and as soon as she saw me, she started to make her descent from the mulch pile. She got more love from me before walking away and towards the construction trailer. Just like the other times, she sat underneath it while I talked to her on the outside. And just like other times, I lost sight of her when she walked behind the tire. Of course, I still had to say one last "good night" to her before walking back to the house.
Before you start reading, be sure that you have visited the bathroom and have a drink & food sitting next to you, because this is going to be a very long one. Ready?
A few minutes after 5 o'clock on Thursday, I walked into my bedroom to take a peek outside, to see if Callie was in the backyard. Sure enough, she was lying in her spot next to the shed, waiting for a mouse to cross her path. I turned off the flood lights (that must've confused Callie to go from darkness to blinding lights to darkness again), went into the kitchen to prepare her dinner, and walked downstairs. I had offered Zim to go outside but he chose to ignore me instead. After putting on a pair of socks, flip flops, and a jacket, I walked out onto the deck. When I reached the top of the steps, I said hello to Callie and told her to come over to the deck to eat her dinner, then reached out my left arm/hand in the "come" gesture (to which she does respond to). Callie stayed firm in her position next to the shed, but did look at me every time I spoke to her. Seeing that she wasn't going to come to me, I decided to walk down the steps to entice her to at least stand up. As soon as my foot hit the ground, she immediately sat up; I walked maybe 3 feet away from deck, placed her bowl on the ground, squatted down, and opened both arms out to her. What happened next wouldn't have even been in my wildest dreams. (are you sitting down? not currently drinking anything? aren't ready to swallow any food/drinks?) Callie stood up on all fours and went into a full run (yup, she ran again) towards me, across the entire backyard, over 50+ feet! She only slowed down when she was about 5 feet away from me.
Once Callie reached me, she immediately pushed her head into my hand for a head rub, then went straight for the bowl. She didn't even care that my body casted a shadow over the bowl and that she couldn't see what she was eating; she ate & swallowed so hardy & fast that I literally heard "gulp"s. When she was done eating, she walked away towards the woods. I slowly followed behind, trying to convince her to finish her dinner. Nope, she was not interested in food anymore, but wanted to explore and hunt. I stood on the grass and watched her walk back and forth for a few minutes, then suddenly had a eureka moment. I told her that I was going back into the house but will be right back. I hurriedly trotted upstairs, retrieved a feathered cat toy that had been sitting in the cat perch box, and went back downstairs. Of course, I was met by Zim who now decided that he wants to go outside. I had to tell him that it wasn't a good time, that I was outside with the kitty cat. When I walked back out onto the deck, I was pleased to see that Callie was still in the yard. I walked over to the side steps, about a foot away, squatted down, and told her to come up on the deck and play. For some reaon, she didn't comply; instead, she sat down and just stared at me. That was when I picked up the feathered toy and waved it at her. Oh, I wish you could've seen seen her face when she saw the pretty red feathers flying in the air. She was so intrigued that she finally decided to walk over to the steps to check it out, but still wouldn't walk up onto the deck itself. After much looking around, and me telling her the Zim was inside the house, she finally stepped foot onto the deck but stayed very close to the railings. She kept looking over to the corner where she sat in the mornings, then over to the back door. I can only wonder if her reluctance to come onto the deck was due to her last chance meeting with Zim (actually, I think that was the last time she was on the deck at all
).When she finally got over her fear of being on the deck, she finally paid attention to me and the feathered toy. Her reaction to the toy was not the one I was expecting: she hunched her back and stared down at it, but never hissed. It took more than 5 minutes for Callie to be friendly to the toy and actually sniff it, then another couple of minutes for her to start playing with it. And boy did we play, and play, and play! She pounced, she rolled, she swatted, she bit (the toy, not me). She had so much fun with the toy that she purred and purred and purred. I was totally on cloud 9! I couldn't tell you how long we were playing, but it was a long time. It was also during this time that a certain furbaby was inside the house howling away, totally embarrassing himself. Luckily, Callie had wandered back down to the lawn to "hunt" for something, so I took that opportunity to let Zim out for potty before he made a mess of the house. Since he was busy on the other side of the yard going potty, I went back to Callie and asked her to come back to play with me. She sat at the edge of the yard and stared at Zim, then back at me, then back at Zim again. Then suddenly, she stood up and walked over to the side steps, while Zim was making his own way up onto the deck. To my surprise, and sheer shock, Callie not only walked up the steps, but she came onto the deck itself, despite seeing Zim walking towards her. (don't worry, the line that Zim is hooked to can only reach within 3 feet of the side of the deck, were I was sitting) Callie was ok with seeing Zim there, because I kept assuring her that he couldn't reach her, but as soon as he let out a bark, she high-tailed out of there. But she never went into hiding like she used to; instead, she stood on the grass, in plain view of him. It was as if she was testing him, to see if he would/could chase after her. As much as I was upset that he scared her off, I had to laugh at how she pretty much 'snuffed' him and his barks. Too bad that Zim didn't feel the same way
I watched Callie hide in the darkness on the lawn, but in the moon light that peered through the trees, watching Zim losing his mind; I thought to myself, "Hmmm, how strange that Callie isn't walking back home. Why is she still sitting out in the cold?" I kept asking her if she wanted to go home, but she never moved. I even offered to walk her back if that was what she was waiting for, but she still didn't get up. Finally, I said, "Callie sweetie, you need to go home and get out of the cold. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" Nope, still nothing. After begging her to go home for the hundredth time (not really, but you get the point), she finally stood up, but instead of walking towards the front of the house, she walked back towards me. I met her half way on the lawn and gave her lots of pets and scratches. Because Zim was now acting like someone was trying to strangle him, I had to put him back into the house before animal control showed up. After getting him all settled inside, I went back out to see if Callie was still waiting for me. Sure enough, she was. It took her nearly 10 minutes to make it from the side of my house to the street, because she kept getting distracted by who knows what. And when she did reach the corner of my driveway and the street, she suddenly came back and chased something in the brush. Not hearing anything for a minute, I decided to walk around the corner and see what was going on. As soon as I turned the corner, I saw her sitting on top of the mulch pile, and as soon as she saw me, she started to make her descent from the mulch pile. She got more love from me before walking away and towards the construction trailer. Just like the other times, she sat underneath it while I talked to her on the outside. And just like other times, I lost sight of her when she walked behind the tire. Of course, I still had to say one last "good night" to her before walking back to the house.
