Day 147: Happy Birthday Halley - From Kitten to Cat

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 147: Happy Birthday Halley - 1 Year Old

We adopted Halley from Jackie (a Toronto Cat Rescue foster mother) when she was a three-month-old kitten. 

 

From day one, Halley made herself right at home. She explored the house, made friends with the resident cats, and tried different places to sleep.

She was a rather curious kitten, exploring places such as cabinets, drawers and even the inside of the fridge.

 

When Easter came around, Halley took a close look at the ornaments and told them in no uncertain terms to move over. 

 

Since she took a liking to one chicken, in particular, we let her have it and it was love at first sight.

Right from the start, she had a particular liking for colorful springs, which she batted all around the house. Unfortunately, in the process, quite a few of those springs went missing. When we cleaned under the sofa, we found no less than 15 of those springs, along with rubber balls, stuffed mice and even a Christmas ornament. Other toys of preference are a rotating ball and a life-size fish, both toys she claims as her own and is not keen on sharing.

Halley is very much Dieter’s cat. She’s made it her business to wake him up in the morning, but unfortunately, her inner clock is a little off. While Dieter has his alarm set for 6:00 a.m., Halley often wakes him with kisses and headbutts sometimes as early as 4:30 a.m. Neither does she know the difference between a work day and weekends. As you can imagine, a wake-up call at 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning is not appreciated.

When Dieter is on the computer or working on his tablet, she likes to keep him company. At times she merely sits on his lap or shoulder, other times she likes to get a really close look.

The same with watching TV. For Halley it’s not enough to watch from a distance, she prefers a front row seat.

When Dieter is busy with diamond painting, Halley is there, keeping an eye that he does things right.

When it’s time to relax and unwind, there’s nothing like cuddling with daddy in his arm.

 

When summer came around, this opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Halley is a keen birdwatcher, and an inspector of construction works of the parking lot. She also took an interest in fish.

After sundown, Halley could be found in the swing, or in the company of Greyson.

When winter comes around, Halley is almost sure to fancy a walk in the snow and I'll be sure to have my camera ready.

Happy birthday Halley, what will your second year bring?

Day 146: Scam Targeting Writers

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 146: Scam Targeting Writers

There’s a long list of things that tick me off and somewhere on that list, you would find … scammers, especially scammers who target writers.

One such scammer is Amy E. who one fine day decided to start flooding my inbox with messages such as: do you want to be a writer? Do you want to sell more books? Do you want to be a bestselling author?

I knew right away that I was dealing with a scammer as nobody can make you a bestselling author. To become a bestselling author, you have to write something, a literary agent has to accept it, a talented editor has to make the work better, a publisher has to publish it and a marketing team has to bring it to the attention of readers.

Now if Amy E. were a bestselling author or even an author for that matter, her offer of advice would carry some weight, but she’s a nobody.

If I were to get a chance to address Amy E. I would say … Do you know what Ernest Hemingway, James Patterson, and J.K. Rowling had in common? Each of them had an idea, sat down, opened a book, took a pen and started writing. 

At the time, Hemingway had no idea he would become one of the most respected authors of our time; Patterson didn’t have a clue that he would be listed in the Guinness World Record book with the most New York Times bestsellers; while Rowling would have been baffled if she had known that little Harry Potter would make her one of the richest people in England.

If those people were to offer advice to writers I would be the first to take a front-row seat, but Amy E. … who is Amy E. and why would I take writing advice from someone who isn’t published, who isn’t even a writer?

Her advice to writers to get their work noticed is:

·          Join local writer groups

·          Online critique groups

·          Facebook groups

·          RWA (if you’re a romance author)

·          Bloggers;

·          Websites dedicated to authors and their crafts.

Is this the best she can come up with? I typed in Google “How to get my writing noticed” and within seconds I received 209,000,000 results. My guess is that Amy did the same. She prowled Google, gathered information on how to write and get writing work noticed and then passes it off as her own advice. Shame on you Amy, while this is not exactly plagiarism, it’s highly unethical, especially if you’re charging for this advice.

For those who already have written something, Amy offers a review of their work. For a standard review, she charges $250, for a rush review $325. I have news for Amy … most writers are broke and can ill afford $25 for a review, let alone $250. Besides, have a look on Amazon, there are tons of reviews there all written by readers FOR FREE.

Some people just have no scruples. They’re looking for a way to make money and any means will do. A few might fall for her scam and end up disappointed, others – especially those who have been around the block a few times – will shake their head and think ‘Nice one Amy, but try again’, which no doubt she will. After all, if one scam doesn’t work, try another.

As for me, one good thing came out of Amy’s worthless babble … it got me out of my slump. Ever since Gabriel’s passing I hadn’t written one word. As you can see I’m out of that slump.

www.connymanero.weebly.com

Day 145: Goodbye to Gabriel

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 145: Goodbye to Gabriel

Eleven years ago I joined a cat forum, not knowing that this forum was specifically for people with Ragdolls. I didn’t have a Ragdoll at the time, but the administrator let me stay anyway.

I quickly fell in love with this breed of cats. What was not to love, judging by the photos and stories they were beautiful, affectionate and smart.

Judging by the price of such a cat, I knew I would probably never own a Ragdoll, it just wasn’t in my budget. I preferred rescue animals over purebreds anyway. For the price of one purebred cat, I could help several abandoned ones.

Still, when I heard about a breeder who wanted to get rid of a Ragdoll kitten because it wasn’t perfect, I jumped at the chance. He was willing to let the kitten go at a fraction of the price. To this day I don’t know what was wrong with the kitten because it sure looked perfect to me. Right away we knew what we would call the little one … Gabriel, because he was a little angel.

When I first held Gabriel in my hands, I was surprised at how soft he was. From the forum, I knew how beautiful Ragdolls were, but nobody had told me how soft they were. His fur felt like that of a rabbit.

As soon as I brought Gabriel home, Mickey (one of the resident cats) adopted him. The two would eat, play and sleep together and were generally inseparable. When Mickey wasn’t around, Gabriel would substitute him with his cuddle buddy.

The years passed and Gabriel grew up. He might have looked angelic, but he could also be a little troublemaker. His toy was his and he was never one to share.

He had a fondness for toilet paper and frequently made a  mess in the bathroom.

Most of all, he liked the feel of moving the rugs. She would come running, jump on the rug and glide several feet further. He became known as 'the carpet surfer'.

He became the alpha of our household and those who dared to cross him were on the receiving side of a stare that spoke volumes. He ruled the roost.

  

Other than that, Gabriel’s life can be summed up with the slogan … live and let live. He was an easy going cat, who spent most of his time on his back. He liked sleeping in front of the fireplace, the cat tree, a cabinet, a chair, the windowsill, out on the balcony, or his favorite spot, on top of the wall unit in his basket. 

Wherever, whenever, Gabriel was an expert in relaxing and putting his feet up.

What he didn't like was having his picture taken. When he saw me coming with a camera, he got suspicious and turn his head. 

Last night things suddenly went wrong for him. He came into the living room crying and trying to vomit. Thinking that something was stuck in his throat we rushed him to the emergency clinic. As it turned out, his throat was clear but the vet said that he wasn’t doing well. Gabriel had heart failure and fluid was building up in his chest making it hard for him to breathe. His urge to vomit was because he was stressed. 

To make him comfortable he was given oxygen, but now we had to decide what to do. With the right medication, he could live a few more months, but all things considered, he would suffer. The vet said she would give us time to think it over.

I didn’t have to think it over. I knew the time had come to let Gabriel go. Even though Gabriel was only 10 years old, having an animal suffer is unacceptable. So he was brought to us, we said our goodbyes and he peacefully crossed over to Rainbow Bridge.

There are so many things we will miss about him. Dieter will miss him too as every night, without fail, Gabriel would jump in the chair next to him and demand to be petted. He would look at Dieter and let out a loud meow. BTW Gabriel never said meow as such, his meow sounded like “mayo”. 

Merely petting him was not enough, he wanted his head and specifically, his cheeks rubbed. If Dieter stopped too soon, Gabriel would meow again to tell him “Keep going” until he had enough.

Then he would retreat to his spot on the cat tree or jump via the cat tree onto the wall unit and lay in his basket. Gabriel would never curl up as such, he would rest or sleep on his back.

When the lights were turned off and I went to bed, he would come with me. Every night he would sleep on my bed. Last night he wasn’t there and this morning I missed his cry for breakfast.

While we are sad at the loss of Gabriel I have no doubt that he is in a wonderful place, reunited with Mickey and a variety of other cats. Rest in peace Gabriel. 

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I would like to thank everyone who commented on Gabriel's passing via email or Facebook. Your words were of comfort and I appreciate your support.