Abduction and Adoption

The following is a somewhat-true story…

My twin sister and I were born in a dilapidated house with barren-looking siding and a swayback roof.  Missing shingles invited both sun and rain to bathe the back porch, while a blue tarp – an attempted patch – blew in the breeze.  Granted, this wasn’t much of a place, but it was home.

As young teens, one afternoon we were unexpectedly wrestled into tight, burlap-like bags that were then thrown into a rattly-sounding pick-up truck.  When the truck finally stopped, its creaky door popped, groaned, and finally opened – and a deep male voice commanded,  “Now GIT!”   We were tossed into the ditch where we crouched and hid amidst tall, dry grasses as the truck drove away.

Where were we? Would we be able to find shelter for the night?  The sky seemed especially threatening, as if a storm might be brewing.

“C’mon,” I said to my sister, jumping back onto the road.  “We’ve got to start walking!"

She followed, and we trotted off toward an imposing-looking house where we found easy access to the interior.  We were wandering through this mansion-of-a-new-home just as rain began pelting its windows.

That was many weeks ago.  We’ve taken up residence there, having been warmly greeted by the builder of this brand new home and adopted by his clients, the eventual residents.  We are well fed and have been taken to the vet for check-ups.   Sometimes playmates (children aged 18 months through 7 ½) show up to affectionately treat us like favored stuffed animals that have come to life – oh, how we do LOVE those kids!  We feel blessed beyond measure, as if this new life opened up to all of us in some unexpected and yet perfectly natural way.

Some people say this must be our destiny.  I say, life can sure be surprising when it lets the cat out of the bag.

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(Note:  The above is a story to honor two teenaged, gold-and-white stray cats that showed up at acreage owned by our son and daughter-in-law where their new house is currently being built.  The attractive, very personable cats adopted the house as their permanent residence, and so within a couple of weeks our son and his family adopted them right back!  Yesterday we spent the afternoon with them there, and various small children dragged the cats around like rag dolls without even a hint of wiggly protest or hissing.  They promise to be an added attraction when the family moves in, presumably next spring or early summer.)