March 5, 2010

Wherein Winnie gets Found by Lost Friends

Frida watching Winnie search for visitors. 'Don't you love me anymore?' she wonders.

Sour Pickle has been screaming his lungs out for the last four days, “MRAO, Mrao, MRAO, MraO, MRAO, Mrao-OOWW,” in a very loud strident wail that means ‘I-am-bored; this-place-is-too-small; I-miss-my-old-house; where-are-my-friends?’

I have been trying to move the feral cats over here to eat and have been slowly moving their feeding place closer and closer to Casa Abeja so that now they are only separated by a block wall. Yesterday while Winnie was screaming around, Carmen heard his wails from outside and discovered him sitting at the back door of the house—with only a screen door separating them. Immediately his wailing moderated. He was overjoyed to see her and they spoke in soft endearing murmurs. The conversation went something like this:

Carmen: “Hey handsom, where you ben? You nefer in the weendow at the White House anymore.”

Winnie: “Yas, terribly so. We moved up here last week. Originally, I liked it rather because it was new and different, but now it seems a trifle small and I am sooo bored. Almost no one gives me the proper adulation. It’s only Mother and Father here. Father’s at work most of the time and Mother’s too busy playing boring computer games and making curtains. Where have you been? ”

Carmen: “I weent to London to see the Queen! Ha, ha, not rally. Well, no one tol me you hat moved. I ‘spose now that you’re leeving in an antique house you’ll be putting on airs seence I only leeve under a trailer with mi mama.”

Winnie: “Tut, tut. Don’t you know I have such strong feelings for you? You have the most beautiful eyes. No really. Have you seen our new dog, the small one? She chases me all over the house. When I get really bored I go and bait her, then beat her up. It’s rather entertaining. We race around the house together.”

Carmen: “Yes I deed see her out in ze backyard once early in the morning. I wasn’ sure but what she was a raton, she ez so leetle. I hid in ze bushes and watch her, she was right uner my nose and deedn’t even know I was zere.”

Carmen and Mrs. Moustache inspect the block fence going up between us and the abandoned house next door.
Winnie: “Are you liking it since Mother threw you outside?”

Carmen: “Et’s ze high life! I get fed twice a day. I can go wherever I wan to when I wan. And I gets to catch and eat birds and mice as well. They have these great round tubes they put up for ze little birds and it makes it rally easy to catch them. Rally I wouldn’t trade for where you are for the worl. Latly my skin itches alot though. ”

Winnie: “Ah--you've caught a hopping case of the fleas, poor gel! Ha, ha. I do rather wish I could go outside, but Mother doesn’t want me to get in fights —or to get run over, she probably wouldn't approve of fleas. She says the vet here is wretched.”

Carmen: “Well, you rally stuck then. I get mi mama to come up later for a veesit.”

By that afternoon Mrs. Moustache and Carmen were sunning in our backyard on the bricks for the construction of a new fence. Last night they were there too. Pretty soon I will be able to feed them over here. That clever Winnie—he really knows how to sweet talk the 'gels'.


Mrs. Moustache peering out at me from a ditch

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