Day 538: 5 minute Freewrite: Thursday-Prompt: shade

Day 538: 5 Minute Freewrite Challenge initiated by @mariannewest. Thursday-Prompt: shade

A Cat With Many Names

My neighbor and I share a large back porch and we were sitting there one day chatting when a cat came to visit. We had never seen this cat before and he was very friendly. Suzi fed him and he never left.

I brushed him and it took me two days to get all of the lose hair off. There was enough fur to make another cat. He lived on the porch for three weeks and when nobody claimed him, Suzi and I decided to co-parent him. No need to get him neutered because he had already been to Dr. Chop-em-off. We still took him to the vet to make sure he didn't have any diseases to pass on to my cat Pachino, and he was given shots. Now he could live inside my house. Suzi's house was off limits because her cat hated all other cats.

It was time to pick a name which wasn't as easy as it should have been. Suzi has an obsession with names because her parents never gave her a middle name. She also hates her first name because she thinks it is too common. After a few days of Suzi constantly changing her mind, we finally agreed to name the cat Ollie.

Two weeks later Suzi wanted to change his name to 'Boots' because in her mind, Ollie looked like he was wearing boots. Another two weeks had passed when Suzi wanted to change his name to 'Finley' just because she liked that name. To stop the madness I said, "His name will be Ollie Boots Finley," secretly hoping that we would just call him Ollie. But maybe that wasn't such a good idea either because when Suzi was looking for him outside she yelled, "Ollie...Ollie, Ollie, Ollie Oxen-Free!" To my surprise, we never ended up with the neighborhood kids in our yard.

Nine months later, Ollie began picking fights with Pachino for know other reason than to be alpha male, and when Pachino was so stressed out that he stopped eating, Ollie had to go. Suzi's cat had died so Ollie moved in with her. He gained ten pounds so I called him 'Chubba-Bubba' at times. Yes, I know...I take full responsibility for adding to Suzi's madness.

Several months had passed when Suzi decided to add more confusion to the name game. Since Ollie's fur looks and feels like rabbit fur, Suzi added the names 'Floppsy' and 'Moppsy.' Give me a break!

Four years ago to this day, you have come into our lives bringing us so much happiness. Ollie, you have two human Moms that love you dearly,you have way too much food to eat, a life of leisure and Pachino is your best buddy. Ollie Boots Finley Chubba-Bubba Floppsy Moppsy...you've got it made in the shade.

"I pray that no more names will be added."

Of course this story took way more than 5 minutes to write but it couldn't be helped. The prompt was used as my last word! Thank you Marianne, for giving us so much freedom to write.

Image Source: All photos are my own.