There were 17 cats living in Larry's basement.
He wasn't really aware that they were even there. Ever since that time he'd turned on the light and seen a lone solitary but huge cockroach crawl across the floor, he'd been too terrified to venture down there again.
Thus, the cats had free reign. They were thrilled to have the space to themselves. THe basement was huge. It was full of amazing nooks and crannies that were perfect for the cats to each have their own apartments. Of course Gladys, the old beast of a cat had pretty much taken over the ruling of the entire basement that they all liked to think of as "Cat Town" now. It was their haven, their safe, warm, cozy space. All theirs. No dogs allowed and no mice ever had the balls to venture forth. If they did, well, you can imagine what happened then.
The cats had pretty immediately fallen in line with Gladys as their leader. She had that vibe about her that no one bothered to deny. No one had the guts to stand up to her, so it was just easier to get along and follow the tulres. Besides. THey had all lived on the streets before. Gladys kept their lives running smoothly.
Everything was fine until the day that Tom heard about their little community. Tom was an asshole. He thought he knew everything and thought that him, being the older, wiser male cat, that he should be in charge of everyone and everything. He had gathered up a few friends and was ready to overthrow the Queen Gladys from her self proclaimed throne.
The current residents of Cat Town just wanted everything to stay the same. They were fed, they were warm, they all had jobs and responsibilities that they actually enjoyed and were good at. They had no desire to see Tom come along and ruin all the good that Gladys had created. No desire at all.
On Tuesday, she asked me the most peculiar question. "Me" being the one and only Rosita.
Rosita was Gladys' right hand 'man' as it were. She was fiesty, sassy but lyal as hell. Anything that Gladys wanted done, Rosita would helpmake it happen. If she didn't agree with Gladys, they would hash it out and come to some sort of compromise, of course, because GLadys wasn't stupid... but Gladys was usually right and always had the final say in things.
Rosita had come to Gladys with the news of the interloper Tom and his plans to take over and she was having none of it. It was time to band the cats together and keep their Catriarchy in place as it was. They would have their lives as Gladys commanded and no pompous blowhard was going to come in and wreak havoc on HER town. No siree BOB.
The day finally arrived when Tom decided to make his move. He sent in his troops disguised as helpless momma cats, sure that Gladys would let them into her lovely little helpless community. Gladys appeared to completely fall for his idea.
With Rosita at the head of the charge, they brought in and accepted fully these sweet, adorable and 'helpless' momma cats. They ushered them inside, much to the glee of Tom, who was watching from his perch inside the baement windows. He didn't notice that Rosita was leading all of the "mama" cats straight into their "cat hospital" ... which wasn't actually a cat hospital at all, but a prison to capture them all together where they could keep an eye on them and keep them from causing trouble.
They had acquired a kennel from somewhere and all 12 of Tom's "mama" cats just fit inside.
The way Herb defrosted the refrigerator was to just leave it open and turn up the heat while he left for some shopping. Not the most convenient way to defrost a fridge and certainly not the cleanest way. Herb wasn't at all considering Larry's feelings on the matter, but he figured that since Larry was at work, he would be none the wiser.
What he hadn't taken into consideration was where all of that defrosted-melted-liquid would GO.
Right in the midst of the worst cat-astrophe of all time was hapening down in Cat Town, a veritable flood of gross, melted, rotten food scented water started pouring down the far east walls of Cat Town.
Just as the cats had been revelling in their vitorious capture of Tom's troops, they were inundated with the awful stench pouring down their walls and into their towns. They had no idea what the liquid was made of or where it was coming from. THeir prisoners shrieked in terror. Being outdoor cats, FREE cats, they had never been trapped like this before. TO be trapped AND to be suddenly coated in this horrific smell was too much. The wailing that issued forth from their cage made such an awful wracket that the towns-cats started wailing as well. Gladys and Rosita had NO idea what the hell was happening. This was total madness!
Tom, however, watching from the windows just laughed. He had been a house cat way back in the day. He knew that it wasn't a big deal and would end shortly.
He tried to make enough racket to be heard, but the wailing of dozens of cats was too much. He finally jumped straight down into the middle of the basement town and made himself known.
Gladys was shocked and appalled that hehad the nerve to come in such a manner, but at the same time, she was a smart cat. She knew she needed help to get all of these cats calmed down and the situation under control. SHe knew Tom was just the cat to do it.
She jumped to the middle, where he'd landed and said, "Listen Tom, we must band together. Join forces. We must bring our people together for the greater good!”
Tom turned to look at her, a quick snarky retort ready to fly off his tongue.
Their eyes met. Sparks flew.
Marvin Gaye's "Let Get it On" started suddenly playing in the background.
This “Cat Town” was going to the next level… with Gladys & Tom at the helm. His brawn and military experience, tempered by Gladys' genius, common sense and her way with the people… and purrrhaps some little kittens in the near future.
This is how I imagine my cat feels about my writing today. Especially the horrible punny ending... I thought cats loved cheese.
OMG.
I hope that my beautiful photos of my cats (mostly from our time living aboard our sailboat with 2 cats, 2 dogs and 4 teenagers) will make up for my cheesey story writing today!
Prompt First Sentence: There were 17 cats living in Larry's basement
Set timer: 5 Minutes
Visit @mariannewest for the rules and the first prompt for this challenge
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Continue writing without stopping
Look for the Second Prompt
Find the second prompt here
Other posts of mine that you may be interested in:
My Real Life Stories:
My First Tattoo (and other stupid decisions)
The Christmas that Almost Wasn’t (Broke Ass Parenting Win)
Living the Storm (a small story from our life on a sailboat)
For the Love of Tulips (My Most Popular Fiction/Writing Challenge Thus Far.)
