NOSTALGIA
Two Somewhat Scary Cat Stories from My Childhood
This might be why we’ve always had dogs.
I was about six years old. The neighbor kids and I were playing out in the back yard when a mottled grey alley cat slinked around the corner of our garage. We all rushed over to see it, one boy after another stroking the soft fur on its head, neck and back.
I then took my turn, gliding my hand from its neck, across the arched back and up the length of her narrowing tail when suddenly she whirled, snarling, and bit me on the forearm.
My mother, being an RN, knew I had to go see a doctor. The police came and I can remember watching them as they chased the cat around the back yard, finally catching it in a box.
What I recall next is lying in a dark room on one of those tables where you get examined by a doctor. My little brain was piecing together everything that I’d overheard. The word rabies was mentioned and I knew what it was because I’d seen the movie Old Yeller with my parents the year before at the drive-in. Old Yeller had gotten rabies and had to be shot.
After a while — I don’t know how long it really was — the door, which had been ajar, opened and the doctor came in with my mother. Mom helped me get dressed and he said we could go. I left with a…
