As The Door Closed...

Karen and Gale loaded their suitcases into the car, gave each cat one more pat on the head, one more stroke of the back, and closed the door behind them.

Banana jumped up on the window ledge and looked outside. “They’re gone! You know what this means!”

“Yeah,” Cheese responded, “it means you’re going to rush right out and eat all the food they’ve left and we won’t have any more until our other friend arrives to feed us. It MEANS I’LL STARVE!!”

“No, no, no…well maybe yes,” Banana looked doubtful. She shook her head, “NO! You don’t realize what this means, do you?”

Cheese wandered down the hall, his voice trailing back, “I wonder if they remembered to leave 2 cups of water for us? I don't think I can make it until our friend comes to give us fresh water later today. I'm so thirsty! Ack! Cough! Do you think they might…maybe…might…have left a faucet running?”

"ARGHHHH!” The annoyed Banana went running, as fast as she could, down the hall at Cheese, and knocked him over. “It means we can find that little black box, push the buttons until the television comes on, and then we can watch whatever we want!” Banana was panting, but Cheese couldn’t tell if she was excited or just out of breath from running.

After Banana had a little snack and Cheese had a little drink from both of the cups left in the bathroom, the cats went into the living room, found the little black box, and started pushing buttons. Pushing Button Number 6 caused the television to come on, and Banana put a little special lick on that button, so they could remember to push it again if they heard their other friend coming in the door to feed them.

The cats loved the Discovery Channel, so pushed more buttons until it came on the screen. After 37 hours of watching, they decided to push some more buttons. During the time Karen and Gale were gone, the cats slept, ate, looked at Twitch through the window…oh wait! CD has already told you all this!

But, she didn’t know (remember the special lick on the button?) that the cats also watched some cartoons (not enough cats), some soap operas (boring), some game shows (the excited people and all the yelling made Cheese nervous), some reruns of “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” (Cheese loved his voice; it was just so calm!), and after 2 full days of the Food Channel (Banana sat down on the little black box and Cheese could not push her off), the cats decided

to watch some old movies.

“The Cat in the Hat” was silly—Banana and Cheese loved to see what would happen next to the fish in the bowl.

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” sounded scary, but the cats watched it anyway. Humph!!!

The cats decided this one was a stupid movie because it was not about a cat…at…all.

They love the Cheshire Cat in “Alice in Wonderland”—he was mellow, and mysterious, and could even disappear! Everything a cat should be.

But by far, “That Darn Cat!” was their favorite—finally! A movie with a cat as the star!!!!

All in all, the cats are glad their people have come home. Banana missed her daily chats with Karen, and still has not been able to tell her all the details about the tips for cooking turkey that she picked up on the Food Channel—Banana talks, but Karen keeps going to sleep and misses the best part. Cheese is just happy that everyone is where they are supposed to be. And that special lick on the black box means the cats can still watch anything they want during the day.

But recently….Gale noticed something. “Hey!” she shouted. “Are you really taping ‘Man vs. Wild’ every night, Karen?!”