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Onyx and I moved to Winter Park, Colorado when he was about 9 1/2 months old. Soon after (too soon, actually) he discovered "the great outdoors." It was accidental, but once it happened I accepted it. He was a cat, after all.
Every 3 weeks or so, I would need to go down to Denver for one reason or another. The first time, I discovered a massive pet store just off the freeway on the way back to the mountains. Since I had some time to kill, I spent some time wandering around. Onyx was always a spoiled cat and had a box full of toys--he was the first cat I ever saw that actually PLAYED with the toys (there were days I'd come home from work to find every one dragged out into someplace), so I could never resist when I saw a different one. So, I started a tradition. Every time I'd go to Denver, I'd bring back a little something. That first toy was one of his favorites for years. It was called "Squeaky Snake". It had a furry, calico-striped body and a plastic pink head complete with a tongue. It squeaked when you squeezed it and was one of the silliest things I've ever seen.
When I came home that afternoon I called to Onyx to show him the treat I'd brought. He was playing with a grey mouse toy in the living room. He looked up disinterestedly and promptly went back to playing. I tried making the snake squeak. I tried making it slither on the ground. I even tried making it run up the couch. None of these sparked any more interest than a raised head.
"Fine," I said. "I'll be back later. You just play with that grey mouse toy."
I made it as far as the front hallway.
"Wait a minute,
he has a black mouse toy,
a white mouse toy,
a brown mouse toy,
he doesn't have a grey mouse toy???
Oh hell!!!!! It's a real mouse."
I went back only to find him placing his new "toy" in his food dish (presumeably to save for later).
When he saw me, he grabbed it and ran. The chase was on. We went from room to room, upstairs and downstairs before he finally decided he would be safe under the bed. HA!, NOT!
I grabbed a hold of him--mouse in mouth--and tossed them both outside.
Later, he tried to make up for it by squeaking the snake. It took a lot of squeaking.
Editor's note:
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