FRANKIE WEISS AND HER MAGIC

by Daniel M Weiss

Chapter Nine

continued

     In the open drawer was a white, beautiful, extremely heavy bedspread that featured little round balls and fringes when laid out on top of the bed. It had reposed in the open drawer for a number of years, as did the brown, greyish and white dress shirt that fit quite nicely ten less pounds ago. It was my desire to lose those ten pounds. Again, I’d be able to wear that beautiful knit shirt. The shirt still remains in the drawer, as do the accumulated ten pounds, plus a little more. It was the shirt that Frankie’s paws were examining. Tiring of that, she decided to move to the left side of the drawer and sit down, her tail hanging out over the drawer. All the while, Mr. Mom was sitting on the edge of the bed marvelling and watching at her playful cat antics.

   Frankie, now more than fifty years old in human reckoning, never forgetting her kittenish behaviour, was doing what millions of years of traceable ancestry and instilled heritage compelled her to do. This home was her castle and her playground and everything in it therefore was hers to endlessly explore.

    In the past, I had taken pictures of Frankie examining other drawer contents, but I was never fully satisfied with the finished product. I learned to keep my camera charged never knowing when the opportunity to record a worthwhile picture would present itself, so quickly getting my camera, I snapped the picture leading into this “One day in the lives of…” The picture depicted even more than I had hoped for. Her coloured Tortoiseshell fur along with the white part of her face and chest displayed the magnificence of her beauty; while her stunning feline expression conveyed a look that featured her big, black eyes, rimmed yellow-green, at peace with herself and the world. This picture would remind me of one of my dearest memories of the young cat I adopted seven short years ago when Frankie would rummage among the open drawers she had jumped into.

   After viewing the picture just taken and satisfied with the results, I went into the bathroom to shower. I would like to think both cats knew what I was going to do. After all, the following scene was played out many hundreds of times during the years of our togetherness. Frankie would sit on the cover of the toilet seat, while Johnnie jumped to her perch on the bathroom basin. Both cats would sit perfectly still, awaiting my emergence from the shower. Finally, after my wiping and drying the shower stall, Frankie jumped off her seated position and would enter the stall, she had to see what her Mr. Mom was doing inside the closed doors, her curiosity boundless. Sated, she quickly vacated the shower stall and both cats left the bathroom to their own pursuits.

    I finished my toiletry and quickly dressed. While enjoying the company of these beloved cats, I also had a need to see a human face. Every morning I would go out for breakfast to my favourite restaurant. This day, a large bowl of oatmeal and two cups of coffee are my choice. Before returning home some shopping had to be done as well as buying cat litter for my two dependents and lovers, Frankie and Johnnie.

    Arriving back home, on the driveway, I opened the garage door using the button on my car for that purpose. Frankie, upon hearing the garage door open would always rush downstairs to the ground floor to greet me by lying down on the carpeted floor at the wash basin and wait for me to come inside the house and acknowledge her greeting me by rubbing her belly and shapely head. As far as I was concerned, this was a must. How could I, her loving Mr. Mom, skip this ritual, which had become part of our combined lives, living all these years together?

    Satisfying Frankie’s need for attention, I took all the things I purchased that morning out of the trunk of the car and brought them inside. After attending to the two litter boxes in the rec room, I took the entire foodstuff upstairs to the kitchen. Naturally, Frankie the busybody, had to help me. Any open bag, carton or package was hers to explore. Meanwhile, Johnnie being the lady she is, sat on the picture windowsill observing the world outside of her domain. After putting everything in its proper place, I went into the living room and sat down on the “Love Seat.” Frankie walked around it twice and then leaped onto it to sit near me and commanded my interest to pet her.

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