Zelda

This is the story –

Almost three years ago, a friend of Shon’s and mine moved to Florida. She didn’t want her cat to make the long journey, so I took the cat and named her Zelda (seriously, I am not cool enough to pull off having a cat named Muchacha, and the cat had had so many names at that point that she would answer to anything).

This cat and I, we liked each other, but we never really bonded. I had just had a beloved cat die, and Zelda had had so many owners that she just went with the flow. She was kind of bitchy, which I enjoyed, and I think she enjoyed the fact that I wasn’t in her face all the time with the baby talk.

So yes, we liked each other, but what happened next didn’t surprise me.

All of the other cats that Shon had at the time were indoor-outdoor cats, so I decided it wouldn’t be fair to keep only Zelda inside. She went all spring and summer this way, going outside during the day, and then coming in at night to sleep next to my head. In the fall, something changed. She would spend more and more time outside, and I would go days, and then weeks, without seeing her. I would go outside and look for her and call for her, but I never saw her. Instead, I got updates from roommates and the downstairs neighbors. I would worry for a while, and then someone would tell me that they saw her around the side porch and gave her some food. Finally someone grabbed her for me and brought her inside, but she escaped as soon as she could.

Eventually I figured that she’d found another home in the neighborhood that she liked better. Cats can be fickle sometimes.

I would think about Zelda from time to time, wonder where she went. My nephews would occasionally ask about her, and I would remind them that she ran away. But it has been two years, and now the boys are more interested in Floyd, who is extremely kid-friendly.

So I hadn’t thought about Zelda in a while.

Two weeks ago, I was watching TV at my friend Julia’s house. Shon called me and asked if I remembered what Zelda looked like, and I said yes, so he had me describe her to him. BECAUSE SHE WAS ON OUR PORCH WHEN HE CAME HOME!! And when he opened the door, she ran straight up to my room on the third floor.

When I got home, I went up to my room, and Zelda was on my bed. She started purring as soon as she saw me. I thought it was her, but I pulled up old pictures of her to compare, to be sure. And yes, it is Zelda!

So bizarre. Shon and I have been wondering where she was staying, and why she’s suddenly back after two years. Did she escape from them? Did they move and decide not to take her? It’s all very odd.

They must have kept her indoors – she got outside somehow last weekend, when I was away, but she has shown no interest in the outdoors when I’m around. Indeed, she is always in my room or in the kitchen.

I had forgotten so many things about her, like that she purrs like a chainsaw. Or that her voice was so low. Or that she likes to poke me in the face while I’m sleeping, to try and get me to pet her.

She hasn’t warmed up to Floyd very much. He wants a kitty companion, so he keeps trying to force her to be friends with him, but she starts growling and hissing when he gets too close. And if she turns and runs from him, his kitty instincts make him give chase. They’ve had a few scuffles – I’d be worried about it if they weren’t both total sissy slap-fighters.

And I have hope that one day they’ll like each other. Yesterday morning Floyd was down by my legs, and Zelda was by my head. Floyd crawled onto my stomach, and Zelda didn’t growl once – she didn’t even stop purring! Floyd was able to stretch out his loooooong front legs and almost touch her, and she even sniffed him a little. Progress!