It’s time for another round of Friday Fictioneers, the delightful group hosted by our devoted and tactful host, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. If you’d like to join in the fun, check out her blog and click the blue frog to add your own 100 words to the melee.
The picture today was donated by Dale Rogerson expressly for today’s prompt. The copyright belongs to her and you need her permission to borrow it. No doubt there’ll be many different tales spun out of this photo; I myself came up with two. I’ll go with my first idea, revised and hopefully clarified.
So, gentle readers, here’s another dose of Winnie’s wry wit and wisdom.
From their hotel window Winnie observed the commotion below. “It’s that irritating cat again. Up in that tree, smug as can be. Third time this week.”
Raylene and Winnie watched the crowd milling around. The owner wrung her hands; someone shouted orders; someone fetched a ladder. Perched on his branch Sir Whiskers blinked superciliously.
Winnie rolled her eyes. “Imagine bringing your cat on a holiday!”
“And it loves to lead a merry chase. Sir Whiskers seems to relish having everyone scrambling after him.” Raylene shook her head. “Nature shouldn’t make cats that smart.”
“Or people that dense.”
Haha – what a fun story!
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Thank you. 🙂
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Made me laugh. Cats are not my favorite animals, but I have to agree that they’re smarter than we think.
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We have three cats and I know they’re pretty smart. They definitely know which are the most comfortable chairs in the house and the exact moment when I get out of one. 😉
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That was a fun episode of Winnie and Raylene. Bringing your cats on vacation… what next?
Fun, Christine!
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A lot of people take their dogs on vacation, but generally they aren’t able to escape quite as slyly.
But really, if I want all three of our cats around my feet in the twinkling of an eye, no matter where they may be totally zonked out, all I need to do is take the crinkly foil bag of cat treats off the shelf by the door.. 🙂
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Same here with my two!
And there is no way in he’ll of bringing my pets unless it was to a cottage. But that’s me…
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I wouldn’t bring my pets on a trip in any case, too afraid of losing them en route. thanks for your feedback — glad you enjoyed the tale. I might just give these two travellers a spot of their own in my menu to keep the stories all together.
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😍
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Love your smilies. Do you have a special computer programme — or does this come from your phone?
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Phone… they are so much fun.
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…fun! I hit entre n’y axident! 😲😜
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Corrected. I know all about that with phones. My fingers are too clunky for those tiny keys. I’m looking into getting a tablet — but Ma Bell’s staff says I can’t use it as a phone. 😦
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Dang Ma Bell anyhoo…
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:()
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Same here with my two!
And there is no way in he’ll of being my pets unless it was to a cottage. But that’s me…
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Ha, great last line 🙂
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Thank you. My original word was “dumb” but that sounded so blunt. What do you think?
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“Dumb” is more colloquial/slang I guess, might fit with Winnie’s personality!
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Well, I guess both words are. Dense really refers to matter, but we always used it as teens to refer to “slow to catch on.”
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LOL! I REALLY REALLY enjoyed this one. 🙂
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Thank you. Wish I could come up with a whole series and make a book, just for fun. 🙂
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Just write in ‘serial form’ and use the hundred word format for writing individual scenes. You could do it. Personally, I write books using a shorter 250-300 word scene, then bridge the scenes at a later date. It wasn’t anything I thought of doing, just something I’ve recently noted that I do.
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So should I post them all and see which ones are best liked? Or should I write until I have a book’s worth of stories to publish, with most of them unseen before-hand? That’s what I’m debating.
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Just write… the rest will fall into place. I don’t by any means post all of what I write. If I posted them all, then what would there be to buy in a book, eh? It’s really up to the individual. Personally, for the most part, I post only a small, action scene, usually. I’m known for posting ‘hanging’ scenes without the ends because 1. they haven’t been written, yet. 2. Don’t really want to give it away 3. not sure how it will end, yet. I think that you could do both of what you suggest. That is, post what you want, and then pick out the ones you want to publish later.
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Love it! We take our cat on holidays – it’s with a fifth wheel holiday trailer though so it won’t be climbing any trees. :o)
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I’m sure your cat will find ways to entertain itself. They always do. Mine sit in my computer chair so I have to move them. For them it’s very amusing. 🙂
Thanks for the comment.
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Good to read a humorous post on this one. Kudos.
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Thank you. I’ll admit, it is a rather “dark and stormy night” type scene. Maybe I should post my other take on it, too, but my cell phone (the only way I can access the links to FF or post mine) has a bad case of indigestion and its innards are acting odd.
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Post it at your convenience. Would love to read it. 🙂
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Will do.
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So funny!!! Cats are wickedly wonderful creatures. I have a funny story about my cat. I wrote about it here: https://playinwiththeplayers.wordpress.com/2017/05/12/little-saw-tooth-🐾/
Perhaps you would like to read it.
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Thanks. I will slip over and read it soon. Writing this story made me think of another funny but true cat tale…for another post. 🙂
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I like that…a cat tale. Yes, there are many and some so funny!!!
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Thank you. Cats have a special kind of cleverness. If you let them, they’ll rule your domain. I’m fortunate right now that I can sit in my own computer chair; the cats are all asleep elsewhere.
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ha ha ha!
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Glad you enjoyed it.
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Dear Christine,
Cats do tend to have minds of their own. I’ve heard it said that dogs have owners, cats have staff. Loved the last line. It made me laugh out loud.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle. Glad to give you a chuckle. We pet owners can be a too-indulgent bunch, I’ll admit.
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I love the name Sir Whiskers. He reminds me of a cat I owned years ago, who kept climbing to the very top of the silver birch tree in my front garden, where he would yowl pitifully, gathering quite a crowd sometimes. He loved the attention. If I told people to ignore him and that he wasn’t stuck, they’d argue with me that I was wrong, but once they’d gone and nobody was taking any notice of him, he’d climb down without any difficulty.
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I thought of Mr Whiskers, but it’s been done — and this makes him sound more aristo-cattic. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your cat story. Yes, they will do that. 😉
We had a cat that often climbed the catalpa tree and leaped over to our second floor balcony. But she’d been declawed by a previous owner so of course couldn’t get down again, so there she’d sit, crying for help.
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A very lovely story , Christine .
I love the aura of royalty around Mr. Whiskers, including his name .
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Thank you. It makes him seem like an aristocrat, doesn’t it, and he definitely acts like one.
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Good laugh! I too love the aura of royalty your created for Mr. Whiskers.
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Thank you. I wanted him to sound quite high-falutin’ 🙂
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I once knew a cat like this, lovely story
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Maybe you could get a blog post out of that story, too! Thanks for your comment.
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perfect punchline. just loved it. 🙂
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Thank you. Glad it gave you a chuckle. My initial story was them seeing the scene below and realizing a cat was up in a tree, but then I moved it forward in time a bit to their observations about what they were seeing and the last line just popped up in logical conclusion.
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Fantastic last line. 🙂
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Thank you. One of those “Just popped into my head” lines.
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A funny take on the prompt – why would anyone take a cat on holiday with them?!
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Thanks. I don’t do “dark” really well — which is what this picture first suggests. Or maybe I just like to swim upstream?
As to cats on holidays, I’ve heard that petting a cat can actually lower your blood pressure, so maybe folks bring them along for health reasons — this is haw some folks cope with the stress of all those crazy drivers on the highways? Mind you, if the cat routinely gets stuck up in trees… She’ll no doubt leave him home on her next trip. 😉
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Lovely story. I’ve met many a cat more intelligent than a lot of the humans I know
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Maybe the secret is having so much patience? Thanks for leaving you thoughts.
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Cats are always smarter than people – the sooner Sir Whiskers’ owners realise that, the better.
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Well, they certainly must be. they know how to ingratiate themselves with their owners and still be aloof and controlling. That must take talent. Or human weakness? 😉
Thanks for your comment.
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So much to love.. but most of all that cat’s name… sounds like a perfect fit.
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Oh, Thank you! Glad you like the aristocratic “Sir Whiskers.”
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Haha..enjoyable through the last line.
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Thank you. Wish I could make suitable punch lines pop into my head more often. 🙂
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I wonder how long Sir Whiskers would stay up there if no one made a fuss. We had a cat who could climb up a tree and get down just as easily. Good writing, Christine. 🙂 — Suzanne
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