Fortune's Tail

Oregon Muse, sweet, and sad, story about the dogs. Really hard when critters just disappear. F'r instance:

Saw an article that says the most-searched how-do-you-spell word in Oklahoma is "gray". Here's a tail of two grays.

A few cats have been very special to me. I've written about my dear friend Charlie, a true Godsend.

Charlie's tail (and Max's)
http://acecomments.mu.nu/?blog=86&post=361844#c24945709

But years before Charlie, there was Fortune.

Here in Oklahoma, one does not generally walk - where our in-town "office" is, there are no sidewalks. But, for some reason, one sunny day, I was walking along the highway. This is a five-lane affair, with one of those head-on left-turn lanes in the center. ("Suicide lane" my neighbor calls it.)

As I walked along, I saw what I thought was a bit of brush or trash rolling under a car. Then I saw it stand up and start hissing ferociously. Traffic was moderate, but dangerous. Fortunately, the kitten had made it to the relative safety of the center lane.

I managed to get over to the center lane and pick it up, cradling it in my tee-shirt. A really young, medium-haired gray kitten with spots of white and a scary amount of blood. I figure someone had just thrown it out the car window. I wondered if it was fatally damaged.

I took it back to the office, washed off the blood in the bathroom sink, and saw that the only apparent damage was a cut lip (inasmuch as cats have lips). Amazing, resilient kitty. I remember Daughter walking in and seeing me holding this tiny wet creature; she wondered, why is Dad holding a rat?

So, the fortunate survivor kitty got the name Fortune, and joined us living at the farm. I really liked that kitty and she was "mine" in a special way. We had a bad patch when, after being spayed, her stitches opened up. (We had a new vet at the time, and moved on to another after that.) Can still picture Milady, on the east porch, holding Fortune's flesh together to keep her guts in.

One day, I looked out on the east porch, and there on the table I thought I saw Fortune, but it was another cat, almost identical, who just showed up. That cat got the name General Gray. It was difficult to tell them apart at a distance. Behaviorally, they were easy to tell apart: The General was a little more aggressive than my sweet gal Fortune.

Fortune liked to get up on the trampoline with Milady when she exercised.

One day Fortune was just gone. Heartbreaking when that happens with any cat, but especially one so dear. For a while, it was hard to look at Gen. Gray, because, every time, I'd wonder, is this Fortune returned?

Miss you, little Miss Fortune.

General Gray stayed with us for years, eventually expiring naturally.