Monday, June 25, 2007

Heroes For A Day

I've never actually seen a kitten trapped high in a tree. You know, the kittens that firemen rescue and Superman saves.

Until today.

Between loads of laundry, as I walked in my park, I kept hearing the wailing cry of a kitten, but was for the longest time unable to find it. I eventually looked up, and there it was, high, high in a tree. A tiny little black smudge against the green blur. (I hadn't put my contacts in yet.)

Oh no, I thought. What do I do? Well, what could I do? I'm not a fireman with a great big ladder. And sadly, I don't fly. So I ran in to get my cell phone...and camera, of course. Because it's not every day that you actually see a kitten trapped high in a tree. I placed a call to our apartment complex alerting them of my newfound friend trapped high, high in a tree. Seth, curious of the sight, accompanied me outside to see what could be done.

Can you see him?


We called to it. I used the best, annoyingly squeaky kitty call voice I could muster. Here, kitty, kitty, kitty! C'mon kitty! Ohhh, you can do it. I know it's scary, but just try. Heeeeere, kitty, kitty, kitty!

Meooooooow! It stared at us like we were insane. You want me to WHAT?

C'mon kitty!

Meooooooooow!

C'mon!

Meooooooooooooooooow!

And then...He did it! He started a vertical climb down, falling bits at a time onto branches to which he clung for dear life.

Before we knew it, he was right above our heads.


We did it! We saved him! Heroes for a day! Hooray!


And this is how we left him.


No, we did not wait for him to make it completely to the ground for fear of taking him home against our will. We like our couches and would like for them to remain unscathed. We also like our bathrooms free of kitty litter and our clothes worn without the aid of a lent brush.

I am terribly afraid that the kitten might have climbed back up the high, high tree once we departed unto our home-without-animals. But as heroes, there is a price that must be paid. Attachment leads all heroes into trouble. Superman would have been just fine without Lois Lane tempting him to go all human and everything. No, no. We resist the urge to befriend our subject. Goodbye, dear helpless, homeless, darling kitten. We will always think of you fondly. Farewell, and farewell. Your humble servants and heroes always.

9 comments:

The Secret Life of Kat said...

Bravo FancyPants, Bravo.

Susanne said...

Good job, you guys! And I think you're right...that cute little kitty would've been hard to resist. :)

Shelley said...

Haha, that story delighted me! I loved it! My bro once found a wee little kitten at a gas station one time. How the little fellow ended up there, I do not know. He and his wife rescued it, expecting to find someone to adopt it, and, what do you know, they ended up keeping it themsevles!

Chaotic Hammer said...

Great story!

But yes -- kittens and puppies, strictly off limits. Don't even think about it. It's just way too easy to cave.

One minute, it's a cute little kitten in a tree, the next minute, FancyPants is the neighborhood's Crazy Cat Lady, and eventually makes the six o'clock news when the animal control people are called in to rescue all 300 cats from the squalid living conditions...

FancyPants said...

Kat, I bow to your accolades.

Susanne, he is really cute, huh?

Shelley, I am happy to have delighted you with my story!

CHam, I have a sister-in-law who likes cats that much....not 300 but quite a few. My father-in-law threatens her occasionally..."If I come over there and you haven't (yada yada yada), I'm gonna kill a cat!" Ha ha!

Amy said...

awww, poor baby! You denied him the great opportunity of meeting you, since he did, after all, make daring attempts to come see you. but I understand why you did it. Once you petted his darling little head you would have been sold for life.

FancyPants said...

True, very true indeed. I did battle feelings of guilt while walking away from the little guy.

But we took a walk last night (partly to make sure he came down from the tree entirely) and as we neared the infamous tree, he darted in front of us and hid behing the bushes to our right. Then, we came around a second time, and he did the very same thing again. Playful little guy. I think he was offering his gratitude. We accepted and all is well.

kddub said...

I love the high pitched "kitty kitty kitty" part. cracking up.

I wonder how humans discovered that cats respond to that?

FancyPants said...

I don't know, but undeniably, it works.