Z – Zoom Mews

My Theme this April is “My Muse Says…”

The Story Spark for this story was Meetings.

The writing prompt I chose was Zoom .

The following is what my “mews” said I should write.

Z – Zoom Mews

Those of you who read my blog may have read about the Zoom meeting I once had where I was Zoom bombed by multiple me’s from my past: https://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=2566

Seeking them all out again is not an easy task. This being the last of this year’s A to Z entries, I thought I would attempt another meeting with them to discuss how I should end this year’s A to Z Challenge. I didn’t succeed in getting my past selves together. I got Zoom bombed again.

This was not what I was expecting when I started the meeting. 

Welcome to all the cats that I’ve had dealings with over the last 36 years.

I, or should I say Harvey 1990, started it off. “What just happened?  Where are all of you coming from, and how did you get here?”

The oldest, Rinny, answered, “We thought we would all come and help you out. And watch out, how you are handling those kids of mine.”

“Well, I’m the youngest,” replied Lovem, “at least I was before you abandoned me to my fate. It’s no wonder I never came back. Even still, I thought I might be of some help.”

Pasha chimed in, “You never write about us. It’s all those stories about your so-called friend Ronald and Folktale stuff. That gets boring. Where are all the cat adventures?”

“You weren’t even one of his cats,” interrupted Thunder Snow. “You were a house cat for someone else and got special treatment. All he did for us was feed us.”

This was difficult to take in. How were all these cats, from my past and present, able to Zoom and talk in English, so that I could understand them?

“Hey, there’s no special treatment here. I like/liked) all of you.”

B-cat was quick to respond to that, “No special treatment, you say? Let’s see, which of us gets wet food in addition to the dry food he serves? Raise your paw.”

Only Rinny, Thunder Snow, Pasha, and Kid Thunder raised their paws.

Shannon asked, “And which of us gets petted when we are with him, or Christina? Again, raise your paw.”

This time, it was Ms. Kit, Pasha, Lovem, Rinny, and Bigbee.

“Hey, after you have a seizure, it’s nice to have someone calm you down and let you stay for a while. He was nice to me. He even tried to get me some help from that lady Vet,” said Ms. Kit

Bigbee was also quick to clarify, “He only pets me because I let him, and besides, it feels good. Most of you just back away if he comes close.”

Kid Thunder reacted with “I’ve seen you back away a lot, also. All he has to do is take one step outside, and you take off. Why don’t you see if he’ll pet you when he steps outside, that way you’ll know if he really cares. You’re a coward cat, that’s why.”

I was going to respond to that, except the 4 kittens on me (Number 1, Wesley, Worf, and Data) were getting a little restless and I needed to calm them down. 

After a pause, I said, “Hey, can’t you just all get along. You all have something in common. I cared for you all, no matter how long you stayed with me.”

“Well, I can’t deny that,” said Rinny, “I lived with them the longest, like seventeen years. All I had to do was dump 4 kittens in his lap, and lo and behold, I had a new home for life, even after he fostered the kids out.”

“Seventeen years!” shouted Bigbee, “maybe I should think about dumping some kids in his lap.”

“That notch in your left ear says that’s not going to happen,” said B-cat, having just received a notch herself.  

All the cats began cleaning themselves as they contemplated why they had entered this Zoom meeting. I just sat where I was, as the kittens finally stopped moving around and appeared to be going to sleep. 

All of a sudden, I heard a collective purring sound. It was coming from the screen. Somehow, all of the cats were able to be heard at the same time, with no one overshadowing the others. It was Purr-fect.

Rinny said, “Those who have left you…”

Kid Thunder continued, “And those of us still here…”

B-Cat, “Even if we come and go at strange intervals…”

Then all of them, including the kittens, said, “Thank you and Christina for being who you are.”

At that point, my Zoom time had elapsed, and the meeting was ended, so I didn’t get a chance to thank them for being what they were. And to thank them for giving me a way to end the A to Z Challenge this year. 

The message, throughout this month, being – Be kind and helpful to others, whether it be people you interact with, animals that need your love and assistance, and the world in general itself; they all need your appreciation, compassion, and willingness to make a better world we live in.  If you do it from your heart, trust me, you’ll know you have done well, even without a Zoom meeting to confirm it. 

So say my Muse, my Mews, and me.