The Christmas Cat Tails

by Peter Scottsdale

  The temperature dropped some more – enough that their noses got cold. Darla lit some more candles, hoping the heat from the flame would help keep them warm. They started to see the breath leave their mouths.

  It was getting late. Chelsey fell asleep in her mother’s arms, something she hadn’t done since she was a little girl. Darla prayed.

  “Lord, Jesus. Please see us through this cold night. Please keep us safe and warm.”

  Eventually, Darla also fell asleep, wondering if they would survive the night. And it got colder.

  - 4 -

  The next morning the sun rose lighting the Ashton living room. Darla woke up and found her daughter still breathing, and Capone curled up on their laps. He had kept them warm through the cold night.

  “Thank you, Jesus,” Darla whispered not wanting to wake her daughter.

  The power came back on three hours later. Darla and Chelsey survived the worst winter storm in Langston Falls history. Christmas had arrived, and they celebrated – opening gifts, hugging and kissing, eating Christmas dinner, loving the day. And Capone too.

  Chapter Fourteen

  - 1 -

  By the time New Years Day came around, all the snow had been removed and all power restored to the city. The Parkers, the Ashton’s neighbors, used their new snow blower to clean off Darla’s sidewalks and driveway. Appreciative, Darla gave them a box of Turtles chocolates. Now they could visit Ken.

  - 2 -

  The air was a little below freezing when Ken’s wife and daughter stood at his gravesite. Darla laid flowers on his headstone. The headstone read: “ Beloved Husband and Father.”

  Darla told him what had happened since he died and hoped he could hear her in Heaven. Chelsey stood by quietly and listen to her mother.

  “I love you and miss you,” they each said.

  They turned to leave when Chelsey turned back and said, “Daddy, thank you for Capone. He’s the best gift ever.” And they went home.

  - 3 -

  Darla and Chelsey would always remember Ken as a wonderful husband and father as their lives went on. Darla would eventually remarry a man from church, and Chelsey grew up to become a beautiful young woman. Capone lived to a healthy 18 years. And when they buried him, they thought of the man who brought this special cat into their lives. Never forgetting either of them.

  The Christmas Cat 3

  Chapter One

  The cold pulled at his body heat when he stepped outside his motel room door. The weather app on his iPhone revealed a -35 degree temperature with a wind chill of -47 degrees. Just the way he wanted it.

  He walked to the stairs of the Sunrise Motel and stepped down to the ground floor. The freezing temperature drew warmth from his body. He’d left his winter coat in his room, and he felt it. He’d shaved off his beard so the cold could freeze his face.

  Good, he thought. I don’t deserve to be warm.

  Walking out of the motel parking lot, Alan went toward the highway where no buildings could shield him from the bitter winds. Goosebumps appeared and disappeared on his skin as his body tried to get warm. The winds blew up and cut him to the bone. He wondered how long it will take him to die. He wore a t-shirt, jeans and runners so he could freeze faster.

  This winter had been hell, and he knew he’d be there soon. His muscles tightened. He shivered. Five minutes past since he’d gone out to die.

  Snow crunched beneath his feet as he passed through an open field by the highway. He stopped and looked up.

  “Why did you do this to me?” he said.

  His mind and body wanted him to cross his arms to conserve heat, but the part that wanted him to die was stronger. He left his arms at his sides. The frigid gusts ravaged him and ripped out his warmth. Hypothermia started to set in.

  Death would happen soon, he knew it. He welcomed it. The cold burnt him – his arms, his face, his fingers, his back, his soul. He shook.

  Alan drew close to the highway, and considered ending it by being hit by a semi-truck as a quicker way to finish it. No, he wanted a slow death.

  He came to the highway ditch and watched the few cars out this dark night speed past.

  He heard a “meow.” A light, soft, barely audible meow. Alan hadn’t heard such a meow before. It sounded like a kitten, and he looked into the ditch. A small ball of matted fur approached him. She meowed again.

  Looks like a Ragdoll.

  He stepped down with a slight stumble into the ditch where the temperature felt a few degrees warmer and the wind blew over the top. He reached the kitten and picked her up.

  She feels so cold. Who would leave a kitten out on a night like this?

  She cuddled into him. She shivered and shook and so did Alan. He knew if he died this night, so would she. He wrapped both arms around her and climbed out of the ditch. He had to get her out of this glacial weather as fast as he could. It meant her life.

  He moved as quickly as he could across the field back toward the motel. The conditions slowed him down. The subzero winds let up. He wanted to run but knew that would create a wind chill as he hurried through the cold air. Alan trudged through the snow not going as fast as he knew he had to. She needed him. He needed to get her warm.

  The winds picked up again, blowing across his back. The extreme winter temperatures dug deep into him. He had never felt so cold.

  He reached the edge of the field and stepped onto the motel parking lot. Almost there. The kitten didn’t move. Alan didn’t want to pull his arms from her to check on her because the chill would get at her.

  They arrived. He took her up the stairs, each step a struggle, his legs freezing. They got up to his room. Suddenly, he realized he didn’t bring his keycard with him. They were locked out. The front desk closed for the holiday. They needed to get inside now or freeze to death.

  “Oh, God.”

  Alan kicked the door and it flew open. He hadn’t latched it. In his haste to die, he hadn’t cared if the door closed all the way.

  Inside they went. He put the Ragdoll kitten on the bed and covered her with a blanket. She breathed.

  “Thank God.”

  He smiled his first smile in weeks.

  Alan turned the heat up to high. They both needed to get warm fast. He took another blanket and shivered as he wrapped himself in it. He curled up on the bed and watched his new kitten. He decided not to find out whose cat she was – if she had an owner. Any good person would not leave her out in this weather.

  Man and cat warmed up. After a while, he turned on the t.v. It’s a Wonderful Life had started a few minutes before. He had never seen this old black and white movie, but it may add color to his life.

  When the part where Clarence, the angel trying to earn his wings, jumped into the water to save George from himself, Alan felt something soft. The kitten had come out of the blanket and found a spot to curl up next to him. She was warm. He ran his fingers through her fur. She had some mats. She purred. He had warmed up too.

  “I’m hungry. And I bet you are too.”

  He didn’t want to disturb his new feline, but his leftover tuna sandwich sat in the mini-fridge across the room. He picked her up and placed her back on the bed. She meowed a little.

  He got to the fridge and retrieved to half-eaten sandwich. He returned to the bed and put the sub beside her. She showed a quick and intense interest in the meal. She sniffed the plastic wrap and tried to bite through to the tuna.

  “Hold on, hold on. Boy, you must be hungry. When was the last time you ate?”

  He ran his hand over her. He could tell she was underweight. He pulled open the wrap and took out the sandwich. She tried to paw it out of his hand. So he took some tuna out of the sub and set it on the bed. She ate it immediately. And came for more. He scooped out the rest of the fish and gave it to her. And down it went.

  After Alan ate the rest of the sandwich, the small ball of fluff found comfort in Alan’s lap. He continued watching the movie. In the classic film, George wanted to kill himself after his l
ife fell apart. Just like Alan. An angel without wings saved George. Alan looked down at his new friend.

  “Are you my angel with no wings?”

  He petted the small cat and touched her warmth. He became warmer. He noticed the many mats in her fur and took one in his fingers. She mewed in pain.

  “We’ll have to do something about those mats. But I want to watch my movie first.”

  When the film finished, he threw the blanket off and got up. He got the clippers he’d used to shave off his beard and a comb and returned to the bed. He sat down beside the young feline and located a large mat. Taking the comb, he pulled the mat away from her skin. Using the clippers, he shaved the mat off. A slow but necessary process.

  The kitten sat still and allowed Alan to care for her. When he finished removing all her clumps of fur, he held her up and gave her the once over. She now had bald spots and her fur appeared dirty.

  “Time to give you a bath.”

  Alan got off the bed and deposited the removed mats into the bathroom garbage. He opened the shower curtain and turned on the water. After a few seconds, warm water flowed over his fingers. A good feeling. He wanted to get in the tub because he hadn’t bathed in three days. But she came first.

  He filled the water up halfway and fetched some shampoo. The mini-motel bottle would have to do. He got his Ragdoll and placed her in the water. Much to his surprise, she didn’t resist or try to scramble out.

  “What a good kitty, you are. How could some jerk leave you outside to die?”

  He washed and rinsed her and pulled the plug. Picking her up, he checked her rear end and wrapped her in a towel.

  “So you’re a girl. I suspected as much.”

  Even though they were in a warm room, she could still get cold with wet fur in the winter. The colder it is, the more it creeps in. He had to get her dry. Alan rubbed his new puss with a towel and used a blow dryer to finish the job. And then he laughed. He hadn’t laughed since the breakup. Her fur had fluffed out from the blow-drying.

  “You’re so cute with your fur poofed out like that. I think I’ll call you ‘Poof.’ Yep, that’s your name: Poof.”

  The clock/radio said 12:13am.

  “Merry Christmas, Poof,” he said and kissed her on the head. He scratched her back.

  His head itched and he knew why. He needed to shower. He smelt his armpits and his face soured.

  Yep, I need to get clean.

  He undressed and showered. He let the hot water warm him. The hypothermia left him. He was warm inside and out. He washed and turned off the water. After drying off, he got into bed. He picked up Poof and laid her on his chest. He drifted off, falling asleep scratching her. He now knew life was more than what that woman put him through. His Christmas cat taught him that.

  Chapter Two

  Alan met Kimberly two years before in a bar in Oshawa. He loved her good looks, and she loved his earning power. He learned that a few days before he walked out into the cold to die.

  Being a grocery store supervisor didn’t make him rich, but he had saved enough to buy his first home. He had worked hard to pay off his credit card debt and rebuild his credit rating. In a few more months, he would be ready to purchase a modest home. A good start. Then he met her.

  She showered attention on him. Smiling at him, touching his arm and face, and gazing into his eyes like no woman had done before.

  Alan struggled in the dating world. Having only a few short-lived love relationships before Kim – the longest lasting four months. Long and wide gaps sat between girlfriends.

  Alan – a plain, average, short man with a pot belly – did not fancy women’s dream dates. So when he met Kim, a dream had come true. The dream started on a bar stool. Alan sat alone at the bar, sipping a draft beer when she sat beside him.

  “Hi,” she said. “Who are you?”

  Their conversation didn’t stop until they had to leave at closing time. She wanted to know everything about him. And he told her, even his plans to buy a house. He loved her attention. Kim wrote down her cell number and told him to call her. Excited, Alan said he would.

  He watched her walk away. She turned and smiled and blew him a kiss. Alan could see good things to come with her. His heart pounded hard. His body felt light, like on air.

  When Alan got home that night, Buster welcomed him home with loud meowing to get fed. He lifted up his orange and white tomcat and hugged and kissed him.

  “I met a girl tonight, Buster.”

  Buster jumped down and ran to his dish and meowed. He hadn’t been fed since the morning.

  “Are you hungry?”

  Buster continued meowing and walked about his dish with his back arched and his tail straight up. Alan fed his boy Whiskas dry cat food. He watched his feline eat and smiled a big smile.

  Life is good.

  But it was about to change.

  *

  Alan and Kim dated and he fell in love. He wanted to give her everything. A wonderful affair grew between them until she said, “I’m not happy here. I want to go back to Langston Falls. That’s my home. I want you to come, but you have to find a new home for your cat.”

  “But I love Buster,” he said to her.

  “Either me or that cat,” she said to him.

  They argued over Buster until she told him she missed her family in Langston Falls, and she would be returning home there with or without him.

  “If you love me, you’ll get rid of that cat and come with me. Cats are vile creatures. I hate them. Hate them. So, what is it? Me or him?”

  The ache of leaving Buster behind weighed on him when he said, “I’ll find him a nice home.” And he did with a pain in his heart. He would also be leaving his family and friends he knew he would miss them dearly – especially his mother.

  *

  When moving day came, Kim told him he needed to pay her last month’s rent and the moving expenses. She also had him settle her utility and cable bills which were months behind.

  They arrived in Langston Falls in the spring, renting an apartment together. Kim introduced him to her family - mother, father and sister – and all seemed fine. But Kim always seemed broke and wanted money.

  She asked him to get her a credit card in his name that she could use because she needed to get a few things for their new home together. In his name because her credit wasn’t so good or so she told him. She promised to only use the credit card for necessaries and emergencies. And just to be on the safe side, she needed a high credit limit. Alan agreed. Anything for her. Soon, Alan applied for three more credit cards.

  Alan found work at a local Safeway grocery store. She refused to work.

  “The man works,” she said.

  He paid all the bills. When she asked to put his bank account in both their names, he did. For her birthday, she demanded a nice new car. Alan took out a car loan for a new Toyota Camry with the title in her name and the loan in his.

  Kim started to disappear. After Alan finished the late shift at the grocery store, he would find she wasn’t home.

  Where is she?

  When she would get home in the early of hours of the morning, she reeked of alcohol, her hair and clothes a mess and with the excuse of going out with the girls. Several times she went missing for two or three days with no explanation.

  “What is going on?” he asked her.

  “Nothing’s going on,” she answered.

  Sleep became difficult for Alan. Being tired all the time wore him down. His work at the store suffered so much they fired him. He told Kim he’d been let go.

  “Well, you’re no good to me anymore,” she said. “I’m leaving. You’re useless. I have another man anyway. Get out.”

  Alan packed a backpack with a few things and left without a word.

  What an idiot I am. I should have seen it, he thought.

  He called his four credit card companies and found all his cards maxed out. He had a little bit left on his MasterCard. He owed over $26,000.00 in credit card debt. All
in his name.

  He visited his bank to take her off his savings and chequing accounts and found them almost empty. His $38,000.00 he had saved for a house gone. He checked the balance of his car loan for her car and found he owed over $22,000.00.

  Destitute, his debt totaled $49,730.59, he had no job and little money. He’d lost the only woman he had ever loved to another man. She had taken everything from him. Christmas was three days away.

  Alan checked into the Sunrise Motel with the last bit of credit he had on his MasterCard. He felt the fool. He had no way of getting back to Oshawa. He had left his family, his friends and his Buster to move out west with that woman. He wanted to evaporate into nothing.

  She had never loved him and put him on the road to bankruptcy. But what could he do? He raged and cried for two days. He ate little. He wanted to drown himself in alcohol but didn’t have any way of buying even one bottle. He didn’t call anyone. Shame plagued him. No one must know the idiot he became. He wanted to die.

  And on Christmas Eve, he walked out into a deadly freeze and found life. Life in the shape of a small Ragdoll kitten named Poof.

  Chapter Three

  Christmas morning he woke to find Poof by his side. He laid in bed and thought. He had to get his life in order.

  He turned on the t.v. and found Christmas cartoons playing. He threw off the covers. Poof meowed in protest. She wanted him to stay in bed, Alan believed. But he needed to get up and get on with his life. What could be done on this day? He got up, peed and showered. When he dried himself off, Poof stuck her head into the bathroom and mewed.

  “Are you hungry? Well, so am I.”

  He put on clean underwear. At least, he had that. He searched the mini-fridge, hoping for something but found nothing. They had finished off the tuna sandwich last night. He sighed.