And We Thought Freckles Was Strange

Freckles, our cat, needs some play time to keep active and to help him stay fit. Usually this is my domain, since I too need some play time to keep active and stay fit.

We've bought Freckles countless toys. We don't know what happens to them. We can keep track of them for a few days, then suddenly, they disappear.

We search and search, pull furniture away from walls, and nothing, these toys just keep disappearing. I keep thinking that someday we're going to find a cache' of cat toys somewhere in the house.

Recently we bought Freckles a little mouse filled with catnip and it was a hit. It was hilarious to seem him throwing it into the air and chasing around after it. Then it disappeared. We've looked everywhere, to no avail.

The only toy we've been able to keep around is a heavy mouse, wrapped in harsh rope and filled with some kind of beans. The only reason we've kept track of this is because it's tied to the back of a chair at the breakfast table.

This is not a soft, plush toy. It's kind of rough, heavy and harsh. But then so is Freckles. Freckles loves to smack the dangling mouse around like he's playing tether ball. He spends some time with it every day. He gets so enthused about it he actually moves the chair around. He's a beast. The mouse comes down and smacks him in the head and I think to myself, "that had to hurt." But, no, it just bounces off his head to his own delight.

One game that I start with Freckles is hide-and-seek. He loves it. I'll get his attention and then take off running, ducking behind the kitchen counter, or hiding behind a doorway in an adjoining room. Freckles hustles after me and then lets out a loud "Meow," when he finds me. And I take off again. And we repeat the process again and again. He loves it. I laugh.

Last night I started the hide-and-seek game with Freckles and all of a sudden Barb got caught up in it too. We hid behind the kitchen counter, and he found us. We scampered into the family room and hid on the stairway landing, and he found us. We rumbled up the stairs and tucked around the corner, and he found us. We streaked down the hall into the bedroom, and he found us. We dashed into the bathroom and pressed up against the wall near the shower . . .

At this point Barb and I stood silent, waiting for Freckles to turn the corner and let out a huge "MEOW!" The seconds seemed to last minutes as we tried to stand there in utter silence. Suddenly I couldn't take it anymore and started giggling. I tried to cover my mouth but the giggles came out my nose instead. That's all it took to set Barb off. In seconds we both stood there giggling uncontrollably.

Then Freckles carefully peered around the corner.

"MEOW!"