The Neighborhood Bully
Doug and I are currently renting a house in a popular subdivision, near school. Before we moved in, we were worried. We've heard about neighborhood drama that spills over at school. We don't like drama. We lived in an neighborhood for 15 years, previously. I knew my neighbor's first name, well, a couple of them. We waved hello. Once we collected the mail for the man next door, and brought his garbage cans up. They didn't go out of their way to be social, and we didn't either.
Our current neighborhood is social. That was the attraction for me, when we were looking for a place to rent. I wanted some place where my kids could walk out the front door and find people to play with. It has been that, exactly. We are worried that when we move into the new house- that is not really in a neighborhood- our kids are going to be lonely and sad. There aren't houses with kids their age, to run out and play basketball, wiffle ball, or bad guys with.
The only negative to this neighborhood, is there is a bully. The bully terrorizes me and my dog. The bully is a 12-ish pound black cat. It's a total Ruffian. Doug and Gracie (that's my dog) discovered this black cat one night about 2 months ago, while taking her final walk of the night. Doug was all breathless and stunned, when he and the dog barreled in the door, because the cat was so aggressive. You know usually when you stomp at a cat, they go away. He did not stomp ON the cat- he was a good 10 feet away- but the cat kept coming at him, even after he hissed at it. It just kept coming, closer, and closer . . . anyway. I laughed at him because that Doug is so silly, a mere cat would not have done all that. He's such an exaggerator; so silly. Then a week or so later, Gracie and I stumbled on the Intimidator. We ran home. I was running from that cat, like a person, without a weapon, would run from a zombie.
There's just something super creepy about it. Anyway, after I ran home away from that Monster- I changed my walking route for Gracie's last walk, and we went a different way and I didn't have to worry about that Tyrant. During the day, the Nefarious Creature wasn't out, wreaking havoc on the street, so we walked by its house with ease and comfort. Except one day last week, I was walking Gracie, and reading on my phone, when suddenly I heard a loud hiss to my right. I was caught totally off-guard. Dread filled my heart. No longer were my days safe. Gracie (who is a TOTAL pansy- even bigger than me) and I high tailed our rear ends to the other side of the street, while our hearts hammered in our chests (maybe just mine did. She didn't seem all that bothered). The Felonious cat just laid under the tree, watching us with it's gleaming green eyes, so help me, Green Eyes! (name that movie that inspired that quote!). Evil creature.
Then today, it came flying out at us. I was contemplating the deeper things in life, like whether I should eat an Oreo when I got home, but I would have to be super crafty since both kids were downstairs. I was distracted and not expecting that Knavish animal to be around, but it was! We dashed to the other side of the street. It kept coming at us, we walked briskly back up the street towards our house, and it stood there in the street, all bowed up, watching us. We ran home with our tails, tucked between our legs.
The cat won again. I'm torn on what to do. I don't want to carry a tennis racket or a broom to wave at it, that feels over dramatic (and nothing about this blog has been over-dramatic, so why should I start now?!), but my heart cannot handle these surprise attacks. Who would have thought that the most stressful part of my summer has become a cat that doesn't even belong to me?! (just goes to show you how not- stressful this summer has been so far!)
Our current neighborhood is social. That was the attraction for me, when we were looking for a place to rent. I wanted some place where my kids could walk out the front door and find people to play with. It has been that, exactly. We are worried that when we move into the new house- that is not really in a neighborhood- our kids are going to be lonely and sad. There aren't houses with kids their age, to run out and play basketball, wiffle ball, or bad guys with.
The only negative to this neighborhood, is there is a bully. The bully terrorizes me and my dog. The bully is a 12-ish pound black cat. It's a total Ruffian. Doug and Gracie (that's my dog) discovered this black cat one night about 2 months ago, while taking her final walk of the night. Doug was all breathless and stunned, when he and the dog barreled in the door, because the cat was so aggressive. You know usually when you stomp at a cat, they go away. He did not stomp ON the cat- he was a good 10 feet away- but the cat kept coming at him, even after he hissed at it. It just kept coming, closer, and closer . . . anyway. I laughed at him because that Doug is so silly, a mere cat would not have done all that. He's such an exaggerator; so silly. Then a week or so later, Gracie and I stumbled on the Intimidator. We ran home. I was running from that cat, like a person, without a weapon, would run from a zombie.
There's just something super creepy about it. Anyway, after I ran home away from that Monster- I changed my walking route for Gracie's last walk, and we went a different way and I didn't have to worry about that Tyrant. During the day, the Nefarious Creature wasn't out, wreaking havoc on the street, so we walked by its house with ease and comfort. Except one day last week, I was walking Gracie, and reading on my phone, when suddenly I heard a loud hiss to my right. I was caught totally off-guard. Dread filled my heart. No longer were my days safe. Gracie (who is a TOTAL pansy- even bigger than me) and I high tailed our rear ends to the other side of the street, while our hearts hammered in our chests (maybe just mine did. She didn't seem all that bothered). The Felonious cat just laid under the tree, watching us with it's gleaming green eyes, so help me, Green Eyes! (name that movie that inspired that quote!). Evil creature.
Then today, it came flying out at us. I was contemplating the deeper things in life, like whether I should eat an Oreo when I got home, but I would have to be super crafty since both kids were downstairs. I was distracted and not expecting that Knavish animal to be around, but it was! We dashed to the other side of the street. It kept coming at us, we walked briskly back up the street towards our house, and it stood there in the street, all bowed up, watching us. We ran home with our tails, tucked between our legs.
The cat won again. I'm torn on what to do. I don't want to carry a tennis racket or a broom to wave at it, that feels over dramatic (and nothing about this blog has been over-dramatic, so why should I start now?!), but my heart cannot handle these surprise attacks. Who would have thought that the most stressful part of my summer has become a cat that doesn't even belong to me?! (just goes to show you how not- stressful this summer has been so far!)
Comments
Post a Comment