Chapter 13

Spike was about 3 miles east of the Johnston’s house. He wasn’t going to go back there but he was hungry so he was on the hunt for food. He would either catch a rodent or if he was lucky, some nice human would set a dish of food out for him.

Spike soon spied a small blue house where several kids were playing. Most were older boys, playing ball in the street. Older kids could be mean, especially boys. Spike was about to slip behind the row of houses and travel the drainage ditch to the next neighborhood when he saw a little boy playing by himself between the little blue house and the yellow one to the right. He noticed the boy was eating something so he went to investigate.

The boy was very young, maybe around 3 years old, and Spike noticed a human watching from the kitchen window, just above where the boy was playing. Spike watched until the human walked away and then approached the boy. He was eating cheese and crackers and Spike loved cheese! The boy reached out for Spike when he saw him. Spike sat next to the boy, waiting for a bite of cheese but the boy just wanted to pat him on the head. This was unacceptable to Spike!

Spike bit the boy’s arm but quickly let go. It was just a nudge to get the boy to give him a bite. “Owie,” cried the boy. He smiled at Spike with a puzzled face. He liked cats but he didn’t understand why the cat bit him. The boy, wanting to be friends with the Spike, reached his arm out with a piece of cheese in his hand. “Here kitty-cot,” said the boy handing Spike the bite of cheese. Spike took the cheese gently from the boy’s fingers. He didn’t want to hurt the boy if he was sharing his cheese.

Spike wanted more cheese and the boy wouldn’t oblige. Spike cocked his ears back, ready to give the boy another snap with his teeth when the boy handed him his plastic plate with the rest of his cheese and crackers. The boy’s human came out of the house about that time and Spike grabbed as many pieces of cheese off the plate as he could fit in his mouth and ran! He knew from experience that many humans didn’t like cats.

In the bushes near the drainage ditch, Spike stopped to eat his cheese. As he ate the last little bit he heard a rustling in the bushes. Investigation proved to be a tiny mouse that was so small it was hardly worth the effort but Spike was still hungry. He snuck up on the tiny mouse, caught it quickly and devoured it, leaving the gut behind, before moving on to the next neighborhood.

After a short walk, Spike ventured over to a house that had a familiar scent. There was another cat, a white fluffy female. Spike was interested. Not only was he interested in the female but if the humans in this house had a cat then maybe they wouldn’t mind setting out a little extra food for one more.

A man came out of the house, calling for his cat. “Fluffy, where are you?” He saw Spike and said, “Aww, poor kitty. Are you homeless?” The man was of small stature and he walked with a limp. He looked old and tired, but he didn’t yell at him with a raised fist so Spike knew he was a nice human. The man sat out a bowl with some milk for Spike while he searched for Fluffy.

Spike looked at the bowl of milk, wondering where the cheerios were. Elizabeth always gave him cheerios in milk. Spike didn’t mind too much and he lapped up the milk quickly. He thought of Elizabeth and missed her. He knew he’d never see her again.