When Piing met Fuzz

If you were to ask Piing when the first time she met Fuzz was, she’ll act as though it takes a lot to recall that day, as though it were insignificant.  But that is far from the truth.  Piing has a razor sharp memory and remembers meeting Fuzz quite well.

It had been a Saturday morning and Piing was curled in front of the TV watching CNN, as she did most mornings.  Her owner was a journalist and news was pretty much all that played on the TV (along with the gossip shows, but Piing pretended not to watch those).  Some say Piing liked the news because she was so intelligent, others said it was watching CNN that made Piing intelligent.  If you asked Piing she would say all Persian cats were intelligent, and that CNN had nothing to do with it.  Either way, everyone knew if you needed an answer to something Piing was the one to go to.  She was a trusted advisor and encyclopedia rolled into one – with a bit of smart aleck thrown in for flavor.

Piing had just begun grooming her beautiful coat when she heard barking and growls from outside the kitchen window.  Piing continued her grooming, hopiing the barking would end, but it didn’t.  Piing squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as if to wish the noise away, but no such luck.  She opened her eyes and headed for the kitchen.  She sprang onto the maple wood table, onto the counter, over the sink and onto the kitchen window ledge.  She peered out and laid her eyes on Fuzz.

Fuzz was outside the house next door running back and forth along the wooden fence that separated the front yard from the backyard.  He had gotten locked out and was growling angrily to himself.  He knew exactly where the entrance gate was and had pulled at it with his paw, but couldn’t get it open.  Frustrated, he barked at the gate.  He knew this wouldn’t help, but it made him feel better.  He trotted the length of the fence, thinking of a way to get back in.  This was a new home and he had yet to discover all the ways in and out of the yard as he had at his previous home in New England.  His missed his old home, he was more comfortable there.  He had only been here in this big city two days and now was already in trouble.  Fuzz looked toward the top of the fence to gauge if he could leap over and that was when he spotted a cat sitting in the kitchen window of the house next door.  Fuzz never paid much attention to cats, but he had to admit this one was quite beautiful and actually made him pause.  Not only was this cat impeccably groomed, but she had one green eye and one blue eye, something Fuzz had never seen before.  He let out a short bark, “Any ideas on how to get back into my yard?”

Piing didn’t bother replying, she cocked her head and began analyzing him.  He clearly was some type of Labrador mix, but she wasn’t sure yet what the other half was.  “Maybe he’s half Lab, half stupid,” she thought to herself, “because running back and forth barking at a fence won’t magically open it.”   She had no idea that running actually helped Fuzz think and that he didn’t believe in magic at all.

Fuzz let out another inquisitive bark. 
Piing continued to ignore him and turned her attention to the neighborhood.  She enjoyed solving puzzles and right now she was trying to figure out how this dog had managed to get out of a locked back yard.  She saw a couple kids playing stick ball in the street.  One kid smacked the ball into a neighbor’s back yard.  Another kid opened the neighbor’s gate, ran in and retrieved the ball.  Piing nodded to herself, that was easy to solve.  One of the kids had gone into this dog’s yard to retrieve a ball and left the gate open, letting the dog out.  But how had the gate closed behind the dog?

Fuzz stared up at Piing wondering what she was doing.  The cat was staring at the kids playing ball, then at the yard, then back at Fuzz, then at the gate.  Fuzz let out another bark, “As you can tell, I’m locked out.”

Piing tuned him out, she was staring at the gate.  The kitchen window was open and Piing stepped outside to get a better look at the gate.  On the inside of the gate was a spring loaded hinge.  Piing nodded again, mystery solved.  The kids had entered the yard, the dog ran out after them and the gate closed behind him.

Piing finally looked at Fuzz, who kept barking at her.  This was not going to work.  This was a Saturday and there was surely some important news breaking at this very moment.  The barking had to end.  Piing sprang from her window onto the neighbor’s fence.  A few quick steps and she was at the gate.  She pawed at the latch, it lifted, and she cracked the gate open with her other paw.

At first Fuzz wasn’t sure what Piing was doing, but he caught on quickly.  As soon as she cracked the gate open, he stuck his nose in the gap and pushed the gate back and stepped into the yard.  He turned to the cat, “Great teamwork!”

But Piing was already on her way back to her kitchen window.  She leaped from the fence to the window and as she entered she heard a few barks from the dog she had helped, “Thanks.  By the way, my name is Fuzz.”

Piing heard him, but didn’t really care.  Her little adventure had made her hungry.  She stopped at the kitchen doorway where there were two bowls, one with tuna, one with milk – both her favorites.  As she lapped at the milk, Piing thought about what had just happened and if there was a lesson to be learned.  This was a habit she had picked up from her father who was known for saying just the right thing to capture a lesson. Piing missed her father and wondered what he would say about her opening the gate, probably something like, “A locked gate is only as strong as the one holding the key.”  She liked that one, it made her smile.  She headed into the living room and curled up in front of the television.  Anderson Cooper was discussing global warming.  Perfect timing because the sun was just beginning to shine on Piing as she lay in her favorite spot.  She forgot all about the dog named Fuzz.  She had no use for him…not yet.