A Quick, Funny Back-to-School Story to Start Off the New Year

This morning my son, Max, decided that before he chose a jacket to wear to school he should test the weather. He went out onto our screened-in porch . It must not have been too cold because he was able to stay out there long enough to do his best imitation of a cat wanting inside.

Max got on all fours and meowed loudly at the door. That's what Merl, our brown tabby, does when he wants inside. I laughed and Max meowed louder. Bruce and Merl came running from other parts of the house to see who the new cat was. Max meowed again and our tough guy cats crouched down into one of those, "I'm not so sure about you" positions.

When I opened the door to let Max-cat in, Bruce hissed, ran away and hid under a chair. I think he was embarrassed by being fooled by Max. It took several minutes of coaxing before Bruce came out, acted like nothing happened, and was content to bat around his favorite toy, a teeny, tiny blue crab.

Bruce in one of his favorite positions