Miss Fluffy Pants Isn't the Only Cat

by Kate Thompson
Mitzi leaps onto my desk when I least expect it. She head butts me and lays on her back under my desk, her paws curled, the pose that makes me pause and say, awe.
   Mitzi isn't the only cat in my life. Don't tell her. I have another who is rather surly. I doubt Mitzi would like him. His name is Bartholomew. He lives in my story, "The Asteroid's Daughter and the Serpent Handler's Son".  Whether she likes it or not, Mitzi did serve as inspiration. She is a cat, after all.
   Mitzi is a Norwegian Forest Cat. Well, we think she is. We rescued her from a shelter in Seattle, WA six years ago. She was adorable, that's all we knew then. The giant paws, hairy toes and ear tufts, we learned, are typical of the Norwegian Forest Cat. If climbing the Christmas tree is proof, she is one. 
   We like to call her Miss Fluffy Pants. All that thick curly fur, you can imagine. A cold-weather cat, yet, she's never set a paw in snow. Her ancestors may have served as mousers on Viking Ships sailing for Norway. Mitzi has never seen a mouse, but I'm pretty sure she dreams about chasing them.

Kate Thompson is enthralled by treasure hunter stories and pirates, pioneer women, UFOs and Bigfoot. She's a contributing author in New Halem Tales Secrets and is currently working on her second novel, Tied by Water, and researching a third. Click here to go to Kate's Author Page

Read "The Asteroid's Daughter and the Serpent Handler's Son" in New Halem Tales Secrets. Book available at the Amazon Kindle Store.