Madam Blue changes her mind

Although Blue and Wolf were the only playmates left, the nightly games continued.  From the opposite end of a stick, string or toy, Blue would play with me for hours.  Although Blue wasn't as authoritarian and rigid as Mama, rules were rules.  If I got fresh and put a hand near her, she would cuff me.

But for months, Blue must have secretly been harboring deep fond feelings for the dumb human that fed and played with her.  Finally, one night those feelings overcame her.  She charged up to me and began rubbing against my leg.  Stunned, I put a hand on her, expecting to get slapped.  Instead she reared up and began dancing. 

 

For the next several years, "the pat dance" was Blue's greeting.  Nearly every time I stepped out the door, Blue would dance at me.  Eventually, the dancing would become hand biting if I didn't produce a treat in a timely fashion.  I may not be the brightest bulb in the room, but I can be taught.  And it didn't take her long to train me not to step out the door empty handed.  

Blue and I now exchanged affectionate greetings.  Wolf and I hunted moths together.  He ate them, I didn't.  Even the look of pure bliss on his face as he dined on moth couldn't convince me to try one.     

Blue wasn't the only one that experienced a mind change.  Occasionally, it occurred to me that I wasn't the one calling the shots.  The cats were in command.  It was a peculiar arrangement.  They were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves and they did, although they happily accepted my offerings.  They had separate lives I knew nothing about and dropped in like friends or neighbors.  I was extremely fond of the pair and was content with the situation.  But Mama had other plans and was about to turn things upside down.