Carolina Summers Pt. 5 : Silverbell: The Cat From Hell

 

 

She was as mean as she was beautiful, and my childhood reason for hating cats. Yes, it is true. There was a time in my life when cats scared me, and it was all because of her.

“Silverbell”: The evil grey cat that belong to my cousin Terri.

She was so mean that she would climb to the top of her single pole cat tree, sit on the top and try to jump on a persons back whenever they walked by.

One summer morning I woke up and the demon was sitting on my chest, squinting her eyes, staring at me. It almost seemed like she was trying to suck the life out of me. I shrieked and threw her across the bedroom.

Her favorite game was to hide under a bed, and attack your ankles and sink her sharp fangs into your feet. That cat needed to go!
I truly felt that my crazy cousin trained her to be that way. For, Terri was the only person that Silverbell liked. She would curl up purring in Terri’s lap and, look at us as if she was untouchable…

Thus, the plan to rid the world of the evil queen began. It was my brother who at first suggested catnapping her, then Trey Ravenell said lets tie firecrackers around her. “Yea”! We all thought, that would teach her!

The night of the infamous Catnapping, Terri had gone out on a date, and our sister was sitting on the front porch with Nanason and Papa. I stole a can of tuna and lured Silverbell out of the pits of hell. My brother pounced on her while Trey tried to wrap her up in the pillow case. She was way smarter then us. She clawed, scratched and bit both of them until she drew blood. Then she got loose of the boys and jumped for my face while hissing. Suddenly she got her footing and hauled booty towards the back door, where she failed to stop and went right through the screen, and jumped clean over the back steps. She cut to the right with us chasing and climbed to the top of the telephone pole that was in the neighbor’s yard. There she sat, watching us…who was watching her. And hissing….

Papa, Nanason and my sister came to see what the commotion was. They witnessed my brother and Treys bloody sight, and then Papa saw the screen door. “Boys!”

Nanason tried the rest of the evening to get Silverbell to come down. But she wouldn’t budge. When Terri came home she begged for her kitty to come home. But no way was that crazy cat leaving that pole. My cousin just knew her cat would die up there. But it was me, who asked her: “How many cat skeletons do you see up a pole? “Well if it wasn’t for you, then my precious baby wouldn’t be up there” My cousin was purely delusional.

“Precious”? I asked, “That cat is the pure offspring of Satan”! And I stomped off.

Silverbell did eventually make her way down, but stayed far away from us kids.

I wish I could say this was the end of Silverbell, but she lived for many years, and would climb that same pole many times more. One day during her geriatric years, and being partially blind she climbed it and fell off. Unfortunately she broke her back. I guess she had lived out all her nine lives.

Later in life, much to my dismay Senior wanted a kitten, he found a little gray female,  We named her Dutchess, and she was full of spirit “great” I thought, “Its Silverbell re-incarnated”