The Cat
A Tale of Disposal26 total reviews
Comment from Isabel Fontes
Wow! This was a thought-provoking philosophical read that left me with a lot of questions and uncertainties. The way the story portrayed death was like a dance that flowed beautifully. I even found myself rereading some parts because of how majestic the writing was. I appreciate that you included details like maggots and flies, as well as references to Jesus, Buddha, Siddhartha, and Govinda in Bakersfield.
It was sad to read about the poor cat or you having to endure the same dream every night. At times, it felt like I was in the Twilight Zone! Overall, this was a magnificent story, and I want to congratulate you on your impressive writing skills!
reply by the author on 03-Aug-2023
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Wow! This was a thought-provoking philosophical read that left me with a lot of questions and uncertainties. The way the story portrayed death was like a dance that flowed beautifully. I even found myself rereading some parts because of how majestic the writing was. I appreciate that you included details like maggots and flies, as well as references to Jesus, Buddha, Siddhartha, and Govinda in Bakersfield.
It was sad to read about the poor cat or you having to endure the same dream every night. At times, it felt like I was in the Twilight Zone! Overall, this was a magnificent story, and I want to congratulate you on your impressive writing skills!
Comment Written 03-Aug-2023
reply by the author on 03-Aug-2023
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Thank you so much, Isabel. I do appreciate the time you spent on this. Your encouragement was enheartening.
Jay
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You are most welcome, Jay.
Comment from Kaiku
Oh my gosh. I tried pronouncing more new words in this story than I have in 100 stories. I need to read more! A lesson in history and philosophy became mine for the taking. And be it free as well. Who could have thought? Thank you for this delightful read. It was about a dead cat, right?
reply by the author on 01-Nov-2022
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Oh my gosh. I tried pronouncing more new words in this story than I have in 100 stories. I need to read more! A lesson in history and philosophy became mine for the taking. And be it free as well. Who could have thought? Thank you for this delightful read. It was about a dead cat, right?
Comment Written 01-Nov-2022
reply by the author on 01-Nov-2022
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Yes! The cat was definitely dead. Thank you for reading -- and for the six stars! Yes, wordy, perhaps.
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It was fun and engaging.
Comment from Cindy Decker 2
Jay,
Your treatise on life and death is very well-written. You raise some very interesting points.
Just to let you know, I am a Christian who believes in the Big Bang and evolution--both orchestrated by God. I tell you this so you know where I'm coming from.
Your write is interesting, and raises many questions.
I am 65 and think of death more often than I should. Your sad tale will stay with me, in part because it is well-written prose, and because of the message.
Thank you for the read.
Blessings,
Cindy
reply by the author on 27-Oct-2022
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Jay,
Your treatise on life and death is very well-written. You raise some very interesting points.
Just to let you know, I am a Christian who believes in the Big Bang and evolution--both orchestrated by God. I tell you this so you know where I'm coming from.
Your write is interesting, and raises many questions.
I am 65 and think of death more often than I should. Your sad tale will stay with me, in part because it is well-written prose, and because of the message.
Thank you for the read.
Blessings,
Cindy
Comment Written 27-Oct-2022
reply by the author on 27-Oct-2022
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Thank you hugely, Cindy. I'm fascinated by your religious beliefs. I guess we all think about death. At 83, I feel about it like Woody Allen, "I'm not afraid to die ... I just don't want to be there when it happens."
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Thank you for the smile, Jay.
Blessings.
Cindy
Comment from Rosemary Everson1
I will have to read this through again to get the gesture of your story. I know there was a stinky smell, and it must have laid there for a while. As the story unfolds the maggots are having a grand old time....and that leaves me with an uffdah!
reply by the author on 20-Oct-2022
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I will have to read this through again to get the gesture of your story. I know there was a stinky smell, and it must have laid there for a while. As the story unfolds the maggots are having a grand old time....and that leaves me with an uffdah!
Comment Written 20-Oct-2022
reply by the author on 20-Oct-2022
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Yes, Rosemary, thanks for reading on. As you'll see the stink was the beginning of it all. The maggots lent their own kind of promise. Thank you for reading!
Jay
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all I can say is ouch!
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Rosemary, I hope you didn't take my comments as snarly. I am THRILLED that you took the time to read my story. So let me UNbite any effect my words might have had on you. It was entirely unintentional!
JS
Comment from Father Flaps
Hi Jay,
Wow! Where to begin? I had to read this 3 times, and I'm still not sure it has settled in my head. I think it's clunking around in there, ricocheting off my cranium.
You know, I think your writing is fabulous. The story itself borders on horror, with the dead cat as the star, that one eye following you, peeking, accusing. Alfred Hitchcock could have directed this story in a movie, for Pete's Sake. You went to such lengths, explaining what death means to you, even your own death. (Thank God you're still with us!) I think writing your story wasn't really meant for us... your reviewers... as much as it was meant for you. You had a difficult time dealing with the disposal of Queen Amygdala (I thought of Padme Amidala of Star Wars). She meant more to you than you're willing to admit.
"...on an evening perhaps a year ago, while sitting in this same Amygdala-visited chair"
She wasn't just a stray cat. You invited her indoors. She had a favorite chair, too. You had a hard time dealing with the Queen's passing. She had to be buried, but you couldn't bring yourself to do it. You waited a whole week! You kept putting it off... "dreading" what you knew had to be done. You even wrote this masterpiece... how many hours did you spend on it? You went to such lengths... mice under the fridge, mingling maggots, your wayward plans for the backyard, Jesus, Buddha,
Siddhartha and pupil Govinda, the Bakersfield drought...
And every night you went to bed with visions of that poor cat being slowly eaten by those evil worms that were turning into busy buzzing flies. They were landing on your arms, your eyebrows. As I suggested, it's a regular horror movie! "A Tale of Disposal"... maybe. Or maybe "Dealing With Death". Or maybe "Nights of the Living Eye". This has Alfred Hitchcock's name all over it.
Nicely penned! So close to Halloween, too.
Cheers,
Kimbob
reply by the author on 19-Oct-2022
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Hi Jay,
Wow! Where to begin? I had to read this 3 times, and I'm still not sure it has settled in my head. I think it's clunking around in there, ricocheting off my cranium.
You know, I think your writing is fabulous. The story itself borders on horror, with the dead cat as the star, that one eye following you, peeking, accusing. Alfred Hitchcock could have directed this story in a movie, for Pete's Sake. You went to such lengths, explaining what death means to you, even your own death. (Thank God you're still with us!) I think writing your story wasn't really meant for us... your reviewers... as much as it was meant for you. You had a difficult time dealing with the disposal of Queen Amygdala (I thought of Padme Amidala of Star Wars). She meant more to you than you're willing to admit.
"...on an evening perhaps a year ago, while sitting in this same Amygdala-visited chair"
She wasn't just a stray cat. You invited her indoors. She had a favorite chair, too. You had a hard time dealing with the Queen's passing. She had to be buried, but you couldn't bring yourself to do it. You waited a whole week! You kept putting it off... "dreading" what you knew had to be done. You even wrote this masterpiece... how many hours did you spend on it? You went to such lengths... mice under the fridge, mingling maggots, your wayward plans for the backyard, Jesus, Buddha,
Siddhartha and pupil Govinda, the Bakersfield drought...
And every night you went to bed with visions of that poor cat being slowly eaten by those evil worms that were turning into busy buzzing flies. They were landing on your arms, your eyebrows. As I suggested, it's a regular horror movie! "A Tale of Disposal"... maybe. Or maybe "Dealing With Death". Or maybe "Nights of the Living Eye". This has Alfred Hitchcock's name all over it.
Nicely penned! So close to Halloween, too.
Cheers,
Kimbob
Comment Written 19-Oct-2022
reply by the author on 19-Oct-2022
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Yeah, well, I never thought of this as a Halloween story. And it was written more for me than the readers here. As we age we have more to deal with -- well, at least different garbage to deal with. Interesting, though, how you connected Queen Agygdala with the dead cat. I hadn't even made the connection. But that doesn't mean that on some level ... it made its own connection. The mouse under the fridge part... I had decided, on the 3rd or so edit, to yank it in the interest of space and (here's that word again) connectedness. A huge gap was left when I removed it, though, and had to put it back in.
Overall, I like it. It was well-received, though almost everyone mentioned its length. I think you'll agree though that this would have suffered by being put in two parts.
As usual, Kimbob, your review means more than you'll ever know. It validates the time I spent on it (I'm thinking 25 hours). I'm forever indebted to you for your encouragement. Six stars ain't bad, either! LOL. Thanks, my friend.
Jay
Comment from Jasmine Girl
What an interesting introspective monologue. I enjoy reading it and it's a biography but much, much more. I have learnt something from the story about the founder of the Buddhism, Siddhartha. It laid the moral groundwork for the story. But in the end where is the cat? I only see the flies.
When you first introduce your son, you didn't call him Joe. Next time when you talked about him, you used "Joe".
Excellent.
reply by the author on 20-Oct-2022
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What an interesting introspective monologue. I enjoy reading it and it's a biography but much, much more. I have learnt something from the story about the founder of the Buddhism, Siddhartha. It laid the moral groundwork for the story. But in the end where is the cat? I only see the flies.
When you first introduce your son, you didn't call him Joe. Next time when you talked about him, you used "Joe".
Excellent.
Comment Written 19-Oct-2022
reply by the author on 20-Oct-2022
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Yes, Siddhartha and Govinda played significant roles, kind of providing the meta story. I'll check into the "Joe" thing, to see if he should have been introduced by name earlier, for clarity.
Comment from Liz O'Neill
This account is poetically written with strong imagery sensory imagery. Most every sense is affected throughout its entirety. I love the effective alliteration in this thought: "Back before Man yawned and scraped the scales from his eyes and suddenly realized he was wandering in the hinterland and not the garden--the existence of which he was already starting to forget."
Great us of metaphors & allusions. This entire satirical image is excellent. This could a metaphorical cautionary tale.I'm just going to continue to read this aloud. I love the sounds of the words & phrases in this. I will read the rest to enjoy & restrain from making so many comments. lol
reply by the author on 18-Oct-2022
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This account is poetically written with strong imagery sensory imagery. Most every sense is affected throughout its entirety. I love the effective alliteration in this thought: "Back before Man yawned and scraped the scales from his eyes and suddenly realized he was wandering in the hinterland and not the garden--the existence of which he was already starting to forget."
Great us of metaphors & allusions. This entire satirical image is excellent. This could a metaphorical cautionary tale.I'm just going to continue to read this aloud. I love the sounds of the words & phrases in this. I will read the rest to enjoy & restrain from making so many comments. lol
Comment Written 18-Oct-2022
reply by the author on 18-Oct-2022
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Restrain not, my dear! I love that you want to read it aloud. I read all my work aloud. That's the only way I can tell if it's right, or just BS. I would do the same for everyone I read but it consumes too much time.
Thanks for your continued support
Jay
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I don't think I told you, everytime my cat gets on my lap & puts a corner of his butt on some my chromebook keys, a voice comes on announcing 'Chrome Vox. I was afraid if I wanted to turn it on, I'd have to sit on my computer. When I looked it up, it will read what is on my page. I'm now using it to proof read my chapters.
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That's a funny story about your cat, though I'm not familiar with Chrome Vox.
Jay
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Chrome Vox is cool. It's on my Acer Chromebook. I was wishing for the program to type what I say. It only reads what I wrote.
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But but but but ... What IS CHROME VOX? LOL, you went round and round it without telling me what it is. Kinda like "Cats".
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Right from the horse's (or cat's) mouth:
"ChromeVox is a screen reader created by Google that allows users to have pages read aloud to them, with the aid of synthesized speech played through their speakers or headphones."
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Okay, gotcha! Thanks!
Jay
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I learned there are other programs on Windows & Mac. I'm finding it very helpful.
Comment from Fleedleflump
I remember when I was studying Virginia Woolf for my A-Levels, we were told about an essay she wrote - 10000 words about a butterfly dying (I think it was) and you put me in mind of that. You are a master of descriptive detail - not necessarily of your core subject, but of incidental intricacies and the thoughts and journeys our minds conjure when the thing right in front of them is too immediate. I thought this was mesmerising and beautiful. And that's from a die-hard cat lover.
Mike
reply by the author on 18-Oct-2022
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I remember when I was studying Virginia Woolf for my A-Levels, we were told about an essay she wrote - 10000 words about a butterfly dying (I think it was) and you put me in mind of that. You are a master of descriptive detail - not necessarily of your core subject, but of incidental intricacies and the thoughts and journeys our minds conjure when the thing right in front of them is too immediate. I thought this was mesmerising and beautiful. And that's from a die-hard cat lover.
Mike
Comment Written 18-Oct-2022
reply by the author on 18-Oct-2022
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Mike, your review is so important to me. Your experience reading it was precisely what I'd wanted. And yes, my college professors told me I had a knack for dodging around the core of a subject and not quite answer their essay question, but embellish it just the same. I really, REALLY appreciate your weighing in on this. I love Virginia Wolfe! I'm afraid I might have offended some cat lovers here. Again, friend, thanks!
Jay
Comment from GG.
Intelligence on paper. Right, reactions can be tempered by thinking. Many different views to choose from on ageless subjects. Dust to dust. It is the interim we can work with, instead of only activating our programming. Better to gather beauty in the mind than to assail it with negative choices. (You seem to be sensitive to feral Kitties, in knowing that they need shelter from the elements.)
reply by the author on 18-Oct-2022
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Intelligence on paper. Right, reactions can be tempered by thinking. Many different views to choose from on ageless subjects. Dust to dust. It is the interim we can work with, instead of only activating our programming. Better to gather beauty in the mind than to assail it with negative choices. (You seem to be sensitive to feral Kitties, in knowing that they need shelter from the elements.)
Comment Written 17-Oct-2022
reply by the author on 18-Oct-2022
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Thank you so much for your kind words and the lovely 6 stars. You seemed to have dug deeply into my story. That validates my efforts. Thank you.
Jay
Comment from Judy Lawless
Jay, only you could take a simple observation - a dead cat decomposing next to your garage - and turn it into this very well written, detailed story that takes us descriptively through your thoughts on the subject, through the beautiful garden you had begun to create, and it's current demise, and finally, through the pesky flies and dirt, to the disposal of the remains. This is amazing writing!
reply by the author on 18-Oct-2022
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Jay, only you could take a simple observation - a dead cat decomposing next to your garage - and turn it into this very well written, detailed story that takes us descriptively through your thoughts on the subject, through the beautiful garden you had begun to create, and it's current demise, and finally, through the pesky flies and dirt, to the disposal of the remains. This is amazing writing!
Comment Written 17-Oct-2022
reply by the author on 18-Oct-2022
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I'm thrilled, Judy, that you enjoyed (perhaps not the best word) this piece. It took me a long time to write it and to get the feelings matched to the words. I had to keep going back and saying to myself, "Now what are you really trying to say." Whenever I do that it tends to get me closer to the visceral truth of a sentence or a scene. I'm so happy you took the time to read it.
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You are very welcome, Jay. I first started reading it toward the end of the day and getting tired. Honestly I couldn?t make sense of it. But the next day, refreshed, it all came to me. I?m glad I gave it another chance.