My four-year-old Siamese cat, Bonzo, is the darling of my family, and a prankster! It’s only his cuteness which helps him get away with all the mischief he does.
He had come to our family when he was chubby and cuddly kitten of two-months and had instantly taken up the biggest chair in our house for his throne. Now in hindsight, I think that was a pointer to just how bigheaded he is. He requires the whole double bed for himself when he wants to sleep. His chair is his property and one cannot sit on it even if there is no other sear empty. Right from his early days in our house, he had established the fact that he needs his space. He will come to you and rub his back against your legs; that is when he feels like it. Go and grab him for a quick cuddle and you will end up with a few scratches here and there. The only group activity he enjoys is playing hide-n-seek! We taught him playing hide-n-seek when he was quiet young. He would run out and behind some furniture, one eye peeping stealthily, waiting for someone to locate him. Once we saw where he was and approached him, he would run in the opposite direction and then hide again. Bonzo plays hide-n-seek for hours at end and is quiet a master at it. But little did we know that it was this kiddy game that would cost us a sleepless night!
One fine evening, Bonzo, my little brother and me were enjoying a game of hide-n-seek when Bonzo, in all the excitement, ran out of the house and disappeared! He probably went into one of our neighbour’s house, but the chances of him running amock out on the street was also high, as we live on the ground floor. We panicked and desperately began calling out to him, willing him to respond and meow back. But nothing happened, and after half an hour of futile search, we had to alert our parents.
Now, Bonzo is not much of a socialiser and not many people in our neighbourhood knew of his existence. With a picture of his as our only aid, we began looking out for him, asking people if they had seen the cat. After seven hours of failed search, we returned to our house. My brother, who had been sobbing all the while, broke into a full fledge crying session. Everyone in the family was distressed, yet hoped that our beloved Bonzo would come back.
The next day’s sun brought us good news. We all woke up to an urgent knocking on our door. It was our next door neighbour, a scared look on her face. “Were you looking for a golden coloured cat yesterday?” She questioned. We all shook our heads in unison and my mom asked, a little too excited, “Have you seen him?” “I think it is him, sitting under my bed. The thing does look like a cat.” “Let us have a look,” my father said and we all went to her house. And there he was, my grumpy looking Bonzo, sitting under the bed. We called him and after five minutes he finally slid out into my waiting arms. A round of thank yous was exchanged with the harried neighbour, who we later found was scared of cats, and we brought our pride and joy home.