Wednesday, March 5, 2008

The 9th Life

Disclaimer: Sometimes bad things happen to good people, or in this instance, bad things happen to good animals. I realize this post contains sensitive information to animal lovers and I don’t mean to downplay any of the events. I’m just reporting the facts.

It’s a rare occasion to have anyone in my car, let alone 3 family members. This Sunday, I was driving Mama Mia, Johnny Cherie, and Little Boy Blue home from a church dinner. It was after 7, the sun was setting, and my light was green. As I passed through to the other side of the intersection, a dark cat jetted from the left before I had time to respond.

Enter slow motion

I could brake but the car behind me was too close. On the left was oncoming traffic; the right had several parallel parked vehicles. My only option was to continue driving.

The unexpected speed bump smacked me back into real time.

I gasped and clutched my gaping mouth. I was horrified and stunned. I felt a lump form in my stomach. The seconds seemed, once again, to tick backwards.

I was glad to have Mama Mia with me. There are times when only a mother’s voice can comfort. She calmly assured me that everything would be okay and after a few deep breaths, I began to feel better.

Then Johnny-Cherie chirped from the back. “Hey Charlotte, why did the cat cross the road?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“It didn’t.”

Her comment didn’t help quite like Mama Mia’s.

I'm sorry cat...

19 comments:

RED MOJO said...

That's terrible. I have been lucky enough to avoid hitting any animals, but if I did, it would wreck my whole week, maybe longer if it was a dog. I'm sorry this happened to you.
When I was a kid we lived on a busy road, and I can't tell you how many times, a stranger knocked on the door holding a dead family member and appologizing. We stopped letting our cats go out. They became indoor cats, and I still live that way. Any cat of mine is confined to the house.

Shankar said...

That's not something you want to happen to you...ever. I'm just glad that it didn't lead to something more serious. I've only ever run over two things in my driving career: a kerb while parking the car(when I was just learning to drive, and I let go of the clutch a little too quickly), and a snake. The former left me far more traumatised than the latter. To quote a favourite movie character: I hate snakes.

Alice said...

Great! I hate cats. One less of them on he road. I'm also jealous of your 7pm sun setting. Ours sets at 6. Can wait for the long summer days!

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear but as long as you realize there was nothing you could do.

ME said...

Everyone would be on prozac if we didn't use humor to help us throught some of the rough patches.

Anonymous said...

In the Philippines, I hit 1 dog, 3 chickens, 2 birds and a python that spanned a two lane road and was as thick as a speed bump in about a two month time period. Hey did you ever get a new car?

lin said...

so you are the one that killed our cat!

j/k. our cat is 'live and kickin'. at least last time i checked...

hmm... maybe this is why people say seeing a black cat crossing the street in front of you is bad omen. they really mean it's bad omen for the cat. ^_~

TUG said...

This story made my day!

Cats are stupid and useless.

Robbie said...

Dont you just love quick witted people. They can just make your day sometimes.

Anonymous said...

HEY! You laughed at the joke... And I do believe I was the one who suggested you to turn around. Jeesh!

Coordination Queen said...

It is wrong that I thought that was funny? I've always talked about playing kitty copter although never actually done it.

Melissa said...

Cat Killer! Thanks for taking one more cat out of the world. I salute you.

Amber said...

I love Johnny Cherie! That was one of the funniest jokes ever! So quick and on her feet.

Last night while Bart was watching Hitch (I was in the other room), he busted out laughing. It was the dance scene so I didn't think anything about it.

But, Bart was reading your blog for the first time last night and busted out laughing about Janette's joke (and he even loves cats!) He said you had one of the best blogs he's ever read, and I full-heartedly agree!

Anonymous said...

Your sister's joke's pretty funny!! I'm sorry you had to hit him... I hit a squirrel the other day too. I know how you feel.

The Dally Llama said...

It didn't. That is funny. I really hope I remember to use that joke the next time I hit an animal in my car. That's gold.

Charlotta-love said...

Wow...and to think I almost didn't blog about this! 15 comments!

Saule Cogneur said...

You never knew you had so many stalkers, huh?

The first real lesson my dad taught us when we started driving was, "don't break for the fuzzy creatures." It seemed like a cold lesson, but it is an essential one.

But hooray for you and your brother for taking it in stride. I would have felt badly too.

Beth said...

Don't feel badly - it would have been far worse had you tried to avoid the cat.

(And I had to smile at Johnny-Cherie's comment...)

the MILKY way (Chrissy) said...

Sad story. It's so sad when you run over an animal. But it's so nice to have a sense of humor about things, much like your sister's. She's a hoot!