The Tale of Thisbe: An Extraordinary Cat

By Terri Cabral

We meet Thisbe as a kitten slowly opening her eyes. Cuddled next to her are three more kittens, and standing over her is Mama, an orange tabby that names her Precious.

The real world suddenly clomps in through the door screaming about the mess that Pumpkin, Thisbe’s mama, made of his closet. Thisbe describes the person as “... a large, tall creature with long, wild, dark hair looming over us.” The creature finds his favorite shirt ruined, so Mama moves the new family deeper into the closet as the creature runs out screaming for his roommate Stan.

Thus begins Thisbe’s tale, which is, in fact, a memoir.

Following the shock of the creature, the tiny kitten meets Stan, a very kind man who names each of them. An opera student, he names Thisbe from the opera "Cinderella".

The creature returns and his name is Joe. They escape the closet and run from Joe, but Stan rescues them and takes them to his room where they live until the day comes when they are adopted.

After a painful goodbye to Mama, Thisbe is adopted by Stan’s friend Ana and Thisbe’s adventures begin. Fascinated by and curious about everything our sweet kitten finds joy in meeting other humans and animals of all sizes, shapes and species. She meets Thomas, a cat who has “. . . beautiful green eyes.” “He’s sooooo cute!” Thisbe coos.

She also meets Fester, a cat that gets a little too close, and when left alone in Ana’s apartment, she befriends a flock of pigeons that perch on Ana’s windowsill. And Toto, a dog that lives upstairs, becomes her friend, too. Her best friend is a small Chickadee. All become Thisbe’s friends because the most endearing quality she has is uncompromising friendship and love for those friends. As the tale progresses, we experience how accepting and kind she is with other animals.

That is, perhaps, what the book is about: abiding friendship and acceptance. Although Thisbe and all the other animals portrayed can talk and think and reason, they are archetypes of human beings. Each critter is unique: good, bad, happy, disgruntled, threatening–humans in fact, are the subjects of this small book, filled with more than just an endearing tale about a sweet cat and her coming of age.

The story is the world from a cat’s point of view, and that view is not what a cat’s view would be. It’s important to remember cats are born killers. Even though she is a cat and has all the necessary weapons, Thisbe is not a killer. She is just the opposite; she could not hurt anything.

It’s the ideal everyone wants to find in all people. Thisbe also has the ability to communicate with the human spirit world and gains much insight from conversations with the resident ghost in a house she comes to live in when Ana has to have her aunt babysit the cat for a time.

The story of Thisbe speaks eloquently of some truths we find only in our myths.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Terri Cabral
• Release date: Oct 27, 2010
• ISBN: 9781458140760

Terri Cabral

Terri Cabral is an author, artist and entertainer.She's been painting and drawing from a very young age. Her specialties are landscapes and animals in acrylics, ink and watercolor pencils. Her artwork has been exhibited and sold in Crete, Italy, and around the USA. Currently Ms. Cabral and her husband, Sean M. Poole have combined their artistic talents and have uploaded their art designs to be placed on clothes on www.ShopVida.com/collections/sean-poole. You can also view her art on witsendstudioproductions.comAs a writer, Ms. Cabral contributed to her high school and college newspapers and yearbooks. She wrote scripts for children and adult productions she directed at various theatre venues. In 1988 Ms. Cabral co-wrote, produced, choreographed and starred in the Christmas Holiday Production for the city of Holland, MI "Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates" She and her co-author/producer/director, Paul Stuart Graham, received the 1989 Michigan Governor’s Award for Outstanding Community Work. The production continued to be presented for the next four years. It was a community participation project complete with windmills, pathos and a 50 foot ice skating stage and race involving over 50 community children and participants.In 1994 she and her husband, Sean M. Poole, began researching her uncle, the Cuban Vanguardia painter, Antonio Gattorno with whom she had a close relationship, and began writing a book about him. He had passed in 1980 and his wife, her aunt, passed in 1993. In 2004, she edited and co-published the award winning art biography “Gattorno – A Cuban Painter for the World” by Sean M. Poole. The book won the 2009 Eric Hoffer Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing, the First Place Award in the Photography/Art genre in the London Book Festival in 2008 and The New England Book Festival in 2009 and Honorable Mentions in the New York and San Francisco Book Festivals in 2008 and 2009 respectively.Her first novel, "The Tale Of Thisbe - An Extraordinary Cat" received Honorable Mention in the London, New England and Animals, Animals, Animals, Book Festivals. It is the story of a spunky little house cat named Thisbe. The book and the sequel "Thisbe An Extraordinary Cat - Her Adventures Continue..." are written from Thisbe's point of view. It tells of her many adventures, her friendships with many animals, her kind deeds, her sad losses and the lessons she learned in life. It's a Young Adult book but also for any person who loves animals.She is also working on another cat story titled "Lucky Blackie - The Luckiest Black Cat".A new novel in conception is titled "Isabel's Journey". It is a novel based loosely on the life of Ms. Cabral's aunt Isabel Gattorno who was a woman far ahead of her time.

Book preview

Wits End Studio Productions

THE TALE OF THISBE

An Extraordinary Cat

Thisbe 1978 - 1998

By

TERRI CABRAL

© Copyright 2010 Terri Cabral. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 978-1456336691

ISBN-10: 145633669X

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental

This book is dedicated to my loving husband,

Sean M. Poole

and

to the two best cats anyone could have lived with,

Thisbe and Blanca.

They are sorely missed.

Chapter 1: This Be – Thisbe

I slowly opened my eyes and squinted against the dim light in the small room. I noticed three other kittens snuggled next to me then turned and looked up to a larger orange-colored cat.

The bigger cat said, Hello, my precious, I’m your Mama and these are your three sisters. It took you a while to open those beautiful green eyes. Welcome to the world.

My sisters stirred from their nap and stretched, then noticed I was finally awake. They began to paw at me.

Hello, sleepyhead! greeted one sister.

It’s about time you woke up! teased another.

My third sister stood up and said, Come on, get up and play!

Mama laughed as she watched us frolic. You’re all so full of energy! Here, precious, sit still a moment. Let me clean your face.

Ignoring my mother’s instructions, I was determined to get up on my wobbly legs and pounce on my sister.

Sleepyhead…I’ll get you…

I carefully stood up. All of a sudden the floor began to shake with a rhythmic stomp. I fell back onto the soft, white bedding.

OH! What is that?

Suddenly a very bright light burst onto our happy family as the closet door swung open. Five pairs of frightened eyes stared up to see a large, tall creature with long, wild, dark hair looming over us.

WHAT…THE… the creature bellowed, "Pumpkin, what are you doing in my closet? Aw man! You had babies in here! You made a mess of my closet! Oh NO! Look! You ruined my favorite shirt! STAN! he yelled, I go away for a week and I find your cat birthed her spawn in my closet! YOU betta get rid of ‘em or I WILL! They just wrecked my favorite shirt! He mumbled, Stupid cats! Gimme that!" and snatched our cozy bedding from underneath us. We were momentarily tossed up into the air.

Oh! screamed one sister.

What’s happening? cried another.

It’s all right, girls, you’ll be fine. You’ll land on your feet. assured Mama.

Fortunately, we landed safely on something soft. We all looked up in horror at the large, snarling beast fearful as to what it was going to do next. Then it growled at us.

MAMA…it’s going to eat us! screamed one of my sisters as she cowered closer to our mother.

Ignoring the loud mewing, the large creature slammed the door shut and stomped away, the floor vibrating with the heavy footfalls. The peaceful, playful atmosphere of the previous moments had been shattered by this violent intrusion.

I looked directly at my mother and breathlessly asked, "What was that, Mama?"

Mama tried to console my three crying sisters. There, there, little ones all will be well. Come to Mama. My sisters mewed frantically as they scrambled closer to her but I stubbornly stood my ground waiting for an answer.

"That, my precious, was a man…a very loud, mean and crude man, but not all men are like that…"

To the others she soothingly whispered, Shush…there, there, all is well. Don’t cry. Mama’s here. She gathered my crying sisters closer to her and began to gently lick their heads.

I questioned again, "Mama, why is the man so...so...mean?"

Mama stated very calmly, Because, my precious, he just is. Glancing around the cramped, messy quarters, she said, It looks as though I chose the wrong place to bring you into this world. We’ll have to stay here just a little while longer…

My three sisters cried out a simultaneous, NO!

"…now, now just until you are a bit older. Hush, no more crying. I will protect you. Let’s all go to the back of the closet and hide. We’ll be farther from the door. It’s safer and quieter back there."

Mama moved us to the very back of the cluttered closet. We hid among the piles of clothing and shoes strewn on the closet floor. I was still full of questions as I settled down next to her.

Mama, what is out there? It looked very bright. Are there more mean men out there? Are there other men? When can we go out there?

Mama sighed, Oh, precious, you are so full of questions. I will answer all of them in time. Let’s just settle down. It’s getting dark outside. I think we’ll be safe in here for a little while.

The light slowly faded from beneath the closet door as the setting sun cast the bedroom and closet into a peaceful, quiet darkness. Purring softly, Mama coaxed us to sleep.

Suddenly a bright ribbon of light appeared under the door, waking all of us. One of my sisters cried, "Oh NO! The mean man is back!"

Mindful of what had happened earlier, we buried ourselves deeper into the pile of clothing at the back of the closet. We heard a soft shuffling sound just outside the door. Then the door slowly opened, flooding the dark closet with a bright light, this time from the stark ceiling lamp. A smaller shadow of a figure, outlined by the blinding light stood in the doorway. He crouched down and came closer to us.

We could see from his outline that he was different than the other man. He was short, thin, and light-haired and he was smiling. He set down bowls of water and food whispering, Pumpkin, are you in there? I have food for you. You must be hungry. I haven’t seen you in days. Is Socks in there with you? I haven’t seen him either. I didn’t know where you two were. I looked around the neighborhood but I never found any trace of you. Come out and eat. I hear you have kittens.

I was the bravest and most curious of my sisters. I wanted to meet this gentle man.

Mama, this man has a soft voice. He seems nicer than the other man. May I go to him? I want to look outside. Cautiously, I edged toward the opening, glancing back at her for approval.

It’s all right, precious. You may go. Stan’s a very kind man.

Well hello, little one. Stan said as he spied me inching toward the door, Come on out. I won’t hurt you. He carefully picked me up and held me in his hand.

Hello, kitty…ooo you are so tiny! You look like Socks and you fit in the palm of my hand. Pumpkin, congratulations! How many kittens did you have? Look at the clutter in this closet. Joe sure has a nerve getting angry over you messing up his closet. He’s done a great job of it all by himself. Let me see how many kittens. Wow! One, two, three…and you make four! Let’s see them.

I watched closely as he softly caressed Mama’s head and closely examined my sisters. He then sat cross-legged on the floor holding me gently.

"All girls! Well, Pumpkin, you certainly chose the wrong closet to bring them into the world! Why JOE’S? He’s not very happy. Why didn’t you come to my room, silly cat? Where’s Socks? Isn’t he with you? I haven’t seen either one of you for days."

He gently rubbed my ears and continued, When I suspected you were pregnant, Pumpkin, I began thinking of some names for your kittens. I guess I’ll have to go to the girl list. I hope you like them. They are rather unique. I got them from some of the opera’s I’m studying in music class. Let’s start with you.

Holding me up he said, You’re different than your sisters. You look like your dad. Are you an evil step-sister? Just kidding, you don’t look evil at all. I‘ve got your name. It will be Thisbe from the opera Cinderella. I hope you like it.

Thisbe, I thought, it sounds like a very good name. I like it!

We all lived in the small closet for what seemed to be a long time. But as soon as Mama knew we were old enough to survive outside the safety of the tiny closet, she made the decision to escape.

One morning the closet door opened quickly as the big, mean man reached in to grab some clothes. Mama saw her chance and bolted past him followed by four little streaks of fur.

What the …? HEY STAN! he yelled, Your cats finally ran out of my closet. You betta go n’ git ‘em. Looks like they’re headin’ for the pet door.

Mama bolted down the hallway towards the door but as she arrived she came to a sudden stop. There was a piece of wood blocking the small door that led to the outside.

Oh no, girls, we can’t get out. Our special door is blocked.

The four of us slid along the polished wood floor crashing into Mama’s backside.

MAMA, look out! I cried as I bumped into her.

Stan rushed to the back hallway just in time to witness all of us skidding into each other at the closed door. He was firm but gentle, I can’t let you go outside yet, Pumpkin. It’s a rough and tough city out there. You have to take care of your babies in the house for a while. I don’t want anything to happen to you and the little ones.

He squatted down to the floor and whispered to Mama, It might be best if you and the kittens stay in my room. I’m almost finished getting an area ready. In the mean time, be careful. The boys will be coming home soon. I’ll be back in a minute to get you all. Stan raced down the hall toward his room.

This room was much larger than the tiny closet. I looked around in wonder at the large, bright space. My three sisters trembled with fear and huddled close to Mama.

All right, loves, announced Mama, We can’t go outside yet but you all may explore this room, if you wish. Don’t go too far from me and be careful. Soon we’ll go to Stan’s room.

I was very excited. This room was far bigger than the tiny, dark one we had been living in.

I like this room, Mama. It’s very big and bright. Oh look, the wall has a hole in it. I looked up and asked, Is that the outside, Mama?

Yes, my precious, that is called a window and from there you can see the outside. You may jump up on the sill and look out but be very careful.

I jumped onto the windowsill to get a better view. It was my first look at the outside world. The sights I saw made me gasp. I stared in amazement at the beautiful view.

Oh MY! THIS is the outside? It’s so pretty! Look at those tall things moving back and forth. What are those small things up high? Look at those big white fluffy things floating up there. It smells so nice. There are so many colors! It’s so bright!

I have to get outside right now!

I pawed the screen, cautiously at first. Oh, I almost pushed it out. If I push it a little harder I’ll be able to go outside. I pressed the screen a little harder.

Precious! cautioned Mama, Do be careful. You can’t go out the window but you can look out and smell the air. Isn’t it wonderful? Don’t push on the screen. It’s a very long drop to the ground if you fall out. You could get hurt. Please be careful.

I was way too excited to listen to Mama. I want to go outside now! I pushed the screen harder. The corner suddenly moved and popped out of the frame. I lost my balance and fell forward into the screen. My paw caught between the screen and the sill. I was now scared and hurting. Ooww… Mama! MAMA!

Fortunately, the rest of the screen was secure. Mama reacted quickly, leaping up onto the windowsill and grabbing me by the scruff of my neck. She pulled me to a safer place on the sill. My left paw pulled back through the screen causing a small scratch.

I took a deep breath, licked my sore paw then looked apologetically at my savior. Mama was not happy. She scowled angrily and scolded me soundly.

Young lady, I told you to be careful! You must listen to me when I warn you about things and do as you are told. You were very naughty and almost got seriously hurt.

Guiltily I cast my eyes downward and whispered, I’m very sorry, Mama. It won’t happen again.

Changing the subject quickly, I looked up into my mother’s eyes and said excitedly, But Mama, it’s so pretty! What are all those things? There are so many colors! Why can’t we go out there? What are those things way up high?

Mama settled next to me on the windowsill and began our first of many lessons.

Isn’t the sky a beautiful blue? Mama began slowly but I was full of questions. I kept interrupting her.

Mama, what are those puffy white things called…and those other things? And what are…

Mama continued patiently, Those white puffy things are called clouds. Those flying creatures are called birds. They look lovely and make a pretty sound but sometimes, if you are really hungry and can catch one, they make a tasty meal.

I shuddered. I couldn’t imagine eating one of those pretty birds. I could hear their songs. They looked so free and happy. I wanted to be out there with them.

They live in those tall, green and brown things called trees. Mama continued. We are able to climb up trees with the help of our claws. Sometimes that can help us get away from another creature called a dog. Dogs are horrid. They bark and bite and can hurt you terribly. Dogs cannot climb a tree. You must run and hide up a tree when you see a dog. Please be very, very careful of them. They are often big and always have a mouthful of sharp teeth.

Big with sharp teeth, I repeated. I’ll know one when I see it, I thought confidently.

Mama continued, The air is warm now. The sun shines a long time during the day. Humans call this time summer but soon the trees will turn pretty colors, red, yellow and orange and the air will get cooler then much, much colder. During the cold times there is often white, cold, wet stuff called snow that comes from the sky onto the ground. Humans call that cold time winter. Mama sighed, I do so enjoy the warm summer days in the sun out in the yard.

Chapter 2: A New Life With Ana

We lived in Stan’s room for a while because of the mean men that lived with him. He called them his roommates but they didn’t live in his room they lived in the house. Mama and I spent a lot of time on the windowsill looking out into the world. She taught me so much about the outside.

Someday, my precious, you will climb those high trees but be careful and make sure you know how to get back down to the ground. There are large birds that live in some of the taller trees. They are called hawks. They will attack you and carry you away. Always be on your guard.

I will, Mama. Then I quickly added, "When are we going outside?"

Mama sighed and smiled, Soon enough, dear. In a more serious tone she continued, "Now listen, precious, this is very, very important. Look down to the street. Do you see those large moving things? Those are cars. They can hurt you. So, always be careful if you are out in the streets. Please do not run into the street without looking both ways.

People driving the cars often don’t see a small cat in the road…until it is too late"

I detected a hint of sadness in Mama’s voice.

"Don’t worry, Mama, I promise I will always be careful and look for the cars. Why do you sound so sad?"

Mama sighed. Your Papa, the cat Stan named Socks, and I were playing silly games. He was chasing me around. Foolishly, I ran out into the street. I made it safely across but your Papa did not. A car hit him and sent him flying into a yard. I ran to him but it was too late. He was gone.

Gone where, Mama? Did he run away?

Mama licked my head, No, the car killed him, precious. He died.

"What does that mean,