Thursday, May 7, 2009

Cat Psycho In The Woods

A very strange thing has happened. Let’s start with the setting. My dad built a house on five acres on the top of a mountain in Jacksonville, and it’s not the kind of place you can just wander by or accidentally find yourself. There’s a gate with a code and even if you just park there and slide through the gate you still have to walk the quarter mile driveway to get to the house. In sum: it’s remote.

Recently, two cats were abandoned on a road near their house. After going though all the channels to get them back to their owners, they ended up adopting them in lieu of sending them to the pound. No one wants middle-aged black cats so their stay there would most likely end with The Big Sleep. Because there are all sorts of kitty predators in the woods around their house, the cats are now indoor only and they don’t wear collars.

So, yesterday dad and his wife Pam drove into town to take Pam’s mom to an appointment. When they returned, they found the larger black cat - still inside the house - wearing a shiny new red collar.

They checked all the doors they thought they had locked and found a side door to the guest room was indeed unlocked.

The fact that nothing was missing is perhaps the creepiest part of all. What kind of person would brave sneaking into a house only to put a flashy but useless collar on a cat? Which begs the question: What’s would be that kind of person’s next move?

29 comments:

Robin Mellom said...

Sounding like the beginning of a good novel...

Freaky, man!!!
:-)

Anonymous said...

Totally freaky! It seems like those things only happen to them. WOW!
Carol

RJ Clarken said...

Okay - now that is really weird. And it's not fiction either, huh? Wow. So, what are your folks going to do next?

Jennie Englund said...

Mmmm,

Sounds Freddy Krueger-meets-Warrior Series, with maybe a Choose-Your-Own Adventure spin?

Barbara Slaton DRE#01855977 said...

This could only happen to Jerry!

Debbie Rae said...

Is this for real???

Anonymous said...

Crazy shit....maybe it's Nell, living in the woods up there. I can hear her now 'Chickabee! Chickabee!' Tell me you saw that movie please?

Matts

Katie Anderson said...

freaky is right! That is borderline scaaarry. No. It's not borderline at all

YIKES!!!

Christy Raedeke said...

Ha! Mattson, I loved that movie! "Chikabee!"

Yes, it's for reals. And yes, this kind of stuff would only happen to my dad. And yes, I'm still totally freaked out!

Tyler said...

It was me!

But seriously, What the-? That has got to be one of the most random, creepy stories I've heard.

Casey Something said...

That is SO creepy. I'm all freaked out now. What are they going to do?!?!?

Anonymous said...

This doesn't happen to be the locale where you go to hideout and write, does it?

dgb

Hardygirl said...

I have just locked all of my doors and I'm burning garlic. I am the scaredest I've ever been.

The cat psycho will return, I have no doubts. This time he--no, no it's definitely a "she" crazy cat lady--she will be bringing dead rodents for her little friends to snack on . . . then she'll start to resent the humans who live in HER friends' house so she'll bring along a tiny vial of poison to sprinkle into the salt shakers.

Then, she's going to get on a broomstick and fly to Mississippi to put a voodoo curse on ME because I am very public in my declaration that I HATE cats.

It was really nice knowing you.

sf

BTW--this reminds me of the story that Graeme told us in L.A. about his mother driving home from the bank--without her car keys.

Hardygirl said...

OH NO!! I was the THIRTEENTH comment!

Katie Anderson said...

Oh holy sh*t! SF has cracked me up into total tears! I must call her now!

Cathy Gersich said...

I believe that the cats are aliens from outer space and the collar is necessary for communication back to the mothership. They must remain friendly...

StaffPicks said...

It's elementary my dear: The Pickled baby is back !!!

Christy Raedeke said...

You guys are killin me! SF, your imagination now has its own planet! Love it.

I just talked to dad to see if there's been a break in the case - nothing new but he said the cat is so spooked it keeps jumping up on windowsills knocking over glasses and vases. Their doors remain bolted...

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

how freaky is that? robbers that brought something and stole nothing? spooky. is the place haunted?

Little Ms J said...

I'm totally creeped out. I would not be able to sleep.

Think about it. Cats are dropped off on their street in the woods. The cats have to be inside because of the location (foresight). Unlocked door, collared cat, odd behavior. The cats are either spies and are trying to act like someone scared them to throw you off or you have yourself a scary mystery. I wonder if the red collar signifies anything...? If redrum shows up on a window I would literally fall over dead. I've just about thrown fourteen movies together that involve woods and creeps. Now I won't be able to sleep. Dammit.

Kimberly Derting said...

The comments are almost as scary (or rather, hilarious) as the post itself! Between SF, LMJ, and Paul, I am friggin' crying laughing.

But seriously, tell you dad to watch his back around those cats. And to burn the collar.

I'm just saying.

Christy Raedeke said...

I know! They need to burn that collar with some garlic (a la SarahFrances), smudge the house with Sage and maybe throw in some holy water for good measure. But, I am begging them to keep the collar until I can examine it. Of course I'll meet them at a safe house as I may *never* go back to The House That Is Being Watched.

I asked Dad to describe the collar and he said, "It's identical to the one Cathy (my sister) painted on a portrait of our old black lab Ruby." Hmm. Identical. To a portrait she painted five years ago. Does this mean The Watcher has been in the house before and seen the painting?

Katie Anderson said...

Cracking up at your meeting at a "safe house," and of course I knew you'd have to "examine the evidence."

LOL. I am still giggling as I type this and re-read all of the other comments - haha

Barbara Slaton DRE#01855977 said...

WHY did only one cat get a new collar? That is the real mystery here.

Jerry could get a kittycam

XOX
Barb

peggy said...

please tell me they checked under all the beds?! I think someone's been living in the house unnoticed for quite some time...call in scully and mulder!

or they inherited the cat from the original 'Escape to Witch Mountain.' that would go with Cathy's cat alien theme..

Little Ms J said...

Oh I can't handle this madness. The same collar that was painted in a portrait by a family member five years ago? I knew the collar had some kind of meaning. Someone is sending a message.

I'm freaking out.

I would move from the Watcher house immediately. Into a nice condo in Florida with shuffleboard and Hawaiian shirts. They won't look for you there.

Graeme Stone said...

I see why this has 26 (now 27) responses. Very strange indeed. I have no answers, but I do have a suggestion to catch the person (remember, the psycho could be a woman). Set up a motion-sensor-controlled camera in the house. Leave one door unlocked, and when they come through, you'll have them on tape. Or will you...??? Mwha-ha-ha-ha!!!!

p.s. I posted an old, strange story of Mysterious Lost Keys at Christy's request, so check it out. Short, sweet, mysterious.

PurpleClover said...

Weird!

I don't know why but blogger isn't updating me all the time when someone posts. I'm getting frustrated! I'm going to start coming to your website each day to make sure I haven't missed something!

Barbara Slaton DRE#01855977 said...

OK -- Mac says it's an inside job...someone is messing with you or Jerry or both. One of Jerry's old buddies?

Sounds plausible to me ---