It all started on a chilly November morning. My husband and I sat in our PJ’s staring dully at the TV. It was a Saturday morning with nothing in particular planned, and we didn’t quite know how to start the day.
An hour ticked by on the clock and we still sat on the couch, discussing what we should do with ourselves. I glanced out the window at the falling autumn leaves and a plan started to form.
“Isn’t there a little hiking trail not too far from here?” I asked, hoping to bait Nathan (my husband) into wanting to take a walk.
“I think so. Why?” He asked, casually scrolling through social media on his phone.
“Well, why don’t we take a walk? We could take the dog and it wouldn’t hurt us to get a little fresh air and exercise.” The dog looked up from his bed, his interest peaked.
“Sure, I don’t see why not,” Nathan said, a small smile playing on his lips as he stood up.
A shower, lunch, and several hours later we found ourselves ready to walk out the door.
“Why don’t we bring the cat?” I asked, picking up his little harness and leash as we walked into the garage. Nathan audibly groaned.
“Why do you want to bring him? He’s just going to get in the way and be an annoyance.” He had already started to load up the dog and some bottles of water.
“It’ll only take a second to get him, and he would enjoy the exercise, too!” I plead my case for a moment more, before Nathan shrugged in defeat. Excitedly I chased the cat down and wrestled his little harness on him. He glared up at me with absolute disgust as I deposited him in the SUV.
As we pulled out of the gated apartment complex, we started to excitedly discuss how beautiful the leaves were going to be on the nature trail. It was a chilly 40 degrees, but we were thrilled to finally explore this little hidden treasure of a trail at long last.
As we pulled into the gravel parking area, I immediately felt the urge to find a bathroom. Looking around, I saw an old weathered port-a-potty. Sheepishly, I looked towards my husband who hadn’t even bothered to open the door yet.
“You want to use our bathroom?” He asked and I hesitantly nodded. He started the SUV back up again, and home we went.
30 mins later, we found ourselves back at the gravel parking area. This time, we happily unloaded the dog and cat into the chilly breeze. Nathan took the dog’s leash and I assumed responsibility for the cat. Jace, the dog, strained at the leash, ready to tackle the trail. Meanwhile, the cat sat down and meowed in general dissatisfaction.
Not to be deterred, we crossed the road and set foot for the first time on the paved trail. Nathan immediately spotted a book drop off/exchange and stopped to check it out. This gave me time to wrestle the cat into a more manageable position in his harness. He was still glaring daggers at me, but seemed a little interested in the forest around him. Nathan still glued to the book cabinet, the cat, Atlas, started to sniff around the edge of the trail. He walked as far as the retractable leash would allow, and when he reached the extent of it, he meowed back at me in protest.
I should preface this by saying we’ve had Atlas since he was about 8 weeks old, and I’m fairly familiar with the various noises he makes. He usually doesn’t mind walking on a leash with the dog around the apartments. He does, however, make a certain noise when he’s headed towards his litter box. When he was a kitten, he had a brief bout with intestinal worms from a negligent owner and when he used his litter box, it seemed to hurt him. I came to associate the particular meow he was making now with his “I need a litter box” meow.
By this time, Nathan had lost interest in the book drop off. I stood at the edge of the trail, waiting for the cat to find a suitable spot to do his business. He would sniff and start to scratch at a spot, and a bird would screech overhead, successfully distracting his from using the bathroom. Several mins passed, as we waited in vain for the cat to pick the perfect location.
Eventually, we decided he must not need to go very badly, and continued on. Jace was particularly joyful to be out and about, and he walked on ahead of us, tail wagging. Atlas, resigned to the fact he was going to have to hold it, followed the dog’s wagging tail. Both animals walked ahead happily and we held hands behind them, beginning to really appreciate the colorful leaves around is.
Just as we were settling into a nice stride, Atlas started pulling sideways at the leash to get off the trail again. We had just encountered another person out riding their bike on the trail, and I assumed the cat was startled by the bike. I talked reassuringly to him and continued to drag him on. He was having none of it. Atlas sat down and started to yowl, leaning away from me and towards the woods on our right. Begrudgingly, we stopped again to let him attempt to use the bathroom. He stepped lightly off the trail and onto a patch of soft mud. His disgusted look was so obvious it made me laugh, as Nathan and the dog impatiently waited for us to join them up ahead.
The cat began to sniff in the leaves and straw that had been scattered to help keep the dirt from washing away in the recent rains. He again reached the extent of his leash and this time, he laid down.
“See? He’s just tired and wants to take a break,” Nathan said from up ahead, ready to continue the trail. I still wasn’t convinced that was the situation, but I drug him back on the trail anyways.
We continued on that way for another 30 mins or so. We could only walk a few feet before Atlas was yowling and pulling at the leash. I’d stop, much to the husband and the dog’s disgust and wait for him to use the bathroom. Time and time again, he would walk the extent of the leash and lose interest in finding a bathroom location. Finally, he did squat and do something. Nathan was satisfied that the cat had finally managed to finish and we continued walking.
For about 10 mins or so, we enjoyed ourselves again. Both animals walked on ahead and looked around in interest at the autumn woods around them. I sighed in contentment as Nathan grabbed my hand up and kissed it. Our happiness was short lived. Atlas pulled at the leash to get to the edge of the trail and we started the bathroom business all over again, only this time, Nathan’s patience was worn thin.
“Let’s just head back. He’s obviously not going to stop doing this,” He said, turning the dog around. I waited a moment or two longer, trying to let the cat finish whatever it was he needed to do. He simply laid down, sprawled out, and yawned at me.
I was frustrated myself by this time, and I none to gently put him back on the trail and we headed for the SUV. Atlas seemed to sense our defeat and excitedly pulled to keep up with the dog. We watched him in amazement as he walked perfectly behind the dog, not offering to yowl or pull to get off the trail. Shrugging, we assumed it was because he was excited to go back.
We walked on for 15 mins or so, this time really enjoying ourselves. The cat and dog were perfect angels on the leash and we got to hang back and enjoy nature. Most of the leaves still clung to the trees in brilliant red and yellow shades. We crossed an iron bridge with a babbling brook underneath it. Cotton fields surrounded us on that part of the trail and we stopped to enjoy the fluffy white little plants.
It was about this time, the cat started back again, meowing and protesting. I picked him up and we continued walking towards to parking area. He protested being carried and managed to claw his way away from me and pull on the leash again. This time, we were fairly close to the car, so we decided to stop and let him try again.
He was panting and out of breath from out 15 min hike and he merely sprawled out on the grass and yawned again. Truly frustrated now, we started back towards the SUV, which was in sight now. Atlas protested loudly, but I drug him along. We reached the gravel and the cat refused to walk on it. Impatiently, I snatched him up and carried him to the car.
Nathan loaded up the dog and I went to the front seat with the cat. We both crawled in and I situated the cat on my lap. We looked at each other and smiled, still relatively happy to have gotten some fresh air. He put the car in reverse, and I glanced down at the cat. He had a strange look on his face, and his gaze was fixed on something far away. As we slowly pulled out of the parking spot, the smell hit me.
I wasn’t immediately aware of what it was, but I looked over at my husband, who also wrinkled up his nose.
“The cat!” He shrieked, and I looked down in horror to see Atlas pooping in my lap.
“What do I do?!” I asked, panicking. Nathan threw the SUV into park.
“Toss him out the window! Oh my gosh, it stinks!”
I hurriedly opened the door and hung the cat outside by his harness. It was too late, though. He had finished pooping on me, and as he hung there, he seemed to smirk up at me.
Mass panic ensued. We frantically looked for napkins stashed from fast food places and managed to just smear everything around.
“He was just waiting to get back to the rolling litter box!” My husband’s face, usually a gentle and kind face, was wrinkled up in disgust and nausea. Needless to say, it was the cat’s first and LAST hiking adventure away from home!
~-~-~pennie4thoughts
Luna Eclipsed 