Third Eye

Samson wanted to play. Samson always wanted to play.

Buster wanted to sit. Buster liked to sit. He felt very peaceful when he was left alone to sit. He especially liked when there was an empty box to sit on. When he got tired of sitting, he could scratch the box and sharpen his claws.

Buster sat peacefully on an empty box. A blur whizzed by. Samson had a bottle cap that he found on the kitchen table. He swatted it across the living room. Samson followed in a flash. He almost toppled on his side as he ran.

“It was so peaceful before that little guy got here,” Buster thought.

Samson stopped playing with the bottle cap. He padded toward Buster and looked at the box curiously. He wanted to find out what it was like to sit on that box, too. So he hopped up next to Buster.

“Hsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!” Buster snapped, bearing his teeth. He looked like he was smiling. He stood and stepped off the box as though he didn’t really mean to hiss. He backed up a few steps and sat straight and tall. Then he shook his head and walked away. There was another box behind the sofa. That one had a hole cut in it for Buster to hide in. He would go there for a while to find some peace.

Thump!

Samson climbed onto the sofa to see where Buster had gone. Then he jumped on top of the box Buster was hiding in. Buster was startled, but he didn’t move. Samson crouched at the edge of the box and stuck his paw into the hole.

“M’ow!” Buster said quickly. It was only a half meow, but it worked. Samson pulled his paw back. There had to be a way to get Buster to play. He decided to go explore the attic and come back later. Maybe then Buster would play.

There were so many boxes in the attic! Most of them had lids or were sealed shut. Samson climbed from box to box and pawed at the ones that weren’t closed tightly. One box had no lid. It was filled with books and old toys. Samson picked up a small cloth doll in his teeth and carried it across the floor.

Then Samson saw a tall metal cabinet. The door was slightly opened. He dropped the doll and stuck his paw through the opening. There were clothes hanging in there! He could swat at them and try to pull them down! He did this for a while, but he couldn’t get anything down.

Finally Samson decided to take a short nap. He curled up in a ball on an old mattress. But he never fell asleep. As soon as he shut his eyes, he heard paw-steps on the attic stairs. Buster wanted to see what Samson was doing. He looked at Samson curled up on the mattress. Then he saw another mattress leaning up against the wall. Buster sat straight and tall and looked up at the mattress. There was a window right next to it. He could see out the window from the top of the mattress! So Buster jumped up. He landed on top of the mattress and looked out the window.

Samson was curious. He saw that Buster had spotted a window. He wanted to see out the window, too. Samson trotted toward Buster and the window. Could he get up there, too?

“Hssssssssssssssssssssssssss!” Buster said as Samson jumped up. But Buster hardly moved when he hissed. Samson wondered if Buster would swat at him and try to knock him down. But Buster just sat up and backed to the edge of the mattress. He left enough room for Samson to land.

They could both look out the window!

Buster and Samson sat together. They watched the cars driving by on the street below. They watched the birds fly from tree to tree. And they watched as their buddy, Mike, came home from work.

Now Buster and Samson knew it was time to stop looking out the window. Mike was home. It was food time! Buster raced Samson down two flights of stairs to the kitchen, just in time to hear the lid pop off their favorite cat food!

Samson and Buster ran to their bowls. They enjoyed a delicious seafood dinner, side by side.