Mama was taking me for a walk each day in the Courtyard. It was square and boring. Four walls and some creepy looking ivy. Humans peered from the inside windows as they were headed to dinner. Making baby faces. Meowing. Cooing.

Some of them come in the door to see me. I love to see them They are so nice to me! They talk baby-talk to me. They pet me. They tickle my whiskers. I just love these people and I am the Queen of the Apartment House! Everybody knows “Callie.” They ask about me. They don’t like it when mama leaves me alone. I rub against them and purr. They are my buddies!

Anyway, I love the people...just don’t like the Courtyard. Mama got some advice from her former landlords, Mic and Evan. They told her to take me out in the real world. Where there are houses. Cars. Trees. A sky. And they were right.

And mama did.

But. Something happened last week. As I was strolling blissfully in the BBQ section of the apartment house, nose to the ground, smelling the roses. Searching for a proper, secluded place for my toilette. As I was doing this?

I saw a strange sight approaching us. I see mama’s mop in the house as she mops the floor. This ‘thing’ that was approaching was a mop. With a head. And a tail.

And, as I looked closer...it had a face! A cute little face. Like mine. Cute. And the tail of this mop was wagging wildly. I surmised it was an animal. Then, as I looked closer, I saw it was a little dog!

I have seen them on TV. I also watched “The Incredible Journey.”

Well. My mind raced. What to do. What to do. I decided to be civil. To just flatten myself against the ground and wait. And I did. My eyes and ears were poking above the grass and I observed the little creature flopping around like a fish. She was so excited! And, I saw she was glaring at me! She was excited about me! A cat!

What was she going to do to me, I wondered? Mama looked calm. I trust her. So, I stayed still as a statue. Pretending I was invisible. Wishing I was! I didn’t move a whisker. My butt was plastered in the dirt. My tail stiff. My eyes slits. Suspicious. I wiggled a little bit to make a deeper hole in the dirt.

The little mop came over to me at mama’s invitation. Mama told her to. She was a little girl. I heard her mama say so.

Well! This little mop was so happy to see me that she began to lick my head. She ran in circles around me. I just laid there. Flat. Not moving. Then? She kissed me! And kissed me!

So, I decided to kiss her back. She was cute and friendly so why not? I did. I smooched her. Her tail wound up so fast it almost lifted her in the air. She trembled all over with joy. She squeaked like a little mouse. She had no control over her emotions.

But, I liked her. Finally, after smooching me and bathing me and smelling my butt, she laid down beside me. I stared at her. Just stared at her. And she stared back. We laid there like an idiot dog and an idiot cat. Staring at each other.

So. I gingerly stood up. She went wild. I tried to walk with some dignity to the sidewalk but she was flipping around in the air again. She bounced beside me as I walked - turning herself in circles as she did full-body cartwheels of sheer happiness. I had never seen a reaction to me like this. This dog was nuts!

Anyway, I found out her name was Shotsky. And Shotsky and I have since become friends. We walk together in the grass now. And, she kisses me. She loves me. I think this is great, don’t you? A dog friend! Someone to take my daily walk with. It’s nice to be loved.