So I had the window open

[MoseyWalker]

I was listening to the sweet sounds of the singing birds, and the next thing I know, I hear a car door being opened. I jump up, and it's MY car door being opened, and I see my favorite cat, Tony, crawling into the driver's seat. I don't know how he got my keys, but the next thing I hear is the engine being started, the car being put into reverse, and some kind of music coming from the car radio that I don't recognize.

(please continue the story!)

[Elidor]

1. I knew that Tony had been hanging out at the back fence with some very shady characters lately

But it hadn't yet occurred to me just how bad this crowd was. And then there was that calico floozy he had hanging around, always twirling her tail and letting him sniff her ass while the neighborhood kids pointed and laughed. Their goings-on under the full moon were already legendary, and the neighbors had complained several times. And then I began to wonder: just how well do I really know my cat?

[MichiganVote]

2. So I decided I'd better talk to some of the other cool cats hangin' round

the neighborhood. Who really knew what was going on while I was away during the day? I cruised over to the white rental next door. All the lights were out but Beauty was keeping the porch company. Tucked into a dark corner, I heard her purring long before I could spot her. Big, matted white fur, half an ear gone, and toothless on one side of her head, Beauty was...well...special. I was sure I'd find some answers, Beauty is a first class feline neighborhood sentry.

"Beauty", I called,.....

[MoseyWalker]

3. and, at first, Beauty didn't answer.

Then I heard the lisp of a kitty critter, and knew it to be Beauty calling out for help. I know. She said Methow, but still, I knew. Soon, Tony would be on his way to take care of things. It was looking bad, and it didn't help that someone threw a Pabst Blue Ribbon can at her and barely missed.

[Saphire]

4. the squeling of the tires, and the loud music told me that Tony

had indeed arrived. I saw my car jump the curb, and Tony jumped out and ran to the porch, picked up the Pabst can and he was on the prowl for who ever threw it at his lady friend. Beauty yelled at Tony "No Tony baby, don't do that again"

[MichiganVote]

5. Tony couldn't see the dart of fur that flew silently onto the porch...clever little Calico

eyeballing the scene with Beauty, slow rumba of a hiss and fit...before I could stop it, Beauty swiped her paw into the air like the blade of Samurai, her off key howl dragging through the night air,Calico cut across her whiskers...blood, er, I think it was blood...

None of them noticed the slinky, black, yellow eyed tom coming slowly across the street, all business. It was all looking like a cat attack, a catarama, a....

[MoseyWalker]

6. Wilfred the Cat then moseyed over

He jumped off the tree branch and landed without a sound on the porch. Tony and Wilfred eyeballed each other. Were they friends? Were they both trying to protect Beauty's honor or was one just in it for the catnip?

[MichiganVote]

7. "How DU, Tony", whispered Wilfred, as he bent over the broken front step

to spray his scent in the hole. Calico bunched away...from them all, curling her tail beneath her rump. The full moon cast a shadow on us all, frozen as Wilfred took another step into the porch. Tony crouched low, Beauty rolling on her back behind him...

And then I heard it, the clipped rining. "What the hell Tony!", I shouted, "You took my cell phone too?"

[MoseyWalker]

8. Tony looked to his left, and then looked to his right

To his left was The Police! To his right was Shakira.

Tony took a hard turn right, and didn't know what was going to happen, but he did manage to trip Wilfred on his way.

[ScreamingMeemie]

9. At that moment he realized that Shakira was telling the truth

when she sang "Hips Don't lie"... Every ounce of his cat being was telling him he might just never return the car.

[MichiganVote]

10. "Its too late to make it right, I'm NOT ready to make nice Tony!"

But the rat just kept running as the cops dropped onto the porch flashlights beaming. Cats running and jumping for any available exit! "Stop", I shouted, "Don't even think of taking off you hussies!"

[MoseyWalker]

11. Wilfred had a moment where he questioned himself and his actions

he looked around him, saw what was happening, and ran to the edge of the porch with claws extended and pure anger on his visage. He was ready to protect Calico no matter what it took or who was there to stop him.

A car started off to the right side of the house. The flashlights turned, but not fast enough to see Tony peeling out with Beauty by his side.

[MichiganVote]

12. Trailing behind Tony, red lights flaring, blue lights staring, the band of

terror lit out onto the interstate. Freeway cats pawed their way to the roofs of age old Victorians to watch the real time chase, saying, "Damn, that dude is really pouring it into the carbs!" and "Shit that ain't nothing, should have seen the Cat as took the garbage truck last week" and "Ain't that that tramp Beauty in the front seat?"

But it was a run away train, life in the fast lane....

[MoseyWalker]

13. Tony looked in the mirror, and at his cat love

and said:

BORN TO RUN

In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages out on highway 9,
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected
and steppin' out over the line
Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run

Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend
I want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims
and strap your hands across my engines
Together we could break this trap
We'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back
Will you walk with me out on the wire
`Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider
But I gotta find out how it feels
I want to know if love is wild
girl I want to know if love is real

Beyond the Palace hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard
The girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors
And the boys try to look so hard
The amusement park rises bold and stark
Kids are huddled on the beach in a mist
I wanna die with you Wendy on the streets tonight
In an everlasting kiss

The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight
but there's no place left to hide
Together Wendy we'll live with the sadness
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
Someday girl I don't know when
we're gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go
and we'll walk in the sun
But till then tramps like us
baby we were born to run

[MichiganVote]

14. :) And the meow mix was aflowing for the frisky kitties...nighty night :)

[MoseyWalker]

15. they kicked up the friskie kitties food, and didn't even want to

look at it, but they did, and when they did..............

a new day dawned. The night was almost over. They thought about the porches and the alleys and the thrown beer cans, and wondered.

for a minute or two.

Tony crawled into the car, started it up, and said, let's go.............

[MichiganVote]

16. Stray Cat Strut

by Stray Cats
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh,
Black and orange stray cat sittin' on a fence
Ain't got enough dough to pay the rent
I'm flat broke but I don't care
I strut right by with my tail in the air

Stray cat strut, I'm a ladies' cat,
A feline Casanova, hey man, thats where its at
Get a shoe thrown at me from a mean old man
Get my dinner from a garbage can

Yeah don't cross my path

I don't bother chasing mice around
I slink down the alley looking for a fight
Howling to the moonlight on a hot summer night
Singin' the blues while the lady cats cry,
"Wild stray cat, you're a real gone guy."

I wish I could be as carefree and wild,
but I got cat class and I got cat style.

I don't bother chasing mice around
I slink down the alley looking for a fight
Howling to the moonlight on a hot summer night
Singin' the blues while the lady cats cry,
"Wild stray cat, you're a real gone guy."

I wish I could be as carefree and wild,
but I got cat class and I got cat style.

[MoseyWalker]

17. cat thumbs up!

that's what Tony said

[otherlander]

18. "Wait!" the others called out,

but he shook his head, and said,

"Lord, I was born a ramblin man,
Tryin to make a livin and doin the best I can.
And when its time for leavin,
I hope youll understand,
That I was born a ramblin man.

Well my father was a gambler down in georgia,
He wound up on the wrong end of a gun.
And I was born in the back seat of a greyhound bus
Rollin down highway 41.

Chorus

Im on my way to new orleans this mornin,
Leaving out of nashville, tennessee,
Theyre always having a good time down on the bayou,
Lord, them delta women think the world of me.

Chorus
Lord, I was born a ramblin man..."