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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1809212-It-Started-With-a-Cat
Rated: E · Other · Contest Entry · #1809212
One of my favorite people on Writing.Com is also my first net-to-reality friend.
         It started with a cat. A sandy-colored tabby kitten, specifically.

         When my mother's cat had kittens back in the fall of 2002, we lined up homes for most of them right away, through friends of the family and newspaper ads. It wasn't at all surprising back then to place a classified ad in the newspaper and advertise free kittens to strangers. Yet, in that same time period, advertising on the Internet, rather than in a newspaper, was considered "weird." My mother thought so, anyway, even after three weeks of ads hadn't found a home for one last kitten.
         "I don't know, Jay," she said. "People on the Internet can be... weird."
         "I'm just going to ask around and see," I said. "You never know. Obviously newspaper ads aren't going to be enough."

         I posted to Scrolling IM here on the site about it later that afternoon.
         "We still have one more kitten, and I can't seem to find anyone who wants one. Anybody know someone in northeast PA who needs a kitten? She is super cute!"
         I was a little surprised to discover that one of my friends lived nearby-- only around an hour away! When you consider that people from all over the Internet could be scattered all over the planet, it's always a little startling to realize how close some of them really are.
         "I would love to have a kitten!" my friend IMed me. The wheels were set in motion.

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         I told my mother about it at dinner that night.
         "I don't know, Jay," she said. "What if he turns out to be a creep?"
         "Well, he's on the Mod Squad, and besides, he went to the convention last year. I think if he turned out to be an ax murderer it probably would have come up by now."
         "Maybe." She hedged.
         "I don't think it's any weirder than giving away kittens with a newspaper ad. I mean, technically I already know this guy."

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         A few weeks passed; fall turned to winter, and the kittens were weaned and ready to leave. We made our plans to meet a week before Christmas, making no alternate plans in case the weather got ridiculous, as it often does in the lake-effect regions of Pennsylvania. I packed up my dad's Jeep with a makeshift cardboard-box cat crate and set off into that wild blue yonder of meeting people from the Internet.

         Somewhere outside of Saint Mary's, the kitten broke loose from her cardboard confinement and proceeded to climb the interior furnishings of the car in a misplaced attempt to get her little feline bearings. She climbed down my arm and into my lap, and rappelled down my legs with needle-sharp claws. I had to pull over when she started climbing back up my leg from inside the cuff of my jeans; that, and the snow was starting to get bad. I hopped out of the car a little worried; I was terrified the kitten might get out with me and be lost, but apparently the wild winter blizzard behind me was enough to suppress the kitten's urge to bolt. I wrapped her up in my hooded sweatshirt and held her in my lap for the rest of the drive.

         Climbing out of the Jeep at the address I had neatly printed on an index card, I got nervous. Here I was, in a strange town armed with nothing but a sharp kitten. Sure, this looked easy an hour ago, and yeah, this kitten was awfully sharp, but still, I was not reassured! I walked up the back steps to the apartment building, and against anything my parents would have construed as better judgment, I knocked on the door to the apartment of Some Guy I Met on the Internet.
         Not really knowing what to expect, it was to my great relief that a real person answered the door, a sturdy blond guy in his thirties with a beard and an infectious, giddy laugh when I said, “The Milkman, I presume?” I spent another three hours at least, standing there in The Milkman ’s kitchen, interrogated by his friendly retriever Jake and swapping Stories.Com Stories with this real person who knew the same website as I did, inside and out. It was surreal and fascinating, and it confirmed my feelings that signing up for the Convention was a fantastic idea.

         A few months later, we all had a good giggle when our story-themed kitten, named Novella for her sweet feminine nature and the site she originated from, turned out to be a handsome boy when he went to the vet. *Laugh* He's been Novello ever since.

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         Since that day, The Milkman has been one of my best friends on Writing.Com. We may not see eye to eye on everything, and we may not even live in the same state anymore, but one thing is for sure: meeting him made it a whole lot easier to meet the rest of the Writing.Com gang I’ve met over the years. I still cherish memories of standing in his kitchen, laughing about something someone said on the Internet. To this day, The Milkman tries to keep me updated on what Novello is up to; I am always amused to receive a photo text with a picture of Novello in the middle of some antics. It’s crazy to me to think that nearly nine years ago, this cat— and the friend sending me these pictures of this cat— are the reason I drove into the middle of a blizzard in December.

         On the Internet, I suppose that you can be anyone if you really want to. You lose touch with people when they move on, sometimes; you discover that someone isn’t who they say they are, or you simply stop having things in common with the folks you once did. I’m glad he and I have been able to keep in touch, over all this time. It’s been nearly nine years now, and I will never forget that first meeting.

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Written for kittiara's Ode to an Author!
© Copyright 2011 Jay's debut novel is out now! (bowling_shoe at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates have been granted non-exclusive rights to display this work.
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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1809212-It-Started-With-a-Cat