It was for Master of Sock Puppet. The first time I meet him he showed up at my daughter’s home covered with flees, emaciated thin and starving. It was obvious the day he found his way out of the woods and showed up on the front porch of her farmhouse he had been abandoned to die alone in the wilderness. He was a black cat with a white spot on his forehead and four white socks. Who would do such a thing so off to see to his care and save his life he went. She gathered him up and took him to the local veterinarian.
His new home became his sanctuary where he was feed and cared for this little thing with the white spot on his head and four white socks. We all need a home that is our sanctuary. We all feel lost and abandoned at one time or another. I called him four socks since he had no name as of yet. The miracle was watching as his health improved. He was feed, cared for and loved and soon became a fat sassy and happy member of the family.
His new home became his sanctuary where he was feed and cared for this little thing with the white spot on his head and four white socks. We all need a home that is our sanctuary. We all feel lost and abandoned at one time or another.
He soon gained a reputation of hiding my daughter’s socks she had the habit of taking off and leaving on the floor in the bathroom after her shower before bed each evening. I began to ask her why she was wearing socks that didn’t match and she said Master of Sock Puppet has them and we know not where. There was laughter all around because this once lost cat now had a name and a secret to boot.
In the barn there lived a cat the family called Mellon Head. He was solid black with a head shaped like a cantaloupe. He was a barn cat that had come with the farm they had bought. He lived on mice, rats, moles, and voles. Larger than most felines if you were to see him you may have thought he was an alien. He sported no ears, a headway to large for his body and having been feral way too long stayed far from humankind. He was the perfect candidate for that famous group that investigates life from other planets.
Mellon Head had nothing to do with Master of Sock Puppet. Mellon Head earned his living and I have to believe he thought Master of Sock Puppet of a slothful nature living off the generosity of humans. Mellon Head had no use for humans having recovered from buckshot from the previous owners of the farm. Mellon Head considered the barn and the original one hundred acres his domain to care for. It was his private sanctuary and he roamed and cared for it with pride.
Time passed and with it each morning the loss of one sock until the family decided to get to the bottom of the missing socks. Late in the dead of night lying quieting in waiting Master of Sock Puppet was headed out toward the barn followed at a distance unaware whereupon he was discovered placing his retrieved sock to Mellon Head providing him with a not just the scent of his human mistress but a more comfortable bed to lay his big head upon. The two, Mellon Head and Master of Sock Puppet became friends and Master of Sock Puppet shared with Mellon Head his near demise if not for the kindness of his mistress and Mellon Head shared with Master of Sock Puppet how to fend for himself as the two now bonded, roamed and cared for their home and the land from the mice, rats, moles, and voles that could play havoc to the crops growing and tended by the careful hands of the new mistress of the land and her family as Mellon Head had cared for the ungrateful previous ones.
In their playful wanderings the unthinkable happened, a most clever mouse made his way into Master of Sock Puppets home. The mouse played havoc eating holes through his bag of food, running up and downs the walls of the old farmhouse being a great nuisance keeping Master of Sock Puppet’s mistress up at night.
Master of Sock Puppet tried with all his might to catch the devilish mouse to no avail, even the help of his friend Mellon Head brought no success. Master of Sock Puppet and Mellon Head agreed there were enough socks in the barn to make a lifetime of pillows for Mellon Head to rest upon at night so Master of Sock Puppet began a new mission to catch the devilish mouse that was terrorizing his mistress.
Months passed, then early on a foggy dawn morning, he woke his mistress still sleeping in her bed by jumping on her head and running his paws through her hair until she was awake. Jumping down on the floor purring like a tiger getting his belly rubbed Master of Sock Puppet looked up at his mistress and standing on his back legs presented her with the terror of Clara Know Hope Farm, a devilish mouse.
Take what you want from my little tale but as for me, it pays to be kind to the least among us as often times they are wiser and more willing to give than most.
Pass the Knowledge On!
Arlene, your story touched both my heart and soul. It is a perfect example of how animals have more knowledge and feelings than we know. Thank you so much for the reminder.
Beautiful and touching article. There is no greater gift that we have than the love for our animals
Thank you Larry. It’s always my hope that in my stories we all see something of ourselves and what we can do for others as Master of Sock Puppet did for Mellon Head because of the kindness given to him in his time of need.