Shaving Rudy

                Tom followed his mom into the barn. They were greeted by the familiar smell of grain and soiled hay.

                “Do we gotta shave ‘em, Momma?” Tom begged for the last time.

                “Tommy, he’s got fleas something awful. It’ll grow back by winter, anyways,” his mother insisted. She ran her rough, calloused fingers over the sharp edges of the clippers.

                Tom slumped his shoulders, dragging his feet behind his mom’s heavy steps, praying that Rudy wasn’t in the barn today.

                His prayers were in vain, because Rudy was curled on top of the hay bales. Tom could see his little pot belly rising and falling with every breath. He raised his head and meowed, acknowledging their presence.

                “Alright, go on up and get him, Tom,” his mom said.

                “Mom…” Tom started to object.

                “ Don’t even start.” His mom pointed towards the fluff of fur resting in the hay.

                Tom reluctantly started the climb up to his beloved cat. He snatched him up and carefully descended down the hay bales. His mom oiled the clippers.

                Tom laid Rudy down softly on the floor of the barn. His mom started the clippers and began at Rudy’s neck. He started to squirm beneath Tom’s hold and Tom petted him reassuringly.

                “Be careful, Momma!” Tom said as she nicked Rudy’s belly. Rudy yowled in protest and snagged Tom’s mom with an outstretched claw.

                “Son of a �"!” his mom started. She stuck her bloody scratch into her mouth, sucking away the blood and continuing shaving the cat.

                She finished removing the fur from the last strip and said, “All done.”

                Tom softened his hold on the hairless cat, feeling his grainy skin under his fingers.

                “Oh goodness,” Tom sighed. He let Rudy go.

                Rudy looked around and then plopped back down and started licking himself.

                “Guess it ain’t TOO bad,” Tom laughed.

Reviews

[SomeoneSomewhere]

This is really good! I especially think you got the dialogue nailed down perfectly for the characters- I can imagine their voices in my mind as I'm reading. Cute, short, and intereresting. Definitely liked it!

[MoriartyMesa]

Enjoyed the nice flow and great images. Poor little kitty, hope he got a nice rub down afterwords.

[RachelReaper]

Was this based on a true story? It seems like it could be. I liked reading it, it was short and I could picture all of it.

[Cece]

It wasn't actually. I just was sitting with my cat, talking to my boyfriend and thought it up. I get crazy ideas that are ridiculous sometimes. And I always tend to write short things because I can't stick to one story for long :/ which is a problem. Haha, but thank you!

[RachelReaper]

your welcome (and don't worry, my ideas are usually a little out there too, but I think that's a good quality for a writer to have).