easy street haunt

Puzzle was my girlfriend’s cat. She wasn’t a friendly cat, hated being petted and hissed at other animals. She was also pretty skittish and paranoid. But she had a very strong, distinct personality or felineality if you will. Puzzle was very loyal to my girlfriend, Nancy, often sitting outside with her on a warm sunny day. She counted on Nancy to protect her from other cats and dogs.

Puzzle started out as a feral cat, but over time Nancy was able to gain her trust and lure her inside. She fed Puzzle and let her come and go as she pleased. When Nancy was away, I would come over and feed Puzzle and she would always meet me at the front door, but looking past me at my car in the parking lot to see any sign of Nancy’s return.

Puzzle didn’t like me too much, but she did leave me a dead mole once. She also liked that I fed her and then, left her alone. She was happiest sitting out in the sun with Nancy or decapitating dandelions. She set clear boundaries and let humans and other animals know in no uncertain terms not to violate those boundaries. If need be, she unleashed a “death growl” to signal to others they were too close.

When Puzzle died I made a tribute video to her. You can’t really talk about the cats of Easy Street without talking about Puzzle. She was the queen and she kept a tight ship. I thought Puzzle was so interesting I based a character on her- in my upcoming novella Puzzle’s Curse. At any rate, enjoy the tribute video.