JUST GET OUT

by Melanie Dixon

Sarah looked up at the cabinet full of dishes that were once her grandmother's, along with cat ornaments and books that had been her parents. She sighed as it was a big effort to keep everything dusted. 

Behind her, Isabel suddenly started yowling, while Sarah sneezed. “Neighbours are burning their dinner,” she said.

Two minutes later the smoke had seeped through the kitchen window. The smoke detector started a loud beeping sound.

She ran over to turn on the range hood fan, then closed the windows.

But the cat started running back and forth, still yowling. Isabel stopped in front of the closet door and banged on it with her paw.

“What is wrong? It’s just burnt food.” 

But when the smoke detector didn’t stop, she got worried. 

She saw smoke floating outside her window. 

The doorbell rang. She ran and opened the door.

“Get out now! The wildfire has reached our street! The building is on fire!” screamed her neighbour before running off.

Sarah grabbed the cat carrier from the closet and put it on the floor.

Isabel immediately ran inside, watching as Sarah grabbed a shopping bag and started filling it up with her belongings. When full, she tossed the bag out the door.

She did three more rounds, grabbing items from her cabinet at random, but thinking that she should really grab her grandmother’s old white and gold jewellery box next. 

“One more load, then we’re out of here,” she told Isabel who had her ears back and was squeezed as far back in the carrier as she could get.

But then there was a loud explosion from beneath the floor. 

Sarah dropped to the ground, unconscious.

***

“Are you okay?” asked the female firefighter.

Sarah opened her eyes and coughed. The oxygen mask covering her face fell off. She noticed she was outside, lying in the newly paved street. 

“Yes, I think so. What happened?” She felt a bit woozy and blinked her eyes.

The firefighter helped her to sit up.

“The out-of-control wildfire has reached the city. The flames reached the unit next door, which then travelled to the gas line. There was a bad explosion. We have some of the fire contained, but you should wait on the other side.” But the firefighter didn’t have a chance to finish.

Sarah quickly stood up, coughing frantically.

“I must get Isabel!” She looked across the street at the townhouse complex. Flames were coming out of the broken windows.

“No!” the firefighter said, grabbing her arm.

“She’s my bebe! I can’t leave her!” Sarah pushed the firefighter away and ran towards the flames.

At the last moment, she tripped over one of the bags she had tossed outside. 

“My friend, are you okay?” called out her neighbour, helping her back up. “Oh good news! We have your cat!”

Sarah smiled. “Isabel?”

“Yes, across the street!”

Sarah had a relieved expression on her face.

The firefighter joined the pair. “I’m sorry, I should have told you first. We got you and your cat out at the same time.”

The firefighter and neighbour walked away, but Sarah reached down to the bag on the ground. She pulled out several items and started tossing them into the flames. 

Back and forth she did it, three more times, tossing her belongings into the fire. 

“Stop!” cried the firefighter. She pulled Sarah away from the smoky building. There was a smoky haze around the entire block now, which made her cough even harder this round.

The neighbour gathered up what remained of her belongings and started transporting them across the street. 

Sarah decided to obey the firefighter and followed her across the street to where her cat was. 

Sarah ran up to Isabel’s carrier. “Isabel! Are you okay?”

“Meow!” she stated.

The neighbour looked at her in amazement. “Why did you do that?” John asked as he  dropped her belongings beside the carrier. 

“Family is more important than belongings.” She reached through the carrier’s bars to stroke her cat’s head.

Across the street, at the townhouse complex, the firefighter joined her team in fighting the fire with the fire hose. But it was too late. The flames were growing faster than the water could extinguish them. 

A school bus arrived to transport the residents to safety. Sarah was the first one onboard, with Isabel in her carrier on her lap. The neighbours assisted each other in ensuring that all family members were safely onboard, as well as the belongings they had managed to grab.

The bus driver closed the door after the last shopping bag was placed on the seat beside Sarah and her cat. 

On the bus, Sarah’s neighbours were enjoying their time together, chatting about their plans ahead, and sharing any food or water they had managed to grab before the fire took over. The school bus drove them off to a safe location where they could celebrate the safe evacuation of everyone, including their pets. 

~ The Beginning  

If you smelled smoke in your home would you grab your grandmother’s jewellery first, or your cat?

I’ve lived in three apartment buildings in the past, before finally making the move to a townhouse complex a few years back. In each of those apartments, there has been at least one fire. We were lucky that the local firefighters were competent and confined the fires to one unit. Today, we have to worry about floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and forest/wild fires impacting our cities too.

Fires are more common than you think; this is why each of our cities has a fire  hall, and that they are often busy all day long saving lives.

Please remember that a home and belongings can be replaced, but family can’t, whether they are humans, furry pets, fish, reptiles, and other beloved family members.

I'm Sharing My Free Graphic Novel in Social Media!

I’ll be sharing all 16 pages of my latest project with my Friends and Followers on Facebook, one page per day. If you would like a printed copy of my small graphic novel, they are $12 CAD or $12 USD each, depending on country which covers postage costs. Thank you for viewing!

To order please email me here: mdixonauctions@yahoo.ca

Who Is the Power of Isabel – My Cat in the Palms?

No matter what time in history, the Earth keeps on rotating and time moves forward. There has never been a time when the past could be changed, or time travel could occur. After Isabel the cat passes away, her owner Ann has an epic decision to make. However, before she can commit the deed, Isabel returns to her in an unexpected way.

After Isabel saves her human, she throws them into an initially heart-warming time loop of nine lives, but for how long? Every time Ann or Isabel touches a palm tree, they travel to the next destination. They are companions throughout the millennia, from cave dwellers, to ancient Egyptian times, to Victorian times, and to the groovy 1970s.

But Ann and Isabel are unaware of their nine lives in each of these time frames. These journeys start to impact time itself, until Ann meets Isabel’s mother on the bridge one day. And then she comes to the realization that she is not who she thought, and that the disintegrating Earth is all her fault.

How one small cat can control time is unknown, and purrhaps it shall never be known. As the Earth is severely impacted by the twist in space and time, it’s now time to call the cat to the rescue.

My latest print book contains the following: TV movie script, cat poetry, cat art and photographs, a short article about me and my cats, and a suggested playlist. The digital e-book contains only text content. You can purchase the KDP digital e-book or full colour cover print book here: https://mybook.to/powercat  

How Can I Become Rich Writing Articles for Upwork, Fiverr, Newspapers & Magazines?

Since I’ve been a writer for almost my entire life, and been professionally published since 2007, with indie-published books since 2017, I often hear this question. Well, since there is so much competition from AI, also known as A.I. or “Artificial Intelligence”, here are three tips.

1. Jump up and down on the ground and whine a lot. The AI on your computer will listen and send you a load of paid work. (Be sure to give it your credit card information too!)

2. Go out and buy 50 cans of high-priced cat food for your cat! If you have a dog, don’t leave him out! Since your credit card is being tracked by the bank, they’ll see your huge credit card charge, and immediately send you tons of work to complete by Friday. Don’t ever expect to eat or sleep again, as you’re going to be busy! 

3. Buy 100 books on writing to learn how to do it correctly. And then, spend more money on college courses. See, that’s so much simpler than simply applying for a job at McDonald’s to make some extra cash. And cheaper too!

There you have it! Soon you’ll be making a million dollars in your first year as an online content writer, AKA, the stupid article writer!

Disclaimer: Please note this a satiric parody article and the author makes no claim for accuracy. It is simply a joke! LOL!

I've Posted FREE CONTENT on my Google Drive to Share!

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Thank you, free deal now closed. I've had 50,603 downloads and received $13,320 in Kofi! 

Do you need more cat content? If so, please read FURther!

You can expect to find a PDF of my e-Book, “Just One More Purr”, a cat care guide; as well as the full e-book version of “A Collection of Cats”, short stories to enjoy; on my free shared link.

There are also some badly drawn cat graphics that I've created that you can download and do whatever you want with them. (Only the 2 books are subject to copyright.)

Free content will be up through the Spring. 

If you’re enjoying the content, I’d appreciate it if you bought me a Ko-Fi. They accept a wide range of payment methods, and I do get the tips right away. You may also buy the Just One More Purr print book on Amazon, which has been updated in 2024, or the print version of A Collection of Cats, all by me, Melanie Dixon.

Visit Melanie Dixon's Buy Me a Ko-Fi Link Here!

Thank you so much for your support! I hope you enjoy your free cat goodies!

LAUNCH TIME! The Fiction Sampler Project is live!

7 authors, 12 big samples from our books. Freeeeeeeeee……! (Or a small fee for the “A” site.)

So, it's finally here: Over one dozen big book samples (10k words each) from 7 authors including Michelle Patricia Browne, Melanie Dixon, Deirdre Gould, Rune S. Nielsen, Tabitha Ormiston-Smith, Joseph Picard, and Sandra Wickham.

There are a few zombies involved, some high fantasy, some urban fantasy, some high tech, some low tech, some magic, some raw realism, and best of all, some mystery! Arranged for easy clickable perusal. Spread it around! We're all hyped to share our worlds with you!

---------

It's on Amazon and Barnes&Noble, Nook, and more, (though Amazon will currently charge you money).

Go to https://books2read.com/u/3RWwov to see all the current sources.

Now go and enjoy!

THE PUMPKIN STORY – A Meowmorial

WHEN WE FIRST MET: March 17, 2018

Today was the day that we met Roxy, now named Pumpkin. Tiemen drove us to Abbotsford, which took about one hour. We found her current human's house. She had told us she was in the basement of their parents’ house. We knocked and they let us in. We met her and her husband, and their young daughter. We also met Roxy (now Pumpkin), and Sydney (the other cat, a lot like Cristobel and Isabel combined). 

 

My friend had to leave for a meeting, but the other two remained behind. Sydney was okay with me, but Roxy let me pet her. My friend handed me the lint and fur roller, and the cat went crazy over that. I tempted her with a lint roller many times in the future. It was a great way to get her attention and have her come to me. My friend left for her meeting while her husband and child stayed there. We sat on the couch and the cat was beside me. She let me pet her and purred. I leaned my head in and asked, “Do you do kissies?” And Roxy leaned forward and placed her nose on mine! “Yes, you do!” I exclaimed. 

Tiemen asked me if I wanted to bring her home. I said to him, “I think they want both cats to go together.” My friend's husband said we could think about it. We used the bathroom and then left. 

NEW HOME WITH ME – April 2, 2018

After a few weeks of back and forth, and my friend finding a home for Sydney, I agreed to adopt Roxy. Kitty Delivery Day was on the afternoon of April 2, 2018. My friend arrived with her family. She opened up the carrier, and the cat came out. Roxy was really excited to explore my place and ran around investigating everything. My friend looked around my place to be certain it was adequate for her, and seemed pleased. 

The cat then realized what was happening. She hid behind the right side of the couch. My friend told her daughter to say goodbye to her cat. Her husband and her daughter both said goodbye. My friend had one last peek behind the couch. They left.

I had the thought that my new cat liked it here, so she hid from them so she could stay. But she had a bit of trouble settling in, so that couldn’t be it.

The cat came out a couple of hours later, to food and treats. She had her kitty basket with a towel in it, which she slept in. Her first night, I decided to place her in the bathroom. I let her out the next day. She also had Isabel’s old burgundy kitty couch, washed and cleaned, to sleep in too. I placed a blanket on the couch for her also. She used her basket for a few months, but then abandoned it. She enjoyed playing with a Hello Kitty cat toy and others from her first day there.

It wasn’t until May that we settled on a name for Roxy. I wrote three names down on a sheet of paper and told Tiemen to circle which one he liked. I think that Roxybel or Laurelbel may have been other options. I know “Pumpkin” was one of them. He circled that name and I saw it and he laughed. But I agreed. She was a Pumpkin!

Two months in, I was worried, and maybe regretted adopting her, much like Cristobel. There was only one Isabel, who had settled into my place so quickly. “You’re not Isabel!” became a common saying during her years with me. One time, she even hissed back at me when I said it. Later, I felt bad, but around 2022, I just said it, because it was the truth. But Pumpkin did settle into my home, and then into our townhouse after we moved, and I know she loved and trusted me, and vice versa. 

My aunt Marg told me to wait for Pumpkin to come to me for attention. After a few months, she did, and she enjoyed being brushed and petted. 

It wasn’t until summer 2019 that she jumped on the bed. By the end of the year, she’d sleep on the foot of the bed. I set up an orange cat blanket for her to sleep on, as if she didn't have anywhere else to sleep!

DEMEANOR

Overall, Pumpkin was an extremely intelligent cat and would often understand what I was saying, or what I was asking of her. But if she didn’t want to do something, you couldn’t make her do it. She wouldn’t hesitate to hiss at me. She even bit me and drew blood a few times, and swatted my face and scratched me once. 

In August 2023, I took her to the new vet clinic in Poco. There, the vet tech told me she was the “sweetest” cat they had that day. I’m like, “What? Is that my cat?” But she did get less feisty and spunky as she got older. By the time she passed away in January 2024, she was quite the sweetie, and would trust me to look after her like a meowmie would. She purred more often and loudly in her later years than the quiet purr she had when I first adopted her.          

She was curious of her surroundings, particularly when we moved. She only liked her two humans, Tiemen and I. The rest she could leave. She asked Tiemen for food all the time, even though she knew I fed her too. She demanded her food or a treat if she was hungry, and would not take no for an answer. 

She was scared of the vacuum cleaner, and even with the second one I bought, but the smaller ones didn’t bother her much. 

Generally, she was a good girl and didn’t get into things she shouldn’t, or wreck things, with the exception of chewing on plastic bags, or the corner of the wall, or tearing up the Lil Bub calendar at the beginning. She understood a yes, nod, lap, or up command, and even no. She knew that “upstairs” meant we were going upstairs.

MOVING

In July 2022 we bought a townhouse. That meant me and Pumpkin would be moving from my condo to the townhouse, and Tiemen would move from his Mum’s house to there. I was worried about Pumpkin and the future move in November, especially after the way she had settled into the condo at the beginning. So, I was worried about our new place.

In November 2022, I put Pumpkin in the van with a towel covering the carrier. We drove to the townhouse. There, I put her in the bathroom with water, food dishes, and a litter box. I let her out of the carrier, and put a sign up on the door that there was a cat within, and to not open the door. 

Once the movers were gone, I opened the door. I blocked the hall with two long boxes stacked on each other. She now had access to the bathroom and my bedroom. She ran all over the place, excitedly exploring everything. All the furniture and bed linens were the same, just in different spots. That night, she slept with me on the bed.

The next day, I decided to let her explore the rest of the house. I was worried about the two sets of stairs, as we didn’t have stairs at the condo. She loved the stairs, walking up and down them, sometimes running much faster than I could go! She sniffed all the furniture, which was the same as at the condo. Same stuff, just a new location. She didn’t venture downstairs to the front door for quite a while yet. Besides, she wasn’t allowed down there. 

She quickly found her second litter box under the desk alcove in the dining room, and used that. She had her food dishes in the kitchen on a tray, and also some upstairs on a small tray. I set up her water glass on my bedside table. 

At first, she didn’t like it when I picked her up to peer out the window. A few months later, she got curious and would go right up to the windows, or patio door to look out. I had to be careful when I opened doors, because she never did that before. At the condo she hated being near the windows and doors. 

Pumpkin settled in so quickly, and I was happy. I guess it was because I moved with her, and that was good enough for her. We lived here together for 14.5 months, until she passed away on January 31, 2024.

PUMPKIN HUMOUR

Normally, I could touch Pumpkin’s tail at any time. But sometimes we’d play this game where she’d walk past me in the living room, and I’d gently grab the end of her tail. She’d hiss at me, then carry on. She continued to do this into 2023, but stopped hissing at me around Fall 2023. 

I’d often joke that I’d have a Pumpkin, or, “I don’t have a cat. I have a Pumpkin!” Or I’d say, “It’s a Pumpkin!” when I’d see her. “Why is there a cat on my bed? I don’t have a cat!”

Sometimes she’d be staring at me and I’d stick my tongue out at her. She’d watch, likely amused, or thinking, “Whatever.”

If I ever talked about pumpkin pie or pumpkin food, I’d say, “But don’t tell Pumpkin!”

Pumpkin was generally quite smart and intelligent, but at other times she wasn’t, and I’d joke that she only had “one brain cell”, but that was mostly an orange cat joke from the This Orange Cat group on Facebook.

I’d joke to Tiemen that she had him trained, as he gave her food when she meowed, or yowled early in the morning. 

Sometimes I’d ask Pumpkin, “Are you cutes?” or, “Do you want pets?”

If I was cuddling her and her toesies were cold I say, “Did you know it’s illegal for pawsies to be cold?”

 

If it was morning and she was sitting on my bed I’d ask her, “Are you going to get dressed?

MORE READING MATERIALS ABOUT CATS

Thank you for reading! If you enjoy reading about cats, please see A Collection of Cats, my fictional short stories book about magical, mystifying, and sometimes silly cats here: getbook.at/catstories

If you need help with caring after a sick or senior cat, please see my Just One More Purr non-fiction cat care book here: getbook.at/purrprint 

If you prefer an ebook, I have that too!

getbook.at/ameowzon

ONLINE PET MEMORIAL: Click Here for Until We Meet Again