Safety First

Chapter 1: Not Always Safe

A young Maine Coon cat stalked slowly in the sun, trying to avoid the shade. It was a crisp Winter's morning and the cat was feeling the coolness. Spying a car, he wandered over to lie beneath it. When he reached the vehicle, however, he could feel warmth radiating from above. Ah, finally, warmth! And with that observation, he bunched up his powerful hind muscles and, not being the most intelligent of cats, leapt into what he didn't realize was the motor of the car.

The Maine Coon had been asleep for a few hours when a loud noise interrupted his peaceful slumber. The cat awoke with a start, but soon settled back into a comfortable nook of the engine. Not long after, however, the cat felt a gnawing sensation on the tip of his tail. Turning cautiously, it took him barely a moment to realize that his tail was caught in a part of his new bed that had suddenly begun moving, slowly grinding on his sensitive tail. With a yelp and a somewhat hindered leap, the young tom grabbed his tail with both front paws and desperately attempted to free his tail from its captor without much success. The motor was also beginning to heat up to the point where the tom thought he was going to die from heat exhaustion. Screeching loudly with his claws unsheathed finally gave him a result. The grinding on his tail ceased and the cat eventually managed to free his tail. With another yelp and a jump-twist-dive movement, the cat escaped from the car and ran straight into a human leg.

The human bent over with his arms outstretched, ready to pick up the cat that had suddenly emerged from underneath his vehicle. Unfortunately for him, the tom, being scared, confused and now disoriented, swiped at the human's legs, leaving long, bloody scratch-marks across his bare skin. With another swipe and a loud hiss, the Maine Coon fled the scene and the two monsters.

Almost blind with pain and fear, the Maine Coon half-ran, half-stumbled along the side of the road, clutching his shredded tail. Blood poured out of this sensitive body part and stained the fur on his front paws and on his stomach, across which he was nursing his poor tail. Exhausted, he collapsed in a bloody heap in the dirt.