Today I want to tell you a story about A Boat Named Charlie.
Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I have love in my heart.
Chapter 1
Lunch Interrupted
It was a sunny, hot and dry summer day in July, two years ago to be exact. I worked in a small commercial garage that was located on a busy highway in Upstate New York in Saratoga County . . . a small little town where everyone knows everyone . . . a small little town called Ballston Lake.
I was on my lunch break from work and sitting on a small wooden bench reading a newspaper just enjoying my day. After a few minutes of reading a customer drove in our parking lot. As he drove by me the dust flew up in the air and surrounded me. I couldn't help but notice him. Like I said, it was July and there had been very little rain so everything was very hot, dry, and dusty. Within a few moments the dust had cleared enough that I saw that it was Gary. I smiled and waved at him. I knew he was scheduled to drop off his truck that day so, with no surprise, I returned to my reading not really paying too much attention to what he was doing. Gary was one of our regular customers. He was scheduled to have brakes done on his cube van. After a few minutes he was walking towards me. I looked up and we exchanged our brief hellos as he walked by and then entered the shop to drop off his keys. It was just another normal moment. A few minutes later his wife, who had been following him, pulled into the parking lot to pick him up. The dust began to fly again so I decided to have a little fun with her. I fanned my paper as I looked at her through the dust. I coughed as I waved hello. With a frantic look on her face, through her open window, she apologized to me for the dust. I laughed and told her that I was just kidding and having a little fun with her. With that said she laughed, fanned the dust that now had reached her open window, and, she finally relaxed again. We spoke for a few moments about the the dust, the weather, the kids, and how fast the summer was going . . . just small talk, in a small town on a beautiful day. Soon Gary came out of the office. We all said our goodbyes and off they drove, just like so many other times before when they were scheduled for an appointment. Happily, I went back to reading my paper.
But then . . . that's when I heard the screeching noise.
"What was that?" I thought. I stopped reading and looked up, paused for a few moments, but since the noise didn't return I went back to reading my newspaper.
The sun was very hot that day. The next 10 minutes was spent reading my paper intently while listening to the roar of cars off in the distance from the highway. The birds were singing as they flew from place to place around the hot metal garage building. Some were rolling in the dirt of the parking lot in front of me dusting their bodies. I remembering looking at them thinking, "Birds are such funny creatures". I continued reading. The dragon flies and bees were buzzing around in the air, sometimes too close to my head, interrupting my reading as I would swat at them.
I was really enjoying my lunch break
.
But soon this quiet afternoon lunch would be interrupted and my life would be changed forever.
There it was again, the same screeching sound was coming out of the woods, but now it was echoing over and over again with no stopping.
I put down my paper and got up to investigate. I walked around the side of the building, between the woods and the road, listening for what I thought had to be a injured animal.
As I approached the woods the screeching stopped. The creature had vanished.
I started walking around the many vehicles parked in the lot. That's when I walked up to the cube van. Surprisingly, quick as a flash, a blur of fur ran out from underneath the cube van that just moments ago was parked so neatly in the corner. The blur of fur had startled me so I just stood there, motionless, looking into the small wooded area that it had disappeared into.
"What was that?" I thought as I walked towards the woods looking for the creature. After a few minutes of looking unsuccessfully, through the tall grass and trees, I walked back to the van to look over the situation. That's when I noticed the hood of the van was unusually wide open so I quickly walked back to the office where my boss was standing behind the desk sifting through papers.
"Why is the hood open on Gary's van?" I asked. He looked up at me with a funny look on his face and replied, "There's a cat stuck in the engine." He said it very quietly and uncomfortably looking back down while anticipating my reaction.
"OMG!" I said shockingly, and off I flew. I was immediately back outside. I needed to save this cat.
I walked over to the small wooded area where again I could hear the screeching cries of this "cat". As I approached the woods, to my amazement, there it was looking back at me through the tall grass, not a cat, but a very small kitten. These two tiny eyes looking at me so afraid with her mouth wide open making a screeching noise that sounded more like a eagle call. I stepped forward towards this small six or seven week old kitten and again it scurried away deep into the woods. I stood there looking and wondering how I was going to catch this kitten before it ran on the highway and was killed. I just wouldn't be able to drive into work seeing it lying motionless in the road.
Well, not on my watch. I needed to come up with a game plan.
Over the next two days I was juggling, life, work and trying to catch this kitten. This one tiny creature had continually outsmarted me. During the day I watched from my desk as this kitten ran from the woods to the van finding some sort of feeling of home by crawling back in the engine. I would approach the van time and again but this kitten would run away from me finding to the safety in the woods. I even had enlisted the help from my friend , my daughter. At times the mechanics or customers at work would bring food or give me ideas of what I should do. The kitten kept eluding me. At night I would return with with flashlights, a small blanket in a box, food and water. Finally, when nothing worked.,the next day I called a shelter looking for a trap to borrow. I was told none were available so I bought my own Have a heart trap and the hunt was on. That evening I set up the cage next to the van and used a can of cat food to temp the kitten into my trap. I went home that night with the hope that tomorrow would be the day we take him or her home.
The next morning was busy. If I did have a new kitten waiting for me, I had to change a few things. I set up a area just for the kitten. I thought about when I could get the kitten to the vet. Told my 15 year old cat "Your not going to be too happy tonight, but you will get used to it". Then I drove to work filled with anticipation.
Would she be trapped? or should I say be saved. After I parked my car I walked toward the van where I had placed the cage. As I got closer I could hear that I had caught something. I walked around the van and there she was, screeching and hissing more then ever while throwing her small body against the cage.
I had trapped a small tiger.
Now let me tell you, kittens in the wild like this are not the friendliest little creatures. The amount of hissing that was coming from the cage sounded like it came from a scene in a movie where the actor falls into the den of snakes. I picked up the cage and greeted my new captive. I told her "You don't know it but your coming home with me." "We live in a nice house and you will have a friend named Kate, she is a very nice cat." I looked at this small ball of fur still wrestling with her new home. She was a small grey and black tabby cat. Yes, I caught a tiger by the tail. I was just relieved that she was going to be away from the highway.
Yes, this kitten was finally trapped.
.
And now she was all mine.
