Salvage Yard - Chapter 5

First Row: Skunky, Big Kitty, and Dozer

Second Row: Orange Kitty, Raccoon and Chickadee, and Little Kitty

Top: The Man  

C h a p t e r   5

Dozer heard the back door open, and light poured out in a big rectangle across the ground; the silhouette of the man cast within it. He peaked out of the entrance to his dog house.

Out came the man, staggering and singing, “May, oh May / You were mine, all mine / In happy times / Then you went away...” He repeated it in a more and more slurred version as he weaved back and forth across the path that led down to the car pile. Eventually he stopped at the bottom of the pile and looked up, swaying back and forth.

The big bottle was in his hand and about half empty. He raised it to his mouth and guzzled. Then he pulled the cap out of his pocket and twisted it on to the top of the bottle. With great effort, he pushed the bottle into the top of his large overalls.

In the next moment the man was climbing. There was an interesting method that he used. The system worked for him no matter what state he was in, and he knew it quite well by now. There were hand holds on the first couple crushed cars at the edges of their bumpers. He then raised his right leg and got a foothold on the dented window frame of the next car.

From there it was much easier. There were a few tires to struggle over and he slipped briefly sending two of the tires that were directly under the car tumbling down and into the yard. Dozer raised his head.

But undeterred, the man stepped the rest of the way up the tangled heap and to a steel set of beams that led right to the passenger's door of the blue car. He'd reached the summit. He fished around for the cable to plug into a DC socket he'd rigged to supply power from a battery down below. Opening the door, he climbed in the car and slid down to the driver's seat.

The car was tipped in that direction and the man was held by gravity against the driver's door. He clicked on the radio and turned it up as loud as he could. The music came blasting out; the oldies station, playing hits from the 1960's and 70's. Out came the bottle, and down went another guzzle. Then came the singing along with the radio. Dozer lowered his head onto his paws and tried to sleep through the din.

About an hour had past and the man was very excited, grabbing the steering wheel and pretending to drive. Occasionally he honked the horn which still worked fine. He rocked from side to side. He didn't notice that the car was slowly changing its angle. Each time he rocked to the right, the car – which had formally been held in place by the old tires that he loosened; the ones that fell to ground when he was climbing – straightened up. He was no longer pushed against the driver's door. And he laughed and hooted at being able to feel more like he was on the road.

However, the car KEPT tipping as the twisted frames of the cars below creaked and began to give way. He stopped singing and sat there staring forward at first and then looking from side to side. He made one little chuckle to himself and took another swig off the bottle.

That's when it happened. In a single motion, the car tipped heavily to the right, shifting its weight. He slid over to the passenger's side too, and said, “Ah Oh.....” That caused the car to slip down the pile with a series of heavy crunching noises. He put his arm against the window, but it shattered. This left his hand outside the vehicle while it crashed down sideways, pinning his wrist under the full weight of it, outside the window's edge.

He shouted out it pain. Dozer stood up and ran out of his dog house, but was stopped by the chain around his neck. The cord that supplied electric power to the radio was disconnected in the rubble and all was dark.

“Help!! Help me. Oh...PLEASE! Someone!” cried the man. Unfortunately he knew full-well that the location of his property at the end of a half mile long road placed him far out of the range for anyone to hear. He sobered up fast. Pulling as hard as he could, he was still not able to work his wrist out from between the car window and the sand below it. “HEEEEELP!!!” he screamed, but even that was muffled by the roof.

Many thoughts ripped through his fearful mind. He was totally alone. No one ever came to see him, even in the daytime, unless by appointment. So he really was stuck and out of luck. He was encouraged by the fact that he could still feel and even move his fingers a bit. Yet, the movement he had was in the wrong position to push his wrist up.

Dozer barked louder than he'd ever barked before. “Ruff!! RUFFF!! Ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff... RUFF!” Over and over he tried different patterns. Soon, both Orange Kitty and Little Kitty arrived at the dog house fully awake from all the racket.

“What's up, Dozer? What's wrong??” asked Little Kitty.

“The man, the man... He's in the old blue machine! It fell off the pile and onto its side! Looks like he's trapped inside, but I can't really tell from here.”

They all looked down the path at the blue car. They heard the man talking to himself and moaning. Then came a sight they hadn't seen in many days. Striding by the roof of the blue car walked Big Kitty, Little Kitty's former mate. He inspected the situation closely and then looked up the path to see the three other animals staring.

With a kind of unconcerned trot he traveled the path and stood in front of them. “So, you finally made friends with the dog huh?”

Orange Kitty spoke up first, “His name is Dozer, and we ARE now good friends. He helped save Little Kitty from a trap today, set by the man.”

“Well then! Looks like you got back at the man. He's in a bit of a trap himself I see,” said Big Kitty.

“No, no! We didn't have anything to do with that,” Dozer replied with a raised brow. “He was drinking from the bottle and...”

“Let me guess...” interrupted Big Kitty “...he got into the machine, singing away and it toppled over?”

“That's right,” said Dozer.

“That's not his only problem,” said Big Kitty. “I just walked right by and noticed his hand is stuck under it, with the machine's roof resting on it. I thought it was a glove at first, but then the fingers moved. He, ah, didn't sound very happy either.”

“I can't believe I'm going to say this after what happened today,” Little Kitty said hesitantly, “but, shouldn't we try to help him out?”

Orange Kitty whipped his stare toward her, “Are you serious?? Who knows what he would have done to you once he had you in the big cardboard box!? I think he deserves what he gets.”

“It seemed that way to me too, Orange Kitty. But then again, I remembered how scared I was in the trap; how hopeless I began to feel... I'll bet he feels even worse.” She sat down and her tail moved from side to side.

They stopped talking for a while. And down near the blue car they heard the man moan every now and then, “No....no....it can't end like this...it can't...” His voice was getting softer.

Dozer shook himself as if he'd been covered with water. “The man doesn't treat me well anymore, but he has brought me food every single day since I can remember. He and his mate adopted me from a big metal cage a long time ago, when I was just a pup. If he isn't around anymore, who will feed me? And since our deal this afternoon, Little Kitty, you won't get special food like the eggs I promised you.”

Orange Kitty was ready to agree with them, but it struck him suddenly that they were not exactly equipped to get the man out. “We are WAY too weak to move that machine, Dozer. Even if we wake up Skunky and Chickadee, who could find Raccoon, even then, even if we all pushed at once we wouldn't be able to move that machine...”

“I know,” said Dozer.

Skunky had slept through the whole affair. He still had time before he had to get up to get into the trash can before sunrise—but then he heard two notes. He turned over and was half awake. The two notes came again. He opened his eyes and through the darkness just outside his den hole, came the voice of Chickadee's mate, “Follow me,” it said.

“What?” He replied back into the night air. But all he heard was a fluttering. He got up and stretched, then worked his way up and out of the den. There were strange noises at the top of the embankment. He heard the two notes again, in faster procession.

He climbed up the embankment and over the edge, walked through the woods a little way and saw that Raccoon, with Chickadee riding on his head, was there to meet him at the edge of the woods.

They all made their way across the side yard and down into the back where the other animals were gathering and discussing something that sounded important, under the light of the open back door.

When they were all together, the cats and dog filled Skunky in on the situation. Skunky was even less inclined to help the man after being scared by the shiny tool that made that huge noise the afternoon before. But he came around to the idea of assisting after a very moving speech made by Little Kitty, and seconded by Dozer, who reminded Skunky that the man also “supplied” the food in the trash can each morning. This made an impression on Skunky.

“OK.” Skunky sat and thought. “What could we possibly do?”

They all fell silent again. Chickadee whispered something into Raccoon's ear, and they departed, Raccoon and his bird passenger, down the trail toward the blue car.

Skunky wanted to pace back and forth while he thought, but around Dozer's house were so many holes in the sand that he kept tripping and falling into them. After being frustrated by this and sitting in a particularly large hole, Skunky realized what might work. “Dozer!!” he yelled.

Dozer and the rest of them all turned around and looked at him. “What, Skunky?”

“Did you dig all these holes?”

“Of course. It's my other talent besides chasing Little Kitty.” He smiled.

“Dozer! That's the answer!”

Meanwhile, Raccoon had brought Chickadee right up to the car which lay on its side. She saw the hand under it. She whispered again to Raccoon, and after she flew up to the passenger's window, which was open and above the man, Raccoon turned and walked back up the path to join the other animals.

When he arrived in their presence, he heard Dozer saying “...It's great! It's a wonderful idea...but...I'm chained to my house!”

“So we just need to unchain you,” replied Skunky and he looked at Raccoon. Then they all looked at Raccoon.

Now, Raccoon never spoke but he understood things very well. He was smart and crafty, but best of all he had hands like the man. He could do things that paws just weren't able to accomplish. And when he caught the hint about what the others were proposing, he got to work on the latch that connected the chain to Dozer.

The man was now curled on his side and silent. Chickadee sang her two notes and he slowly looked up at her above him. Beyond her were the stars twinkling in the clear air. “Oh bird,” he said. “What have I done?”

She hopped down into the car and perched on the radio nob. “Man,” she said.

He looked at her, confused. “Now I am hallucinatin'...”

“No,” she said, “I am real and I have come here to tell you something.”

He moaned and shook a bit in the cold air. “Why? What have you got to tell me.”

“I spend much of my life in the sky. And when I'm way up there I sometimes hear things from far away.” She came down further and landed on a piece of crumpled dashboard. “They are voices; what I hear. And they come to me from a place beyond this world.” Tonight, when I flew up high to get a better view of what was going on in your yard, I heard one.”

The man moaned.

“You once had a mate.”

“Yes,” whispered the man, “May. She left me here in this messy world, when she went to heaven.”

“May spoke to me,” said Chickadee, and her voice began to change. It dropped in tone and became fuller. “She gave me a message to tell you.”

The man began to weep. “Oh...if it were only true...”

“IT IS.”

His eyes widened. That was no longer the voice of a little bird, but of a woman. It was so familiar; so gentle. “Whaa...howw?”

His eyes were blurred with tears, but he no longer felt the pain in his wrist. A light penetrated through every window of the car, even the one that pinned his wrist to the ground.

Looking around the car, he discovered that he was upright again. Bright green trees rustled in summer breeze outside, and he saw the figure of a young woman sitting in the driver's seat.

“Robert,” she said.

“MAY! Is it you? Is it really you?”

“Yes, honey. I can only stay for a few minutes." Her blonde hair swayed in the celestial sunshine of another world. Her soft white skin shone. She reached out and gingerly stroked his face with her delicate finger tips.

He began to sob. “May, my sweetest flower! You, with the butterfly eyes... Why did you leave me? Why did you have to go? I've...I've been so lonesome. You don't understand how dark the nights are...”

“Yes, Robert, I've watched you.”

“Oh...lord...I'm so ashamed. I've become bitter...mean.” Robert looked away.

She pulled his face back to her gaze. “Your heart was broken and the hope flowed out like warm water onto the icy ground. You looked for reason where there could be none.”

“I know. I know...” Robert's tears ran down his face and over her hand.

“You are about to be given a new chance to live again and it will come in a form you never thought possible, from those who you have overlooked, even mistreated.”

“What do you mean?”

“When this happens, when you are free again, will you do me a favor?”

Robert smiled. “Yes May, flower. Of course!”

She beamed her gaze into his eyes with an intensity and passion that he had forgotten she had the power to produce. “Learn to love yourself again. Learn to love yourself as I loved and still love you. And then share this love with those around you, even the littlest ones.”

“Yes, May,” Robert choked, “YES!! Of course! I will. I WILL!”

In a growing ocean of brilliant and sifting luminescence, shimmering with splashes of golden hues, followed by colors that flew around them and sang like birds, she said, “Then we will be together again; forever, in the Place where I live now. This, I promise you!”

“May! May, don't leave me again!” Robert cried. “Just stay a little while longer, May. Stay with me...”

A giant whooshing sound, like a mixture of wind and water swirled around them, as May was gradually absorbed back into the Light from which she had come. And before she faded away, he heard her say... “Love yourself as I have loved you.”

Gravity seemed to reassert itself and he was on his side again, shaking in the dark. He looked up at Chickadee—now re-framed by the stars in the window above her. And she spoke with her own voice, saying...

“It is only from the bottom parts of the world, where the rust of our past taints the waters of our present that we can truly appreciate the sky. When I am in flight I don't really see the sky. But I do see the world below. It is filled with action, struggle and danger.

“Please remember what you have seen this night. May is with you all the time. All creatures are ONE. All are ONE...Everything is ONE.

“You will eventually be with May again, but you have much more to do around this yard before that happens.”

The man smiled, “Thank you little bird. I am ready to change everything. I am ready to find...Everything.”

Chickadee bounced back up to the radio dial and then out of the window without looking back.

Raccoon fiddled and fiddled with the latch on the chain. The other animals stood around him in a circle and watched, mystified by how he could try so many different techniques for undoing the chain. Chickadee landed on his head and sang her two notes to the sky. She bent down and observed the chain carefully, then whispered in Raccoon's ear.

Raccoon stopped and stared off into space for a moment then blinked his eyes a few times, before looking back down.

Silence fell across the group, and then............. CLICK!!

Dozer shook off his chain and stood proudly, with his face illuminated by the light of the back doorway.

Then he dashed away down the path toward the blue car. He stood for a moment and cocked his head to the left and then to the right. That was all he needed to form a plan. Like one of the Robert's machines, but even faster, he dug and dug right next to Robert's hand. He saw the fingers move a little.

“Dozer?!!” called the man from behind the roof of the blue car. “DOZER!!! Good boy, good BOY!”

Dozer growled happily when he heard the man talking to him. It didn't take long for a large pile of dirt and sand, leaves and stones to form behind Dozer. Then he stopped, backed up, and started digging on the other side of Robert's hand. In no time that hole was excavated as well.

Then, ever so carefully, Dozer bent down and began to scrape the dirt out from under the hand, by digging sideways, from hole to hole. Finally he felt his foot break through one hole into the other and the dirt beneath Robert's hand dropped away, allowing him to pull it out. “Yay!!!!!!” shouted Robert – so joyfully that all the animals who had now gathered in a group around the car – shouted, each in his or her own way!

There was a lot of clunking inside the car as the man repositioned himself and then climbed up and out of the driver's side window above them. He held one hand with the other and beamed with the biggest smile down at the animals.

He had expected to only see Dozer there, but was delighted to see a crowd. Skunky raised up on his back legs and then stomped down hard on the ground. Big Kitty and Orange Kitty purred so loud everyone heard them. Raccoon clapped his hands. Two tiny songs played above them as chickadee and her mate flew and danced in the air. And Dozer ran around in circles, barking and howling.

Robert climbed down and stood among the celebrants. He noticed Little Kitty over by the bumper and looked at her with a warm smile. And she stood up and slowly walked to him. She started purring. She made a happy “brrrroooopp” sound and then rubbed up against and around his legs.

Robert reached down with his good hand and lifted her under her stomach, off the ground and up to his face. She nuzzled him and licked his cheek.

Just then the purple clouds in the distance turned to orange, then to gold, as the sun cast its first rays of the new day across the tips of the tallest pine trees.

“Let's all go inside and get somethin' to eat!” suggested Robert. “And I'll call the doc.” Behind him a parade of happy animals followed. They all went in through the back door, even the two birds.

In the weeks to come, Robert straightened up the yard. He raked the lawn and planted grass. He pulled out his old paint cans from the basement and painted his house in bright colors that reminded him of the ones he saw flying around May.

Over the summer, he made a long heated shed with a row of doors, where each of the animals could have his or her own space. He even added extra doors in case any other ones came to stay. He filled the shed with soft dry hay and set down blankets. There were bowls for each animal and he fed them all every single day. For Little Kitty every Sunday morning he left a delicious cheese omelet.

Of course any of the animals were certainly allowed to come inside Robert's house and visit any time they wanted, because he made a big swinging door on the back and a mud room space so the cold wouldn't get in.

On winter evenings they would all sit around the living room and enjoy the man's singing. With her mate, Chickadee remained as the translator.

The seasons came and went. And each year the yard grew more beautiful, as he slowly divested himself of the old metal, tires, batteries, plastic and other scrap.

Even the old blue car was given to a young man named Rick who often came to help Robert do maintenance around the yard and who lived at the other end of the long street. Rick fixed it up to mint condition.

When Rick graduated from High School, Robert gave him enough money to pay for his whole first year at college, where he met a lovely girl...named...June. They married and bought some of Robert's land. There, inspired by Robert's story, they started a refuge for animals, and they called it: “Salvage Yard.”

* * *

“It is only from the bottom parts of the world,

where the rust of our past taints the waters of our present,

that we can truly appreciate the sky....”

CHICKADEE—SALVAGE YARD

* * *

Salvage Yard - Chapter 4

First Row: Skunky, Big Kitty, and Dozer

Second Row: Orange Kitty, Raccoon and Chickadee, and Little Kitty

Top: The Man  

C h a p t e r   4

Some time passed. The temperature went down and the sun had almost reached the tops of the trees.

There was an rumbling engine sound like the man's machines made, but from a different kind. Dozer raised his head again. He heard loud voices coming from in front of the house.

The man was talking loudly to someone. He never seemed able to just talk at a normal volume. The other man had a similar voice but softer and not as low pitched as the man's.

“Yeah...yeah... I had it ready for you. Trapped it right after we talked on the phone this morning. I thought for sure, you know, I'd be able to get it into the cahdboard box, but a dahn, crazy skunk showed up, right while I was shakin' the trap!! How often does THAT happen?? Ha!! I even tried to shoot it, cos it's probly diseased, you know, rabies. But I missed by about one inch! FIGUAHS!”

“Weeeeeell...” said the other man hesitantly “...I coulda really used that fifty bucks. The lady I get 'em for uses 'em fa mousin in her bahn. Hahd to find the feral ones these days. Theyah just too smaht. Woulda taken it so fah from heh, it'd nevah come back.”

“Oh, I know it!” said the man. “This one musta watched how I closed the lid. Somehow it let itself out. I'll get it again though, mahk my wurds! It watches me eat my breakfast juss 'bout every day...I'm gonna clean this yahd of all the the freeloadin crittahs.”

“OK,” said the other man. “Gimme a call when ya get it next time. And don't worry 'bout the cahdboard box, I'll just take the trap and retahn it to ya next day.”

“Right... See ya!”

“Bye!”

Dozer didn't have a clue what they were talking about. A little flute note sounded behind him on his house. “Chickadee!! Oh, it all worked out! Thanks so much!”

“Dozer, it was my pleasure. You are my dear friend and we've know each other for a few seasons now. Friends help each other. When one of them is trapped, the other one will risk her life to free her friend.” She turned to the side, and her mate flew in next to her.

Dozer smiled, “I would have rather spent the day listening to one of your stories.”

“Well, maybe I can talk to you for a little while before we head to the nest for the night?” Chickadee looked at her mate and they touched beaks.

The front door of the house closed hard, and the kitchen light came on through the back window. The sun was behind the trees, and the clouds in the sky were lighting it up in orange and pink wisps. Skunky walked up slowly from behind Dozer's dog house. He was much calmer now.

“Skunky!! Oh, Skunky you were very brave, my little friend!” Dozer's tail wagged, and Skunky knew that Dozer really meant it.

“Yes,” said Chickadee, “we were at a loss... we didn't know what to do. And then you came in and saved the day!”

“Oh, you guys...” Skunky proudly dug at the ground with his face turned away. “I wasn't scared until that loud sound came. Little Kitty tried to warn me before she got out. She said that the man had scary tools. Now I know what she meant. By the way, where is Raccoon? I think he is the real hero.”

“Oh, my protector likes to do his own thing most of the time,” answered Chickadee.

“Why doesn't he talk?” asked Skunky.

“He can't talk in a way we can understand. But he knows exactly what I'm saying to him. He's very smart.”

“Oh...” said Skunky. “That's weird; an animal that can't talk. I thought the man was the only one who didn't make any sense. If the man and his kind could only talk and understand language, then we could tell him that we don't like to be treated so badly. Then, I think the yard would be a nicer place for us all.”

Chickadee laughed and looked over at her mate. He ruffled his feathers and then giggled. “I can talk to their kind too,” she said.

“Them? You CAN?” Skunky perked up.

“Yes. But only when they are willing to listen.”

“Wow.” Skunky thought seriously about this. “Hey Dozer do you think the man will be coming after us again tonight?”

“Ha!” said Dozer. “No, the man drinks from his big bottle at night. Although... sometimes he comes out with the bottle and sits in that blue machine over there.” Dozer pointed his head in the direction of an old car sitting precariously on top of a pile of crushed ones. “He hooks up a big string to it, climbs in and listens to a loud sound in the front seat.”

“Loud sound?” asked Skunky.

“It's called 'music',” said Chickadee.

Dozer continued, “He sings along for a while and then he gets out, unhooks the big string and stumbles back inside the house.”

“Strange...” said Skunky.

“When I was just a pup, he used to ride in the blue machine. Way back then he had a mate.” Dozer looked off into the last light of setting sun.

“HE had a mate? Where is she now?”

“I don't know. One day she just wasn't around anymore.” Dozer smiled as he continued to watch the sky. “Her name was May. She was the most beautiful creature I've ever seen. She had soft white skin, and light hair, so long... So long ago. She was very kind. She used to pull me up on her lap and scratch my neck. Her fingers were so delicate, and her voice... It was sweet, like Little Kitty's or, maybe like Chickadee's. I haven't thought about her for a long, long time.” He sighed and laid down.

Slinking out of the dark space right near the pile of crushed cars that they were looking at, came Little Kitty, followed by Orange Kitty.

Dozer rose to his feet and turned around and around. “Little Kitty, Little Kitty!!”

Orange Kitty came up next to her and they both stopped in front of Dozer's house.

Little Kitty was smiling intently with her eyes and purring loudly. “You all are the greatest friends I've ever had! You rescued me and I'll never forget it. Orange Kitty told me about the deal Dozer and Chickadee made, and I can assure you that I will NEVER eat another egg...or harm another bird either.”

“Same for me,” said Orange Kitty, “It's nothing but voles now. And Little Kitty gets some of Dozer's food too, of course.”

Above this odd gathering appeared a tiny star. The slight breeze had vanished and the world was quiet. There was a shared feeling among the animals present that something had been bent during the daylight. A piece of invisible wood maybe, or like a branch or a board. The energy at the bend point had grown until it could not be contained anymore and the wood broke, releasing that energy and allowing peace to temporarily fall over everything.

One by one, each animal laid down and settled into a relaxed state. They looked at each other and then at the trees, the small patches of snow that were left, the piles of metal, cars, tires, batteries... This was their home.

Slowly, gently, Chickadee began to speak quietly...

“When we were on our way back here, my mate said to me that the world was changing. At the time, I didn't know what he meant. But we birds – our kind – have been here in the world for a long time; longer than any of your kinds. When we speak to each other, there is no need to answer right away. We think much. We understand what a small movement means. We don't usually need to speak at all. THAT is why we sing.

“Way back, over the embankment, behind the rows of crushed metal machines, and past even the ones that have rusted away, there is an old water machine. It is tipped on its side. But it has a big fin like a fish, and a long white tree coming out of it. Strings hold the tree to the machine. And the whole thing is made of wood, not metal.

“Inside it; in one of the corners, I hatched with two of my siblings. Strewn across the ground around this machine were rectangular objects. And in these were what the man might call 'pages.' They are like leaves but they have pictures on them.

“My brothers and I would hop down to the ground after we learned how to fly and we would look at these pages. Mother Chickadee, before she left, explained that the man's kind learned about the world by looking at these pages. So we tried, too. We would flip them over and look at each one.

“Eventually my brothers left to make new nests. I saw all of them from time to time in our banditry, but I often lived alone back then. When the weather got cold in that first year, somehow I knew it would be time to store my food for the winter and I spent half my day finding good places to put the food and the other half studying the pages.

“One day I was flipping through the pages after my work was done and I saw a bunch of pictures that shocked me. They showed different animals of every kind. It was easy to see that they had changed over time from other animals and some were related, while others weren't anymore. This is why we have feathers, but you all have fur. You all are more closely related to each other than to me and my mate.”

They all looked around and giggled.

“NO WAY! I'm related to a DOG!” exclaimed Orange Kitty.

“Yeah,” said Dozer, “you are our less developed cousins!”

They all laughed, even Orange Kitty.

“Tell us more. Tell us why your mama left.”

“First I want to tell you the biggest secret of all. The man's kind used to be an animal like us. In many ways the man is still an animal. That's why I can speak to him if he would allow me, but he won't. He considers himself to be greater than us now, but he hasn't been around as long as we have.” Chickadee stopped and looked around.

Five sets of eyes were focused on her. No one said a word.

“Now to answer your question, Skunky...”

Little Kitty, Orange Kitty and Dozer seemed a bit uncomfortable and they looked at each other and then at other things.

Chickadee went on...

“Mamas don't usually stay with their babies forever, Skunky. Orange Kitty and Little Kitty are an exception.” She stopped.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Skunky looked puzzled.

“Skunky,” Little Kitty piped up, “Orange Kitty is my son. His father – Big Kitty – comes and goes, and I would too...but....when Orange Kitty lost that piece of his leg in the tool shed, he was still very young, and I decided to stay with him while he healed, to help him grow up strong. But we got along so well that we've stuck together. He doesn't need my help any more, but we help each other get by. In fact, if it weren't for him, who knows what would have happened to me today. I love him. We are a team.”

“Woooowwww...” said a breathless Skunky. They all braced themselves for what would come next and Skunky didn't disappoint them. “Then...my mama...she just did the normal thing by leaving? But why do I miss her so much?”

Little Kitty walked over by Skunky and laid down in front of him...

“Skunky, we knew your mama. She was the bravest of us all. Dozer liked her even if he didn't like us cats. We liked her even though she liked Dozer. Ha! You lost your mama a little bit too early. She should have been with you, at least up until now.

“Skunky, she had kits before you and they were taken away by a flood that filled up the old den. She went for years and years afterward, refusing to try to have more kits.

“Then one day she met her mate; your papa. He was just passing through, but she fell for him looks, stripe and stinker!”

Dozer, Orange Kitty and Skunky all laughed.

Little Kitty put her paw out and tenderly touched Skunky's foot. “Skunky, your mama, Lady, was my best friend, besides Orange Kitty. She got her head caught in a bottle back when we were both young and I helped pull it off of her. We were the only females in the yard, that I remember.

“Your mama didn't leave you, Skunky. She was...run over by a machine out on the road. I reached her before she passed in the Light. She asked me to look after you once you came out of the den. But even before that I would often go by and drop grubs and nuts and pieces of bread into the den so you could have a meal each day. I used to sit in front of the hole and watch you sleep.”

Skunky was silent. He simply couldn't process any of this. He put his chin down on the ground and sighed, “What does passing 'into the Light' mean?”

Chickadee floated down next to Skunky and began to speak...

“No animal lives in this world forever. We all are born, then raised by our mama's and papa's. When we are old enough we usually distance ourselves from our parents, so that we can be parents on our own.

“It is like the seasons. You have only known Winter cold so far in your young life and a little bit of Spring, but you are about to enjoy the greatest time of year: Summer.

“The trees all grow green leaves. And the grass becomes soft. The mud dries up and flowers poke up out of the ground to bloom into a host of shapes and colors. You won't have to just go into the trash can in the mornings. There will be bugs and fat worms in the ground to eat. The little stream beside the yard here, next to your den, flows with cool clean water over stones so round you can even pull them out and roll them down the hill. The sun stays up and grows high into the bright blue sky. And the nights are filled stars and with the sounds of smaller animals finding their mates.

“Years are filled with seasons. And seasons are filled with changes. You are very young and that is the funnest time of life! Many years will you live. After summer comes the golds, reds and browns of fall. It is a time of work for animals. We must prepare for the coming of Winter. You will see the sleeping of the world as it struggles through each Winter, then this time of spring will come again afterward, just like it did this year.

“When the years have been many, and the seasons have repeated so often that you no longer forget what is to come next, you will become old. Dozer's is the oldest of us all. He has seen a lot in his life. As he says, he is moving a bit slower.

“All that is meant to be experienced IS experienced. Something will happen to bring you to a place where you can't even move any more, something like what happened to your mama. At that time you will KNOW that it is about to become the Spring in a new kind of life. I have seen many animals when they are in this final state. I land next to them and they tell me what they're seeing. And for my part, I try to comfort them.

“There is a Light, brighter and warmer than the sun. It fills a place where things don't cast shadows. Colors fly and sing like birds. It is a place where there is nothing to fear. The dark spot in the middle of the eye gets big when it sees this place, and through your eyes you too will pass into it.”

“Wow...” said Skunky. “Thank you, Chickadee. Thank you, Little Kitty. I have much to think about...and look forward to. Mostly, I appreciate that you have been honest with me about my mama. Little Kitty, I actually think I remember you there outside my den. Yes...I remember. You are like my mama now.”

“I'm honored to be, Skunky,” said Little Kitty, and smiled deeply with her beautiful green eyes.

Skunky rose to his feet. “You are all my brothers and sisters, and my friends! I hope we stay together as long as we live here in this world!”

They all nodded in agreement.

Then a terrible sound crashed through the air. It came from the house. It was the sound of broken glass. They heard the man's voice grumbling, occasionally getting loud. He sang and then yelled something.

Dozer said, “I think it's time to go to our separate places. The man is probably going to come outside. I've seen this before.”

“Poor Dozer! You're chained up here!” said Skunky.

“Oh, I'll be OK. Just wish I'd been able to run around today...The man forgot all about me...again...” Then he half-smiled and walked into his dog house.

The cats said goodbye and went to their places to sleep. The birds took off to a tree near the crushed car pile.

And Skunky – feeling upbeat and optimistic – made his way down by the creek and into his warm den.

Salvage Yard - Chapter 3

First Row: Skunky, Big Kitty, and Dozer

Second Row: Orange Kitty, Raccoon and Chickadee, and Little Kitty

Top: The Man  

C h a p t e r   3

Dozer was done with his food. He wanted to explore the yard, but every time he walked out about six feet, he'd suddenly be snagged by the chain. Still – for a few times at least – he kept figuring that the next time he walked forward, the chain wouldn't be there, but it always was. He'd been in this situation enough times to know he was gonna be stuck there at his house for the whole day. Resigning, he laid down with his big old head on his paws. And it didn't take long for his eyes to get heavy, with an impending nap bearing down on him.

Just as he was beginning to drift off, he heard a “MEOW!!” right in front of his face. Drugged with sleepiness, he raised his head with a wobble. There stood Orange Kitty Staring at him.

“What Orange Kitty? Are you gonna tease me about not being able to chase you?”

“No! You wouldn't be able to catch me even without that chain around your neck! Ha!” Then Orange Kitty got serious. “The man trapped Little Kitty. She's in a big plastic box on the front porch.”

“I don't see the problem,” said Dozer, laying his head back down.

“Errrreow!!” spouted Orange Kitty. “Dogs are SO slow to get things!”

“Oh?” murmured Dozer lazily.

“If the man has her trapped he may HURT her!”

Dozer raised an eyebrow. He thought about how he had stopped before 'finishing her off.' Why couldn't he just do his duty as the 'junk yard dog' like he was supposed to? He contemplated what had happened earlier that day. So many times he had chased Little Kitty around the yard. He never even wanted to catch her. The fun part was the chase. And now that he'd actually met her, the thought of hurting her made him sick.

“We are friends now, aren't we, Dozer?”

“That's funny to me...” said Dozer. “...being friends with a CAT.”

“Listen, Dozer, this is very serious. I don't know if you realize it...but Little Kitty is my mother.”

This piqued Dozer's interest and he raised his head. “Really? No kidding?” He awkwardly propped himself up on his stomach. “But you're orange?”

“I know...I know. It's just the way things happen with cats. Some of us are like our mothers, and some of us are like our fathers, and some of us...aren't like either parent.”

Dozer cocked his head in thought. “But what can I do? I have this chain. I can't do anything!”

Orange Kitty got closer to Dozer. “You can call the bird. She rides on that raccoon's head. And HE has hands like the man. He could open the box and free Little Kitty!”

“Ah! Good idea...for a cat!” Dozer stood up and faced down toward the tire pile, “Chickadee??! Chickadee? We need you!” Within a minute, there was a two note song in the air, getting closer...and closer. Then they heard a fluttering in the trees above them.

“She's here!” said Orange Kitty, and he smiled with his eyes.

From a branch about six feet up, and over Dozer's house, came her magical voice, “I saw what happened.”

Orange Kitty was happy to know everyone was up to speed on the situation. “Call Raccoon! He can open the box!!”

“Wellllll...” said Chickadee, “I don't know... the terrible truth is that last year Little Kitty pulled my eggs out of our nest right after I laid them, and when they splattered on the ground...she ate them, yolk and all!”

“Oh...” Orange Kitty thought for a moment. “We usually catch voles. They're slow and can't see very well. They don't even realize how loud they are in the leaves. And in the winter, it's easy to just follow the bump of a trail they leave under the snow. But... Little Kitty has a taste for eggs, I have to admit. I can't tell you how many times the man has chased her out of the back yard in the morning. Usually she eats all the scrap eggs first.”

Everyone was quite for a moment. And with another two note song, Chickadee's mate came in fast and landed next to her on the branch. They touched beaks.

The more Dozer thought about it, the more he wanted to see Little Kitty free again. “I have an idea.”

“Well, that's some encouraging news,” teased Orange Kitty.

“The man is not very kind to me. He doesn't talk much either. Every day he brings me my food and then walks back in the house. Usually I can patrol the yard, but today he has me chained. I never know why.”

“It was so he could capture Little Kitty, without you chasing her,” said Chickadee.

“Oh, wow, you're probably right.”

“Your idea, Dozer!?” Orange Kitty was growing quite impatient now.

“Yeah, yeah...” Dozer looked up as if to tie his concepts together so that they made sense to the other animals. “I'm getting older and I have...well...put on a little weight...”

“Shocking, Dozer! We hadn't noticed at all!”

“Orange Kitty! Grrrr... If you tease me again, the next time we're out in the yard, I'm gonna relieve you of your other rear leg!”

“I'm sorry.” Orange Kitty smiled with his eyes.

“My idea is that, Chickadee, if you help us free Little Kitty I will make a deal with her that she can have some of my food every day. Often times it has egg in it too. And her part of the bargain will be to promise not to eat your eggs.”

The two birds looked at each other for a long moment. Then sighed, “OK. That's fair. But you better be able to convince her, Dozer.”

Dozer smiled, “I think together we can convince her. She will be happy to know that we worked together to get her out.”

Chickadee looked again at her mate. He fluffed his feathers for moment. They touched beaks. Then she sang her two note song. And her mate followed with his slightly lower tone.

Immediately, from the pine needles and leaves at the edge of the woods they saw Raccoon appear. Orange Kitty and Dozer both stared in awe. Chickadee flew down and landed on Raccoon's hairy head. She bent over and seemed to whisper something in his ear. He blinked a few times and then pulled his little black hand up to his face staring at it. He nodded.

“He'll do it!” chirped Chickadee.

Dozer smiled a big tongue-filled smile. And Orange Kitty smiled with his eyes and gushed “Thank you SO much Raccoon, and you too Chickadee! We cats have never appreciated your kinds enough.”

They were all happy that a plan had been formulated. Chickadee flew off into the front yard. And Raccoon scurried along the woods' edge on the other side of the house. Orange Kitty was excited to see how things would go down, and he hobbled off back along the same small trail he'd come down from the front yard. Dozer just stood there transfixed on the house, cocking his head back and forth trying to hear what was going on. Chickadee's mate flew off into the back yard.

Little Kitty was growing depressed. She lay there in the box on the hard plastic, panting every now and then. It had been a long time since Orange Kitty had left her there. Inside she heard the man walking around and grumbling to himself. She wanted to feel sleepy so she could just relax but she was far too anxious.

Way off in the back of the yard, behind the rear fence, Skunky was snoring. The sunny area he was sleeping on would slowly move and he would unconsciously roll over until he was on it again.

He dreamt about his den and how he used to be curled up on his mama's tummy. He could feel her licking him again and telling him what a strong kit he was.

He heard two notes floating in from the outside world into his dream den. Then he seemed to see Little Kitty at the entrance, just sitting there looking at him. As he raised his head a bit in his dream, he got a better look at her, and when he did he noticed his mother was gone and he got sad. He said to Little Kitty, “Why did she leave me? Where did she go?”

Little Kitty shifted in Skunky's mind, but smiled with her eyes, and then said to him as if she were speaking directly to him in the real world, “Once we lose something that is attached to us, it is gone for good.” He woke with shiver.

There, right in front of him was Chickadee's mate. “Hi!” said Skunky.

“Follow me,” said the bird and took off into the air toward the front yard.

Skunky was still a little tired but he got up and followed, very curious to find out what was so important. He thought maybe Chickadee was about to tell her stories. When he got near Dozer's house, he slowed a bit. Dozer was chained and was turned towards the man's house. So as not to surprise Dozer, Skunky said as calmly as he could “Hi!”

Dozer was surprised and spun around quickly. “Skunky? Where have you been? We're on a mission!”

“We? Who?”

“All of us, Skunky! The man caught Little Kitty in a trap! He's gonna...” Dozer thought for a moment before finishing as quickly as he could talk, “...um...do something bad to her. So, we're gonna rescue her. Raccoon has hands like the man and is going to open the box.”

“Really? Wow!” said Skunky, still processing.

Just then, Orange Kitty came peeling back around the corner in his awkward running style. “No! No!!” he yelled. He skidded right into Dozer's empty food bowl.

“What??? What's wrong?” asked Dozer.

Skunky was agitated, and paced back and forth. “Yeah, what? What??”

The man is back outside again with a different box, trying to move Little Kitty into it! Raccoon is too afraid to come out of the woods.

Skunky pondered it all and then stopped pacing. He stomped his little feet hard on the ground. “I know what to do... I'm very dangerous. Everybody knows that, right? Even the man?”

Orange Kitty looked at Dozer and opened his eyes wide. Dozer shrugged slightly. They both looked back at Skunky. Dozer said, “Yeee...Yeah, Skunky...you're veeery dangerous.”

Without thinking further about it, Skunky strutted off toward the back of the house. When he got there he heard a lot of shouting in the front yard. He stopped and looked back at Dozer and Orange Kitty. They just sat there and stared at him. Gulping hard he stomped his feet hard on the ground, then walked around the corner.

When he had made his way up the small hill to the front yard he saw the man hitting the plastic box and shaking it. The other box was old and made of cardboard. The man was trying to shake Little Kitty out of the trap and into the other box from above, but she was doing her best to stay in there. This made him angry and he felt his tail rise.

Skunky determined that the man would fear him and drop the plastic box so that Little Kitty could escape. It seemed like as good a scheme as any other. So he walked right up beside the man and his two boxes.

It took a moment for the man to realize Skunky was standing there. But when he did see him, he stopped suddenly. Little Kitty reached out of the trap and swiped the man's hand with her front paw. At this the man pulled the plastic box back up into the air and snapped the lid shut. He looked down at his hand. But it was OK, just some surface scratches.

Skunky stamped hard on the ground with his tail up. He moved quickly backwards and then charged forward for a few feet. He did this over and over again, drawing ever closer to the man, who was taken quite off guard.

“Shoo!!” yelled the man. “Go'way!!” He waved his free arm at Skunky, while slowly placing the plastic box on the muddy grass. Something was definitely wrong with this Skunk. He seemed too forceful. “You got rabies or...or somethin', don't ya?!" He yelled.

Skunky held his ground, and hissed a bit. Slowly the man backed up. He kept looking over his shoulder at the front door. Skunky knew the man was gonna make a run for it. Instinctively, Skunky began to turn his body so that his rear end faced the man.

“Oh no!!” shouted the man, who ran as fast as he could up on to the porch. He jostled with the front door, looking back over and over again at Skunky, who wiggled his tail. Finally, the man got the door open and jumped inside. There was a lot of banging around inside the house.

Skunky immediately turned back around again and faced the trap. “Little Kitty, Little Little Kitty!! Are you OK?”

“Rrraeow! Yes...for now. A bit shaken, she winked. But you need to leave or you're gonna get hurt. The man has scary tools...”

Then from behind the plastic box arose a little masked face. It was Raccoon! He bumbled around the edge of the box looking it over, before settling in front of it.

Loud noises came from with the house. The three of them could hear the man yelling and cursing. “Gonna be the end of this!! Where'd I put that case? Argh!! I'll show 'em! FREELOADAHS! This is MY land; MINE!!”

Raccoon fiddled with the latch on the front lid of the box. Out of nowhere Chickadee landed on Raccoon's head. She bent down and whispered something to him. He stopped what he was doing and listened intently.

“Hurry!!” came Orange Kitty's voice from the side yard.

“Yeah,” said Skunky “hurry up!!”

Raccoon seemed to peer off into the distance, then he blinked his eyes. Chickadee's mate flew down and landed on the railing of the front porch, looking into the window of the man's house. He looked back at the box then in the house again. Just as quickly as she'd arrived, Chickadee took off again and Raccoon returned to his fiddling.

This time he concentrated on the bottom corner. Skunky began to pace back and forth. They heard Dozer bark in the back yard howling, “What's going on??” Orange Kitty wanted to go back and tell Dozer what was happening, but he couldn't stop watching. Dozer could only see the side view of Orange Kitty. “Please?? Owwooo!”

Then all was silent for just a fleeting second. Raccoon looked up, CLICK!!

The front door of the box popped open. Little Kitty came bounding out. And then stopped. “YESSSSS!!” she cried, “I'm free!! I'm FREE!”

Raccoon wasted no time trotting back to the woods. Little Kitty raced over to Orange Kitty and they both took off around the corner as fast as they could. Skunky was beaming. He stomped on the ground and looked up toward the sky tightly closing his eyes.

Then the front door opened. There the man stood with a shiny tool. Anger and hatred seemed to pour out of him in. This only increased when he saw that the plastic trap box was open and that the cat had escaped.

He narrowed his eyes, turned and spit over the side of the porch. Then he raised up the shiny tool up to his face and pointed it right at Skunky. Skunky didn't know what that meant. He sat down and looked at the man.

A burst of air passed by his nose. Then almost at the same second there was the loudest sound he'd ever heard. It hurt his ears. Behind him a large chunk of grass burst up into the air. And from the back yard Dozer howled, “RUN SKUNKY, RUN AWAY!!”

Skunky had a bad feeling about this particular tool. It was much more dangerous than he was. He turned and ran faster than he thought he'd be able to, skidding slightly and around the corner of the house, then past by Dozer and into the woods.

The man ran down the front steps and followed Skunky's path into the backyard. There sat Dozer, chained to his dog house, standing and panting. The man lowered the shiny tool. He met Dozer's eyes. And they just stood there looking at each other.

“Useless...” said the man in a quiet tone to Dozer. “You are just useless.”

Dozer sat down, cocked his head to the side, and then further rested on his stomach with his front paws straight out in front.

The man lowered his head and said something at the ground. He then turned and walked away back into the front yard.

Dozer sighed heavily and looked around him. The sun was getting a bit lower in the sky now. He wished so much that he could join the other animals and celebrate Little Kitty's release. He dropped his big chin onto his from legs and whimpered a bit. It was all a little too much. It was all just a bit too close...