(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Caturday Pootie Diary: In search of adventure [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-22 “I agree,” the human agreed. “But Freddie, have you considered that an adventure would take us outside the house?” Freddie thought about that, not liking it much. But he was also a very smart kitty, so he realized she was right. He gathered all of his significant courage and told her, “That’s okay. We should leave the house.” “What kind of adventure are you thinking about?” “I want to see some fish.” The kind human and the brave kitty got into the car. The human suggested traveling in the travel crate would be safer for the kitty, but Freddie refused. “I’ll sit like the humans do,” he said. “You can’t sit like the humans do in real life,” I explained. “This is a fantasy story.” “I don’t want to get in the car at all,” Freddie said. “Everything about this story is fantasy.” Seatbelts buckled, Freddie and his human backed out of the driveway and into adventure. “What is this?” Freddie asked, looking around. “The beach,” the human said, carrying the cat in front of her so he could see everything. “It looks like a really big litterbox,” he sniffed. “It’s not,” she explained. “That’s sand, not litter. It won’t clump if you pee on it.” “Who keeps pouring water on it?” he demanded, looking out over the waves. “That’s the ocean. That’s where the fish live. Well, some of them anyway." He frowned. “It’s windy here and covered in litter. I don’t think the fish are here.” She pointed at the water. “They’re out there,” she said. “We’d have to swim out to see them.” “Swim!” Freddie cried. “This is not an adventure, it’s a nightmare!” “Don’t worry,” I soothed. “They are leaving.” The human parked the car in a big parking lot, tossing her parking fee receipt onto the dashboard so anyone walking by could see she paid. She turned to Freddie. “I really think you’ll like this,” she said, unbuckling his seatbelt. After paying another fee, this time to get into the building (“Humans pay a lot of fees,” Freddie observed. “Don’t I know it,” I countered.) the human carried the brave and handsome cat into a large room full of water tanks set into each wall. Inside swam large schools of colorful fish. “What is this?” Freddie asked, awed. “It’s an aquarium. There’s fish and other sea creatures from all over the world.” They approached one of the tanks, the human holding Freddie up against her chest so he could see. A group of small, colorful, curious fish met them, the glass of the tank between them. Freddie patted the glass, causing them to scatter. The human gently grabbed his paw, stopping him. She pointed to a sign. “We aren’t allowed to tap the glass,” she explained. “But how will I hunt them?” “We aren’t here to hunt them,” she said. “Just to see them.” He regarded her thoughtfully. “That doesn’t make any sense.” They wandered into another dark room full of large and brightly lit tanks. “No fish in here,” the human said, looking around. “But other sea creatures.” “Chicken?” Freddie asked. She shook her head. “They don’t live in the water,” she said. “The Chicken of the Sea does.” “That’s tuna.” It was his turn to shake his head. “You keep saying things that don’t make sense.” The brave kitty and the kind human approached one of the tanks. Inside was an octopus the size of the human’s head. “Ooooh,” she said. “I love these. They’re so smart.” “Smarter than me?” Freddie asked. The octopus used the momentum of the water to turn and regard the land animals watching him. “I should think so,” he said, solemnly. The human and the kitty gasped. “Octupuses can talk?” Freddie demanded nervously. “If you can, why can’t they?” “You’re in a tank!” Freddie said. “And you are being ferried about by a human!” the octopus countered. “Don’t fight!” the human said. “You are both wonderful and smart!” They both turned to look at her, then back at each other. “Do the humans serve you as well?” the octopus asked the cat. “They feed me and clean up after me,” Freddie agreed. “They do that for me as well. So we are both superior to them,” he concluded. The human snorted. “Clyde was pretty nice,” Freddie told the human as she carried him back to the car. “Clyde? Was that the name of the octopus?” He nodded as she buckled him in. “We should come back and see him again.” “Sure,” she said. “So did you get enough adventure today?” He thought about it. “I didn’t get to see the fish,” he said. The human frowned. “You saw so many fish!” she argued. “The fish in the cans,” he clarified. “The fish we eat.” The human wrinkled her nose as she thought about it. “So all this time what you wanted was to go to the grocery store?” “The canned fish, yes. Go there!” She started the car, laughing. “As you wish,” she said. ”That was a pretty good story,” Freddie told me. “But it was definitely a fantasy.” ”Because the octopus talked?” ”Because I would never let you carry me that long.” Happy Caturday, Peeps! Sometimes you gotta get out of your comfort zone and go have an adventure! 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