The Journal of Panther Lynch

by Sage Lucinda BugBug Milliken

August 10th, 2000

Dear Journal, Greetings, Panther here. Well, la de da, ummm. This is my first Journal, so I don't quite know what to say. Purrrrhaps I should start at the beginning.

My name is Panther, Panther Lynch. I am a large black cat. That is how I got my name. And I am an outdoors cat. I live in the back yard with Bruney the dog, and I eat on the front porch, where the human puts food out for me. And indoors, well, that is where Silver and the lovely Cinnamon live. (sigh). It is a quiet little house in a small town, so it really is a good place to live. No traffic, no dogs to chase me. Most of the dogs in the neighborhood are good friends.

Anyway, I was laying in the shade of the dog house on this long summer day, when I decided to explore the big trash can at the end of the block. NOT that I needed to really. I mean, I didn't scrounge around for food or anything, but occasionally there was some interesting stuff in that trash can. Like today. Today I found this journal. It is a big brown big, and it says "Journal" on the front. And inside the first pages are all covered with columns of numbers and stuff. But there are lots of empty pages at the back. So I thought to myself, "Hmmm, this looks like something fun", and I dragged the thing home. Then I purrsuaded the lovely Cinnamon to borrow a pencil from her humans table. Not a difficult thing to do. So here I am, keeping a journal.

Oh, myyyyy, there goes a lovely looking little mockingbird.......

August 16th,

Hey there Journal. Me again. Well, today I will tell you a little about our daily routine. I sleep in the dog house with Bruney the dog. She is quite nice and doesn't mind sharing a bit. Sometimes when it is very hot, she is kept on the front porch, where we can relax in the shade, like today. The human, Big D, wakes up quite early and feeds us. Then she toddles off to do whatever humans do. After breakfast, I sit on the porch and talk to the lovely Cinnamon through the screen. She and Silver do not get to come out, But occasionally, I am let in to share dinner with the girls. That is quite fun. When the human returns, she takes Bruney for her daily walk. And I walk along right with them. This gives the human quite a laugh. She thinks it is so funny to have a cat go for a walk too. But it is quite fun to walk along with my friend Bruney and visit all the cats and dogs in the neighborhood. It looks like it is almost time for din-din. More later.

September 8th, 2000

- Dear Journal, today I brought Cinny a cute little brown mouse. Oh, she was so pleased with it. But her human wouldn't let her keep it. I don't know why. It was a very plump mouse. Cinny is such a dear though. She told me the mouse was delicious.

October 13th, 2000

- Dear Journal, it is Friday. The humans always talk about Friday the 13th, but I am not sure why. The human said I should stay indoors today. Oh, mew. It was heaven. I got to spend the whole day snuggling with the lovely Cinny. (sigh) She is so beautiful, and sweet and lady like. Cinny, Silver and I had a great time. We played Hide n Seek with their new catnip mouse, then Chase. I let the girls win most of the time. Night came too soon, and it was back out on the porch for me.

October 24th, 2000

- Fall is here, and the nights have become quite cool. It is nights like these that I really appreciate my friend Bruney and her snug dog house. It is only one week until Halloween. I can hardly wait!!!! It is my favorite holiday. I know, I know. YOu say black cats should stay in. But I do love to see the children all dressed up in their costumes, and I help the human hand out all the candy. I think I will be a clown this year.

October 31st, 2000

- Halloween!!! Oh, I am so excited! My human's friend has made me a lovely ruffly orange collar, and I have a cute little orange cap to wear. This is such fun. The air is crisp and cool, and a little wind is blowing leaves all around. I can feel the excitement in the air. DING DONG. Oh, oh, there is the door bell. The first bunch of human kittens are here. They are so cute. The littlest one is dressed up like a ghost. Each one holds their bag out, so that I can inspect it, and make sure the human puts candy in it. DING DONG. OH goody another bunch. Mew. There are a great many this year. DING DONG, DING DONG, the doorbell never stops for almost three hours straight. We counted close to 400 human kittens this year. I have had such fun, but I am quite tired now. The human finally sets down for a cup of coffee, and she gives us all warm milk and tuna. Ahhh, this is divine. After dinner, I fall asleep on the couch, a tired but happy kitty.

November 15th, 2000

- An upstart grey cat is trying to invade my territory. He says his name is Dude, and that he is Cinny's brother. BAH! I hiss and yowl at him and chase him off, but he comes right back. grrrrrr!!! Silver looks out the window, and then Cinny. "Dude. DUDE!" she yells. "Oh, My wonderful brother, DUde." It is quite a reunion, but I don't stick around to see.

November 24th, Thanksgiving

- the upstart Dude still hangs around on the porch. I don't much like him, but he seems determined to stay, and to be friendly. I still hiss and growl at him a lot though.

December 24th 2000

- I still feel really uncomfortable around Dude, so I have decided to leave, and seek my fortune in the wide world. I think it is for the best. The fair Cinny doesn't like to see us fight, since Dude is her brother. Well, I guess she can't help that. We had a lovely Christmas dinner, and I said my goodbyes to the girls afterwards. I shall leave tomorrow morning.

May 2001

- Dear Journal, well, it has been quite a winter, and I am very tired. I visited the old neighborhood today, and was very sad to find both the beautiful Cinnamon and my good friend Bruney had crossed the Rainbow Bridge. It was good to see Silver, and even Dude. He is quite the cat around the house now. He made a great effort to be very nice to me, and being so tired, I just didn't fight it. The human was glad to see me, and fed me some great tuna. Best meal I have had in weeks. Now that Cinny and Bruney are gone, there isn't much reason for me to hang around. So I will leave soon. I don't guess I will be writing to you again, as I am leaving my Journal with Silver. She said she would keep it safe for me. It is a bit hard to carry it around when you are on the road. A fond farewell, Dear Journal. Panther, Panther Lynch.