Hilo Days: My Squishy Adventure

One should never torment cats as they go about their daily routines. I learned this the hard way during my pre-school years. It’s one of the adventures I wrote about in my now-defunct Hilo Days website. I thought you might get a kick out of the entry.

NEVER DIG UP A CAT MOUND

Hilo, like any other city or town in the world, had its share of dogs and cats running all around the place.

If there's anything I learned about cats during my B.R. [Before Riverside (School)] days, it was never to fool around with the mound of dirt put together by a cat. 

You probably already know what's coming, but don't get ahead of me.

I was playing soldier one day [at Obachan’s (Japanese for “grandmother”) house], running up and down the front stairs when I saw this cat scratching around in the dirt on the side of the lawn that abutted the back end of Yogi Store (next to our "haole" guava tree). 

Like an Army Ranger, I sneaked up on the cat and grenaded it out of existence with a rubber ball.

There was this tempting dirt mound that beckoned me like a piece of sweet candy. Couldn't resist. Had to stick my fingers into the pile. My fingers plunged into what felt like soft, squishy warm bananas.

You know what it smelled like. And you know exactly what it was. They say in the books that cats hid their "doings" so that animals that prey on them won't know they're around. Well, the cat did his duty and I learned a lesson.

And I'm sure that as I stood there gagging, wiping the gooey stuff on the grass, that little bugger was hiding behind a tree, watching me, chuckling nasty little cat chuckles.

[Craig’s Note: You’re right. This story stinks.]