Gary and Morris Celebrate the New Year

After a wonderfully busy Christmas at the Hervey Foundation for Cats, Gary and Morris were looking forward to taking it easy for the next few days. They had spent the last 72 hours with full bellies, squinty eyes, and tails swishing around like seaweed in the current.

"I don't think I have moved more than a few feet in the last few days," said Gary.

"Neither have I," said Morris. "Save for a few trips to the litter box."

Marjorie and the volunteers had planned an incredible Christmas celebration for all the cats, including bringing the treats and their regular food directly to each of them, as if they were serving hors d'oeuvres at a banquet. Everyone felt so pampered.

"This Christmas has been amazing," said Gary. "I am so glad we have such a great place to live and a mama who loves us!"

"Amen to that," said Morris. "I am starting to feel like I need to get up and do something though. What about you?"

"I could lay here for hours," said Gary.

"Alright," said Morris. "I am going to go see what is going on downstairs. Be right back."

Gary rolled over to face into the sunbeam pouring through the window, and Morris slowly got up, licked his chops, then stood up and stretched. Once his little routine was complete, he headed downstairs.

It seemed like the overall vibe of the place was pretty relaxed. None of the cats were doing much of interest. The adult cats were all sleeping or relaxing one way or another, and most of the younger ones were hanging out on the Christmas cat tree that arrived a week earlier.

Morris walked into the kitchen area to grab a bite to eat when he heard Marjorie downstairs in the basement. She was talking to one of the volunteers about her New Year's Eve plans.

"I was thinking of going to visit some friends nearby for the evening, then coming home once the countdown is finished," she said. "I just don't want to be out too late on those roads."

It had been snowing for the last couple of days at the shelter, and the nearby highways were pretty slippery. Even though Marjorie is an excellent driver, you can never be too careful.

"We are going out with some friends to a big dance in the city," said the volunteer.

"Well, that will be fun!" said Marjorie.

Morris thought about it for a few moments. He had totally forgotten about New Year's Eve, and chances were pretty good that Gary had too! He kept listening.

"Are you doing anything with the cats?" said the volunteer.

"We have another volunteer coming over to watch the kitties while I am out," said Marjorie. "But I have something pretty special planned for them."

Just then, the two started to walk back upstairs and Morris bolted. Being the instinct-driven animal he was, as he bolted past the kitchen, he stopped for a quick bite of kibble but then kept running back to where Gary was sleeping.

Once back to Gary, Morris jumped on top of him and started rolling around.

"Gary! Wake up!"

"How could I not?" said Gary. "You just jumped on top of me."

"New Year's Eve!" shouted Morris.

"What?" said Gary.

"New Year's Eve! It's happening in two days!" Morris continued.

"Oh right! New Year's Eve!" said Gary. "What's the deal? Did you have something planned?"

"No," said Morris. "Actually, I hadn't even thought about it, but just now, I overheard that Marjorie had something planned for all the cats!"

"Interesting" replied Gary. "We will have to plan something of our own as well…"

"What you have in mind?" asked Morris.

"I was thinking that maybe we plan a surprise for Marjorie as well," said Gary.

"I gathered that from your previous sentence," said Morris. "What is the surprise though?"

"Oh," said Gary. "I am not sure yet. Let's figure that out right now!"

The two cats then put their heads together to come up with a plan. This would be the part, where in a cartoon, the two main characters would start whispering loudly as the scene faded to black.

Two days later.

The sun came up over the Foundation on the morning of New Year's Eve, blanketing it with its warm glow.

Gary and Morris, as usual, awoke with the sunlight – roughly an hour after it hit their bodies. Afterall, they are cats, and they love to be warm.

With one long yawn and a very big stretch, Gary woke up first and tapped Morris on the shoulder.

"Happy New Year's Eve, buddy!" said Gary.

"And to you too!" Morris replied.

"Shall we get to work?" asked Gary.

"Indeed," said Morris.

The cats got up, had a quick self-bathing session, grabbed some breakfast, bathed one more time, then started putting together their surprise for Marjorie.

Over the past two days, they had been gathering party supplies from around the shelter. Things like balloons, streamers, confetti and any sort of wrapping paper/tissue paper leftover from Christmas all went into the pile.

Marjorie was under the impression that some of the volunteers had been cleaning up the leftover holiday stuff when they saw it, but Gary and Morris had been hiding it.

Right above the entrance to the Foundation, there was a little landing where the two cats had been hiding their party supplies. It's only really large enough to store some boxes of Christmas ornaments and other decorations, but the cats took advantage of the space since all those boxes were empty. Christmas was only a few days ago and all the décor was still up, so the two cats put all their stuff in front of the boxes so it would be easy to push it all off the landing.

Marjorie was getting ready for the day, so the cats had to act quietly. Without trying to attract too much attention, they did a final sweep of the property, looking for any sort of leftover party supplies or gift wrap.

Once finished, they stood above the entrance, hidden loosely behind some boxes, and assessed their situation.

"We've put together quite a little collection here," said Morris.

"I think this is going to be great!" said Gary. "Marjorie is going to love it."

Simultaneously, Marjorie, who was on the opposite end of the property, had just finished putting the final touches on her surprise for all the shelter cats. As she and a volunteer set down their tools, they brushed off their hands and stood back, assessing the fruits of their labour.

"I think this is going to be great!" said Marjorie.

"I can't wait for it!" said one of the volunteers.

"Time to get ready to go out," said Marjorie. "Make sure you have the cameras rolling when it's time to entertain these kitties."

The volunteer giggled, then nodded, then the two of them headed off to check in on some of the other cats.

Time seemed to pass by quickly at the Foundation. The cats were all having a blast playing with their new Christmas toys, chowing down on some delicious food, and enjoying the fun Christmas decorations that adorned the walls.

Things started to get dark outside just after suppertime and Marjorie was now getting ready to go out to her friends' place for their New Year's celebration.

Gary and Morris were hanging out in the bathroom sink as she did her hair.

"You boys are so funny!" said Marjorie, commenting on the two cats who had snaked around each other to fit into the one sink. "You're lucky I don't need the tap right now!"

The cats squinted a bit and purred loudly.

"I'm heading out tonight to meet up with my friends, and I hope you boys have lots of fun while I am gone," she said.

The cats continued to purr.

"You won't be alone though. One of the volunteers will be here to make sure everything is okay, and to make sure you have lots to eat!"

Gary and Morris looked at each other, nodding in approval.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Being cats, Gary and Morris immediately got spooked and both tried to stand up out of the sink at the same time, which didn't work well in their favour.

Marjorie was basically finished getting ready, so she left the bathroom to let in the volunteer who was going to be spending the night.

"Hello!" said the volunteer.

"Thank you for taking over this evening!" said Marjorie. "I shouldn't be gone too late."

"No problem!" said the volunteer. "I love all these cats, and I can't wait for the… thing."

The two giggled a little, then Marjorie headed out the door, jumped in her car, and took off down the road.

Gary and Morris now had to play the waiting game. Their surprise for Marjorie was intended for when she returned from her party.

The next couple of hours went on about as normally as you would expect. The cats were having a blast playing on their cat trees, milling around the floor and couches, and just enjoying their company.

At about 9:00 pm, something started to make a bunch of noise in the living room. Gary and Morris ran over there to find massive videos of outdoor animals like birds and squirrels projected onto the walls, complete with all the sounds of nature you would expect with it.

"What is this?!" said Morris.

"I don't know, but I almost can't help myself! I need to go investigate!" said Gary.

They two ran over and immediately were drawn in by their instincts. All the cats were going nuts for it. They were slapping at the animals in the videos and having a grand old time.

20 minutes later, the dining room started to make noise. There was music playing and all the lights were shut off. The volunteer then walked to the centre and hung a disco ball on the ceiling with a little flashlight pointed at it. The room filled with tiny little reflections created by the ball and the cats went into a frenzy once again, chasing the reflections all over the room as they moved in sync with the disco ball.

"This is crazy," said Morris. "I'm having a blast!"

"Me too!" said Gary.

The volunteer then ran to the basement and blew a whistle to get the cats' attention. Down there, they had rigged a bunch of easy-to-rip party streamers to things like the ceiling fan, a remote control car, and anything else that moved. The cats came down the stairs somewhat cautiously, but when they saw those streamers, they immediately jumped into stalker mode. They got low to the ground, moved their heads sideways and all over the place, and pawed at the pieces of streamer as they whipped past. What a blast. Morris showed off his athleticism by jumping about 5 feet in the air to rip part of a streamer off the fans.

After a while, the volunteer went upstairs then started to make very loud cat sounds in the kitchen.

"Psst! Psst!" they said as they smacked their lips together – trying to get the attention of the cats who were all bouncing around the basement and dining room at that moment.

Gary overheard the sounds and popped his head into the kitchen to see that a massive feast had been laid out for them.

"Morris! You're going to want to see this!" he shouted.

Morris walked over, out of breath from running and jumping all around.

"Oh… my… goodness…" he said.

Both cats meowed loudly at the other cats to get their attention, then ran into the kitchen to chow down. Each plate had some wet food, some dry food, some treats, and some delicious wet cat snacks.

The cats were having the time of their lives. There was something fun going on in practically every room of the Foundation and now they were having a meal fit for a lion king!

"Happy New Year, kitties!" said the volunteer. "This is Marjorie's gift to you!"

Gary and Morris knew, though, that it would soon be time to return the favour.

After an entrancing evening of chasing light from a disco ball, pawing at wild animals on the wall from the projector, and biting streamers off of fans, mid-air, they needed to keep an eye on the driveway.

At just after midnight, Marjorie's car pulled up the driveway once more. Gary and Morris leaped into action. They jumped up onto the landing where all their supplies were hidden and waited until they could hear the front door open.

"Hello kitties!" said Marjorie, as she gently opened the door.

Gary and Morris looked at each other.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

Gary pushed and pushed on the big cardboard box they had set up behind all their party supplies, which pushed all the party supplies off the edge of the landing right above Marjorie!

Balloons, confetti, streamers, tissue paper, old bows from presents, ribbon, and anything else that was fluffy or soft, slowly fell to the ground and onto Marjorie's hat and coat.

As soon as she looked up to see Gary and Morris, Morris jumped onto a balloon they had rigged to a party favour noisemaker, making a very loud sound. Marjorie laughed and shouted, "Happy New Year!" The volunteer walked into the room, holding a cat in either arm and immediately started to laugh.

Marjorie was covered in party supplies, but she had Gary and Morris in her arms, and they were all loving every moment.

"Happy New Year!" said Gary.

"Happy New Year!" said Morris.

The cats in the shelter all came over to rub up against Marjorie's shins and sniff the air around her to see where she had been. Gary and Morris were purring loudly in her arms, and everything just felt right.

It had indeed been a happy new year.