Magic-Carpet Cat: The Story of Daffodil

Meow, dear reader. My name is Daffodil, and I am a magic-carpet cat.

A magic-carpet cat is a feline chosen to be the animal guide to a human being who is often called an animal whisperer. We magic-carpet cats call our humans VSPs -- Very Special Persons. The role of a magic-carpet cat is to remain with their VSP constantly. We are the feline equivalent of guardian angels. My VSP certainly has one of those, but she has me as well.

As a magic-carpet cat, my job is to follow my VSP wherever she may be -- on a magic carpet, of course!

My VSP is named Joyce. Right now she is sitting at her computer. She thinks she is the one who is striking the computer keys, but I know better; it is I, Daffodil, her magic-carpet cat.

I must digress, dear reader. To fully understand my relationship with Joyce, you first need to hear my story.

It was a dark and stormy night -- please, no giggles, it really was -- when I found myself dazed, abandoned and shivering by the side of a country road. My eyes hurt, for they had sunken into my skull. I was starving and knew it. I heard a sound. I looked up and blinked away the cold rain as the headlights of a pick-up truck came into view.

The truck pulled off the road, stopping right in front of me. Later I was to learn that the driver saw the reflection of my eyes in his headlights. "Here, here, kitty," said the kindly man who stepped out of the truck. He picked me up and held me to his chest before setting me on the passenger seat.

I stayed with the kind man for a few days. But I knew things would not work out. Another cat was already living with the man, and this other kitty did not want me as her friend.

"Kitty, we need to find you a new home," the man said a few days later. Again I found myself in the passenger seat of his truck, my future uncertain. We drove for about an hour. Suddenly my ears started to twitch. My whiskers seemed to take on a life of their own. There was something -- something special in the air, and I could feel it! Smell it! Taste it!

I stretched my bony frame until my front paws rested on the dashboard. My tail twitched of its own accord. I peered over the windshield and saw a big, beautiful red barn. A wonderful place for mousing, I thought. I looked at the man. 'Turn here, turn here' my thoughts begged him! And he did.

We drove up a long driveway, and there on the front porch of a big, old farmhouse sat a kind-looking woman. She looked up from the book she was reading and our eyes met. She tilted her head to one side and smiled. I knew I had found my forever home!

A Flowery Tradition

Joyce has long named her cats after flowers. I did not know Iris, in whose great tradition I follow as a magic-carpet cat. However, I knew Dandelion well. RIP, my fine orange-and-red tabby friend.

Here I am pictured resting up prior to one of our travels together. Befitting my name, I am lounging on a flowery comforter.

She's a travelin' Mann

Joyce and I travel the world together. I will show you photos of myself riding my magic carpet. Great fun!

This picture shows me a bit bleary-eyed after one of our trips abroad.

Why should I chase my tail all night long when Joyce provides me with this fun cat toy!

Joyce was VERY thrilled when she visited London, England. Joyce tells me she has been something called an "Anglophile" ever since she read David Copperfield as a child. I was happy to go to England as well -- I did not have to learn a new language. In this picture I am riding my magic carpet over the Houses of Parliament with the River Thames below. I hovered overhead as Joyce visited Winston Churchill's secret war rooms which are located beneath Parliament. I started to panic when I heard the sound of Nazi aircraft dropping bombs! I twirled around on my carpet but saw nothing. Then I realized I was hearing the realistic sound-effects provided by the Churchill museum. Whew!

These articles are more fun than the musical -- wink! wink!

Joyce spent only one day of sightseeing in Paris, and I had to learn all those French words just for that? But as her magic-carpet cat, I was duty bound. Joyce delighted going to Notre Dame Cathedral to hear the mass said in French. Then she deliberately walked blocks away from the tourist district. I was getting a bit nervous. But I shouldn't have. Joyce is quite a card -- she had a great time ordering in French and pretending she understood everything said to her. I slipped away for just a moment, when a handsome French cat offered to share his demitasse of delicious cream.

Hi, this is Joyce here. My furball of a calico cat has allowed me back to my keyboard -- finally.

I got the idea to write magic-carpet cat when I recently came across a photo my daughter had doctored about eight or nine years ago. She had just returned home from a trip to Germany. One day she found a photo online of Heidelberg. Just for kicks, she went to Microsoft Paint and concocted a photo of Daffodil on a magic carpet floating high above the medieval German city. It was hilarious. We were all engaging in LOL.

So when I recently saw that photo again, I knew what I had to do. I asked my daughter to find some public domain images online and give them the cheesy-but-cute Microsoft Paint treatment of Daffodil riding her magic carpet.

Since then I've been singing to Daffodil the song "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf. I've just changed the lyrics a bit.

"Come away with me, little cat, on a magic-carpet ride."

Special thanks to my daughter, Ursula Pfitzer, and to Daffodil, my magic-carpet cat. By the way, the photo here shows Daffodil flying over snowy Lapland in Finland. When Daffodil is not traveling with me, she rides with Ursula.