Another Mark story from our Smith Valley days...Alley Cat had just delivered another litter of kittens. We found that beer cases--the old-fashioned kind that the glass bottles came in--made great cat-having-kittens boxes. You can close the cat up with her kittens, pick up the box by the handles, and carry them anywhere. (But take the dividers out first...those tend to be uncomfortable for the cat!) That day, Alley Cat was on our concrete back porch in her beer case cat house nursing her kitties.
Our Uncle Carl, Aunt Marie, and cousins Steve, Jimmy, and Danny Joe had just arrived with their dachshund. As dogs will, the dachshund went over to the beer case and stuck his head in to check out the kittens. Our dog Rebel was very protective of the kittens and didn't like that other dog checking them out. He lunged at my cousins' dog and attacked him.
We knew the little dachshund wouldn't stand a chance against Rebel, who was a fairly large dog. Rebel had one big weakness--he was petrified of gunshots and firecrackers. My little brother Mark ran into the house and grabbed a firecracker and a lighter. He ran back out, lit the firecracker and threw it onto the concrete porch in an attempt to break up the dog fight. My dad poured that porch, so it wasn't exactly level. The firecracker rolled directly under our other cat's butt and KABLOOEY! It couldn't have been timed any better.
Fru-Fru (yep, that was the cat's name) went straight up into the air about five feet. All four legs were stretched out and up. Every hair on that cat was standing on end, and she really did look like the illustration to the left. As Fru-Fru was in the air, she let out this horrible wail. And at the same moment, Mark said, "Sorry, cat!""Sorry, cat"??? That's all he could come up with after nearly blowing the poor feline's rectum to smithereens with a firecracker? You know, that cat seemed to hang in the air forever. But as soon as that cat's paws hit the ground, it was off like a streak of lightning. We didn't see that cat again for several days.
I bet I have some "toothpaste" that would've healed that cat pretty darned fast.
