pets talk: See You Next Time

How do you feel about people who seldom go out and have less social life? Quiet? Freak? Some of them may surprise you, and it is the same in the animals’ world. Cani (transliteration of 卡妮), an American Shorthair, seldom went out. Even her Sisters and Mom(owners) were afraid that she’d be a little cocooned. But she did surprise us all.

Among all family members, the little Sister was the only one that didn’t live at home, so everybody thought Cani might refer to anyone but little Sister. However, Cani’s first words were spoken to this Sister. “You left home, and you don’t live at home till now.” said Cani. The little Sister nodded and said, “I went out for education. As I graduated I just found a job there, so I haven’t moved back home.” “You should’ve been at home.” Cani said to her.

“You’re in a northern city.” That was correct, Cani’s Sister worked in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. “You’re the most outstanding one in our home; you’re the best.” While the little Sister felt so touched, the rest naturally felt confused. Usually pets talked mainly about those who stayed with them all the time, but why did Cani keep talking to the little Sister? Later we found out that, this Sister gave Cani a lot of snacks whenever she went back home (while Mom and other family didn’t). No wonder Cani kept saying good things about her!

“You’re the maid.” Cani said to her Mom. We laughed. Cani’s Mom said that she did all the housework, and that made her the ‘maid’ in their house. “You don’t have to do so much. You can have them do it.” Cani said. Besides Cani’s Mom, there were still 2 or 3 people living at home, she should really ask others to share the work.“But you don’t want them to get tired.” Cani knew her Mom well. Cani’s Mom said that her daughters had jobs and the son had to go to school, that was true she wouldn’t want to tire them.

Cani then took a look at the Sisters, and said, “None of you are married. I don’t think you can ever get married!” Was it because the Sisters didn’t help Mom with housework that Cani said this? We didn’t know. Cani went on, “Men in our house are useless. They only care about themselves.” Cani’s Dad cared only about his job, and her Brother cared only about his study. “Women in our house are toilsome.” Cani thought for a second, and then corrected herself, “(Only) Mom is toilsome.” The Sisters laughed hard.

“You don’t have a job. You have nothing to do but stay at home, so you have to work.” Cani said to her Mom. Meanwhile the Sisters said that they did help when they were not at work. So Cani said, “Your daughters are filial, but your son is not.” In Cani’s mind, she might know more about filial piety than her Brother did. “Thank you for raising me. Thank you so much! I will pay you back.” Cani’s Mom was intrigued by her words, how would Cani pay them back? Take the slippers to her maybe?

Cani referred to her Brother. “He takes exams. But I don’t think he’s doing well.” She said, “He’s sissy. I doubt he’s gay.” The Sisters said that their little brother was just gentle, definitely not gay. But Cani said, “He doesn’t have a girlfriend, that’s why I doubt it even more.” Hard to imagine if Cani’s Brother heard all of this, what reaction would he have?

The Sisters asked if there was any problem with Cani’s health? “I feel fine. You don’t have to worry about me; I’m pretty healthy!” The Sisters and Mom breathed a sigh of relief on hearing Cani’s answer. “The maid does a good job taking care of me.” Cani really knew how to make her family laugh.

Everything felt so right, but suddenly Cani warned her big Sister, “You have to worry. Your boyfriend is just like your little brother.” Big Sister was surprised to hear that, but what did Cani mean? Did she mean that big Sister’s boyfriend was also sissy? The answer was no; we all took Cani wrong. Cani actually meant that the boyfriend looked much younger than big Sister, so Sister got to worry about how she looked.

Done with big Sister, Cani turned to little Sister and said, “Your boyfriend is ugly.” The little Sister argued that Cani hadn’t seen her boyfriend, not even once. But that was exactly Cani’s point. “I doubt (he’s ugly). Why dare you not bring him to us?”

Referring to Dad, Cani said, “Dad’s about to retire. Tell him not to!” Cani’s Mom asked why. “He can still earn money for some years. Why let him retire and do nothing?” Well. . . Cani’s Mom didn’t know what to say. “Thank you very much, I’ll see you next time!” Cani said to us like a host of certain show. Cute!

March 06, 2011

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