Work in Progress: May 19, 2022 The Sopris Sun – soprissun.com

Bunky CatBy Sheila MarkowitzGlenwood Springs

Whos that? I asked as I passed by a very large black and white cat looking straight at me from

inside a cage at the Midvalley Animal Shelter. I was there looking for a female kitten to adopt, but this cat caught my eye. I stopped to take a second look.

Oh, thats Bridger, the employee said. Hes been here for about six weeks.

He was found under a bridge in Eagle, hence his name. It was 1997. We had been without a cat for several years. My husband and I thought it was time to have one in our home. I felt something and couldnt just pass this cat by. I asked her to open the cage, which she did.

I kneeled down and immediately Bridger jumped into my lap and sat down. That was that. This was the animal I would be taking home. So, instead of a female kitten, I ended up adopting an 18-pound male cat estimated to be about four to six years old.

A surprise for my husband, but there was something about that cat that endeared us both to him. We didnt care for the name Bridger and remembered a movie we had seen recently entitled The Pope of Greenwich Village. The mother of one of the characters said her deceased son was named Walter, but everyone called him Bunky. We thought that was funny, and so we told everyone who wondered what we named our new cat, that his real name was Walter, but we call him Bunky.

It didnt take long for Bunky to become part of our family. My past experience with cats was that you could leave a dish of dry food out and they would only eat some when hungry. Well, probably because of Bunkys time being alone under the bridge, he was always hungry. After being in our home a few days, he started waddling and had difficulty walking, so we took him to our vet.

The vet said his x-ray showed he was loaded with undigested dry food and we should leave him overnight to be cleaned out. She suggested that we only leave him a small dish of food at home each day, limiting his supply, so this would not happen again. We were starting to learn about our new companion.

If we didnt give him some attention in the morning, Bunky would jump in our bed and whack us on the head with his paw.

He was allowed outdoors and loved to roam around close to home and got to know our neighbors. We later found out that he would visit some, entering their homes, if allowed, even taking a nap on their bed, and of course, eating any food they kindly put out for him!

Twice, he made the front page of the Post Independent, the local newspaper, as they saw him walking through the flowers growing in our front yard.

Bunky was an integral part of our family for over 10 years. We shared many happy times together. He started to show signs of kidney failure and because he was having trouble using the cat box, we sadly decided to keep him in the two rooms in the back part of our house instead of letting him roam around everywhere as he always had. It was a big decision for us, but we were not ready to put him down, as the vet had suggested we do.

We knew during the coming spring, summer and fall months, he would enjoy being out much of the time, and he did. As winter approached, he was inside more and we knew he missed sharing more of our home with us.

I felt sad about this, also knowing that some time in the near future we would need to put him down.

One afternoon, as I was in the kitchen having just returned home from work, I heard Bunky meowing loudly at me from the back room. I called to him, saying I would be there shortly to spend some time with him. As I was removing my shoes, I heard a loud moan from the room and rushed in to see that Bunky was in pain. I sat down by him, put him in my lap and held on to him.

He moaned and died in my arms several minutes later. Im thankful I was with him, able to hold him and comfort him before he died. It always reminds me of the first time we got together at the shelter, more than 10 years before, when I knew he would be coming home with me.

Just in Time By Peter BoltonSaint Stephens Catholic School

As I walk down the stairs, I begin to repeat my presentation and get ready for today at school. As my mother calls, food is ready! I walk into the kitchen and eat my scrambled eggs with cereal. Afterwards, I get my school clothes on, brush my teeth and check my phone when I realize Im already late for school!

I grab my backpack and run out the door. My hair is all wet and my shirt isnt buttoned, but I dont care. I need to get to school before I miss my presentation Ive been preparing for for a week.

I start buttoning my shirt and brushing my hair with my nails as I run up to the front door. I go to turn the handle, but its locked. I start to panic and wonder how am I going to get in for my presentation it starts in six minutes.

I look around for someone to open the door but no one comes. I glance and see an opened window up high. I walk up to see if I can reach it but I cant. I see someone inside the room and I yell through the window. Its my best friend, Devin. He yells back, Hey bud, need some help there?

Yes, I need you to open the front door for me. I need to get inside! I shout.

No-can-do, amigo. I need a key to open the front door, but I might be able to do something else, he says.

What can you do? I ask. He runs out of the classroom.

Im in shock. Did he just leave me outside? I start to panic again and wonder how I am going to get inside my presentation is in four minutes. I try to climb through the window, but I cant because its almost 12 feet high. I see Devin coming back into the room with a ladder. I wonder how hes going to get that through the window

Youve got to trust me, man, he says. He sets up the ladder and climbs onto it, then he reaches through the window to me.

Its my only hope, I think to myself. I jump up and grab his hands, he pulls me up and through the window, scraping my back on the window.

Thank you so much, Devin! Hey, how did you get a ladder in the first place? I ask.

The janitors closet, he replies.

I laugh, Dont you need a key for the janitors closet too? I inquire.

It was left unlocked because the janitor doesnt think he needs to lock it, he said.

We try to make it down to the first floor where the stage is. We head to the door to the staircase. When we pull the handle, it is open thankfully. As we head downstairs, we get confronted by the school security guard, what were you kids doing upstairs?

We were just grabbing our books from our locker and heading back down, I say.

You kids are going straight to the office! he harshly replies.

Devin and I suddenly bolt past him and around a corner. I think we lost him, Devin says. But we have a bigger issue. We have to get past him to get into the stage entrance. Ill distract him while you get past, Devin says.

Just dont get caught and meet me behind the stage after the presentation, I say.

Devin yells, Okay! while he runs down the hall leading the security guard away from the stage and towards him. I sneak past into the stage entrance. As I am about to get on stage, I look at the clock and see that Im right on time.

I walk through the curtains and see everyone cheering me on. I put on the mic and pull out my Bible to spread the word of God

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Work in Progress: May 19, 2022 The Sopris Sun - soprissun.com