Larenti rested quietly against the patio wall in what had to be the most entertaining position I had ever seen her in, one immediately reminiscent of Jabba the Hutt.  Her belly looked like a bulb of fatty flesh with her body curled up the way it was.

It tickled me to see her lying there comfortably, not caring for the scene she was making.

And lest you think I simply posted some images strategically timed as she groomed. . .

Believe me when I say I tried to explain to her how unladylike her position was.  She didn’t listen.

I don’t know how long she stayed there before moving.  I do know it was long enough for me to feel better.

You see, I came home early from work as I’ve been fighting either a cold or a sinus problem since the weekend.  I napped a bit after arriving home, and then I caught this amusing scene on the patio.

While I’m on the subject of Larenti, the time has come to expedite her capture and rescue.

A very large and very mean tomcat has arrived on the scene in the last 24 hours.  He’s easily her size (she’s a large cat) and is full of viciousness and wrath, demonstrating overnight a mean streak a mile long.

He first appeared around 10:30 last night.  I was trying to sleep through my headache and general misery when I heard a slow moaning, the almost-growl of an angry cat.  I rolled over to see this very cute face looking in the bedroom door.

Good looks aside, however, this feline has one goal in life: to pester and attack any other cat in the vicinity.

What was he growling at?  Vazra.

My Persian friend sat just inside the door grooming before bedtime.  The new interloper found that unacceptable and sat outside voicing a very passionate rage.

I finally got up for a closer look.  Of course the rest of The Kids joined me.  As each one approached, the outside cat’s heated vocalizations grew louder and more outraged.

How dare he!  Having never been seen before, he certainly had his share of gall to show up and make a huge fuss about the inside cats.

When I opened the door, he vanished.  Fine.  Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Only he didn’t vanish.  He found Larenti hiding beneath a nearby car and proceeded to pester her until he could attack.  I had to jump the fence to chase him off.  Wearing nothing but my robe, thank you very much, at best a questionable scene for anyone watching in the darkness.

Was that the end of it?  No.

Around four this morning I heard a great commotion outside.  It was a cat fight.

I rushed out there and found the bitter ol’ fiend had cornered Larenti.  He then jumped on her and a vile tussle ensued.

I feared for her.

I picked up the bowl of water I leave out overnight for her, and I promptly threw its entire contents at him.  And it struck with pinpoint accuracy.

Ever seen a mad cat get madder when doused with a large quantity of water?  It ain’t pretty.

Off he went into the night, a shadowy, ghoulish figure mad as hell and unlikely to forget our interaction.

Which all brings me back to the point of needing to speed up things with Larenti.

As has happened before, if a large male like this makes the area his territory, he’ll chase Larenti away—if not actually harm her.  I can’t let that happen.

It’s impossible for me to be here all the time keeping watch and protecting her.  The only way I can keep this from escalating is to get her off the streets as quickly as possible.

[for the sake of consistency, I’ve named this black-and-white devil Goa’uld; if you’ve ever watched the Stargate television series, you’ll know that’s the name of an arrogant, evil, selfish race of parasites who think themselves gods with ownership rights to the whole universe; that name fits this new monster]